Date Night: Frog Gigging
There is Just Something About Summer Nights and Frog Hunting. (Photo Courtesy of stltoday.com)
Hopefully, you all had a great 4th of July weekend celebrating the wonderfully free country we live in. Despite all the rain we got where I live (it was much needed) I managed to have an exceptional weekend with my family and friends. I wanted to highlight a portion of the weekend here on HuntingFit.com and perhaps encourage you to try something new or do something you haven’t done since you were a kid. I tend to focus a lot on big game hunting as that is what I spend a tremendous amount of time and effort preparing for and participating in. But don’t be fooled into thinking that’s the only way to get outdoors and provide food for the family.
I am a happily married father of three and quite honestly way busier than I would like to be. Clearly, my main objectives are to provide for my wife and children by going to work and being there to support and care for them. Because of this, and of course a few other things (hunting!, fishing!, exercising!), sometimes my wife and I don’t get to spend enough quality time together as a loving couple should. With the impending long weekend, we decided to let my parents take the kids this past Friday so we could have an evening as a couple.
Somehow I got put in charge of planning the date night (it may be the last time) so I wanted to do something to celebrate the summer and outdoors. What better than an evening of frog hunting? Yep, you heard me, frog hunting! I couldn’t resist an activity that’s so much fun, something new to her, and involves just the two of us with no other distractions. So with a hint of concern, she accepted my invitation and at dusk, we launched the boat and began our hunt. We had two old gigs that were mine from when I was a kid that apparently my Dad had been holding on to for just such an occasion. It didn’t take long before I spotted our first victim. It did however take longer to point it out to my wife!!!
Eventually, she figured out what I was pointing at, and before the frog knew what hit him we had bagged our first of the evening! It only took one try before my wife was spot on with her aim and a regular eagle eye when spotting a glowing set of amphibian eyes. I told her and my family the next day at a fish (and frog leg) fry that the two of us hadn’t had that much fun in years. We were laughing and carrying on like two kids again! We missed as many frogs as we got and I only fell in the lake once. Truthfully, it didn’t matter.
At one point we glanced up and just stared at the stars beautiful and bright above us. I would have loved to just be out on the lake listening to us giggling and yelling back and forth at each other. It would have been worth the price of admission! At the end of the night, we just sat back and slowly cruised back to the dock recapping the experiences we just had. I have to give a shout-out to the “After the Hunt” hand scrub from Scent Kapture for getting the blood, guts, slime, mud, pond scum, and stench off when we were done so we could quietly sit and enjoy a victory brew after such an awesome evening.
I apologize for not having any great pics except a bloody cooler the next day but it was nice not to worry about snapping photos or social media for a while and just focus on the things that really mattered at the moment. You know, maybe I’ll even get to plan the next date night! This is a little different post than I usually write but I wanted to let you know it’s OK to have fun and try different things. Don’t be so serious with the outdoor activities that you forget why you’re really out there. Having a good relationship with your spouse is a huge part of living a healthy life so make sure to plan something you can both enjoy and make it a date. In the end, you’ll both be better off than you were before and your bond will be just a little stronger than it was yesterday. Isn’t that our goal...be better than you were yesterday? I know it’s mine.
