Wesley Littlefield 01.17.25
My dad constantly took my buddies and me hunting as kids. He loved introducing us to the outdoors, and waterfowl hunting was a great way to do that in the winter. We could still be rowdy boys, having fun in the duck blind without ruining the hunt.
My dad took a few of us on one such public land hunt. We walked about ¾ a mile to the spot, set up the decoys, built a makeshift blind out of driftwood, and waited for the sun to rise.
As shooting light approached, we loaded our three shells into our shotguns. Well, most of us. One of my buddies loaded five shells, which caught my dad’s attention.
My dad let him know that he needed a plug in his shotgun to be legal. He said he didn’t have one, so my dad whipped out his pocket knife and carved him one out of a nearby branch to appease the game wardens if we ran into them.
However, after unloading his shotgun, my buddy couldn’t open his magazine cap, so he handed it to my dad to try, who couldn’t get it to budge either, but he had a genius idea (sarcasm).
He looked at us and said, “Boys, don’t ever do this,” as he opened his pocket knife back up to use it as a screwdriver.
My buddy was using an old Remington 870, and the cap had perpendicular slots for a large screwdriver to aid in removing it in these moments, but we didn’t have a screwdriver, so my dad used what he thought was the next best thing.
His knife was new and still razor sharp, so he used the back of the blade to pry on the cap, but when he squeezed his hand around the handle, he also pressed the locking mechanism, causing the blade to slip, close, and slice his finger and thumb on opposite hands.
We knew our hunt was over, so my buddies packed up the decoys as I ran to the truck for some tape and paper towels in the truck.
When I returned, my dad talked to my neighbor (the oldest kid, who was maybe 14) about driving back home since using his hands to drive would be difficult.
We managed to pack everything back to the truck, including my injured father, who drove us the few miles back home.
He then went to the hospital to get several stitches in each hand and gave us a story to tell for the rest of my life! Needless to say, I’ve never used a pocket knife as a screwdriver without remembering this moment!
Wesley Littlefield is currently a writer for OutdoorHub who has chosen not to write a short bio at this time.
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