“Baby Johnson” by Trevor Johnson of Kit’s Tackle
By angelamontana

Posted: January 31, 2014

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Well friends…I’m about to do a big NO NO in the world of blogging if you have a business. It is a known fact that sharing personal information is not allowed and should be kept separate from your business, and shared with friends and family only. As supportive as you have all been over the last couple years growing the Kit’s nation I personally feel connected with each and every one of you as friends and one big outdoor fishy family. So now that you know you’re friends and family…here goes!!

I can still remember heading to Holter Lake, driving across the Sieben flats into Wolf Creek Canyon with my dad, my great uncle Herb, and my grandpa “Poppy.” So we all know the mile marker signs on the sides of the road right? Well my great uncle Herb and my dad thought it was pretty funny to pretend they could see them from a mile away. They would shout out the number, and sure enough they would be right every time when we approached the sign. I was obviously too young to understand that I was being had, being old enough to remember the game now. Those dirty birds got the best of me!

Speaking of birds…I can still vividly remember the day I got my first grouse with dad. I had my 410 shotgun at my side and we had walked and driven all morning and saw no grouse. Feeling really bummed, as we rounded a corner on Dalton Mountain Road west of Lincoln, Montana, there on a stump, was a big male ruffed grouse. I can still remember the sun gleaming on his body on top of that stump. I hopped out of the truck and in the back of my mind I could hear dad yelling, “Shoot for his head.” BOOM!! My first grouse had just been blown to smithereens from taking 6 shot to the breast at a close ten yards. I still think about that poor fella that roosted in the wrong spot at the wrong time!

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A vintage photo of my sister, Lindsay, and I showing off our harvest!!

 On the topic of blowing things up…dad had just bought a new chronograph for our rifles. Of course, being the little guy I got to test it first. After getting the chrono all set up I laid down with my 300 Holland and Holland to test that baby’s velocity out. I looked down the scope and made sure the crosshairs were clear of the machine. Squeezing on the trigger, I again heard my father yelling in the back of my mind, “HIGHER HIGHER.” BOOM!! The nice new shiny chronograph had just been obliterated by 180 grains of lead traveling at…we have no idea how fast. I can still remember looking over at my dad in sheer terror and he was laughing so hard he had slobber drooling down his chin and snot hanging from his nostrils. Trying his hardest to speak he finely muttered a choppy, “You just blew the F&*^ing chronograph into a million pieces.”

And now since we have guns on our mind…I can replay stalking in on my first herd of elk with dad. We had to creep down a frozen shale bank and as I was almost there I slipped and slid down the hill. We were busted by the elk, but they didn’t know what we were. I remember they looked nervous and I thought I had just blown the whole thing. Then as they were about to run, dad through up his rifle and made an awesome shot on a spike bull. It’s crazy that at five years old I can still remember this experience so perfectly…almost like it was yesterday. I am now thirty two years old and if this doesn’t show the importance of starting kids in the outdoors when they are young, I don’t know what the heck does!!

And now that you are all wondering where I am going with this??? I am going to be able to share these kinds of memories with my own child. MY WIFE KATIE AND I ARE VERY PROUD TO ANNOUNCE WE ARE DUE TO HAVE OUR FIRST CHILD IN JULY! I am so excited and feel so very lucky and blessed by the great lord to have the opportunity to share the same outdoor experiences with my child as my dad did with me. Although, after reading this blog, everybody might not agree the world needs a baby Johnson 🙂 So cheers to NO NOs, friends and family, the great outdoors and BABIES!!

(Written by Trevor Johnson of Kit’s Tackle-www.kitstackle.com)

 

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