to hunt our land. Got to know some of them very well and those were some very good times. Morning hunts followed by a big gatherings at our shop to cook a few.
As time went on, however, many of the hunters from the cities became more emboldened and thought it was their right... rather than stick to harvested cotton they'd venture into the unharvested fields and damage our crop.... when confronted they'd threaten us and we had to call in police. By the late 60's we stopped allowing any hunters onto our land... most our neighbors did the same. It had become too dangerous... not just crop damage but they'd shoot equipment, and every so often each other thru careless handling of firearms.
My Dad was shot once, so was i. Not intentional... just carelessness. Both incidents occurred when they were in unharvested cotton and we had come to tell them they had to leave.... and both times a pheasant came up as they neared the end of the cotton rows and where we were standing and they fired anyway... hitting my Dad in the forehead, (not a bad wound), and hitting me as I was waving my arms in warning not to shoot.
Something changed, Waterfield... and I think my generation was the cause. In the 30's, 40's, 50's and early 60's the hunters were polite, well trained, ethical hunters who respected the land, the pheasants, each other and us, the landowners.... then almost overnight... chaos. - JamesJM
