At home in the woods: His life has reshaped his hunts

By Chelsea Retherford | Living 50 Plus

Lane Austin doesn’t remember a time when hunting wasn’t part of his life. As a boy growing up in northwest Alabama, he learned the woods by following his father silently and patiently through them, often before daylight.

Decades later, Austin reflects not only on how hunting has shaped him, but how life itself has reshaped the hunt. Though he admits he struggles more these days to make time for his favorite pastime as his children have gotten older, it’s a practice which remains rooted in family and responsibility.

“I’m not the die-hard hunter who hunts 10 months out of the year like others do. Some people live it. I don’t,” he said. “I hunt with convenience because I enjoy it. It’s a good time, but I wouldn’t say I dedicate my life to it because I’ve got my family.”

That distinction matters to Austin. In a culture where hunting is often portrayed as competitive or performative, his approach has always been more practical.

“I would say I’m a meat hunter instead of a trophy hunter,” he added, proudly.

For Austin, hunting is about stewardship — knowing the land, providing food and passing down all those lessons he learned from his father, the late Kenneth Austin.

His earliest memories are of traipsing around the woods with his dad and his brother, Kenley, who Lane concedes is actually the more dedicated hunter when it comes to sport. Together, the trio would hunt public land across Lauderdale County, particularly in the Waterloo Wildlife Management Area.

Back then, Austin said, expectations were modest, and success was never guaranteed.

“If you saw a deer the whole week you were there, you were pretty lucky,” Austin recalled. “Now people are passing up deer all day long to pick out the right one they want to shoot.”

The experience wasn’t framed as recreation at the time. It was simply life. Austin grew up in the Underwood community, where small-game hunting became something of a tradition on their family farm.

“I got my first rifle when I was in the sixth grade,” he recalled. “We were always hunting. We deer hunted, and we were always squirrel hunting and dove hunting. When my dad was out scouting, he was dragging us along.”

Those long walks taught Austin how to move through the woods without disturbing them, how to notice subtle changes in the land, and how patience often mattered more than outcome.

Hunting, in those early years, was as much about observation as it was about harvesting anything at all.

That understanding deepened through time spent on the Austin family farm in Cloverdale — land that has remained in the family name for generations. Though ownership has shifted among brothers and relatives over the years, a portion of the original farm remains intact.

“If I’m not mistaken, we’re fifth generation,” Austin said. “My kids may even be the sixth.”

Raising a family outdoors

When Austin became a father, introducing his children to the outdoors wasn’t a decision so much as a continuation. Christian, now 25, Brayden, 22, and Camryn, 18, all grew up hunting, fishing, and hiking alongside their parents.

Still, Austin learned early hunting with children required adaptability.

“I raised my kids squirrel hunting and deer hunting, and I realize that the more social activity you have, where they can talk and move, the better kids like it,” he said.

“They have a tendency to like dove hunting and bird hunting better because they can talk and hang out. You know, when you take a young kid deer hunting, and you tell them to sit still in the freezing cold weather for hours, and even then, they might not even see anything, for them it’s kind of like, ‘Why am I here?’”

Though all three of his children seem to have inherited their father’s passion for the outdoors, Austin admits it’s become a bit of challenge to get them out in the woods as they’ve gotten older.

Like many families, the Austins have experienced the steady encroachment of packed schedules. Football, baseball, travel teams, and weekend tournaments eventually took priority over time on the family farm.

“When I was growing up, you played one or two sports. It was Monday through Friday, and you were done,” Austin said. “Now you’ve got games Saturdays and Sundays. Travel ball changed everything.”

As his children grew older, hunting became less frequent — a shift Austin views as one of the biggest changes in modern family life.

“I heard something the other day that really struck a chord,” he said. “When we’re young parents, our kids are trying to get our time so we can take them hunting. Then when they get older, now we’re trying to get their time. You know, now they’re busy and we’re not as busy. We’re like, ‘Let’s go hunting,’ and they’re like, ‘Well, we don’t have time now.’ I was like, boy, is that not true?”

Starting early

Despite those busy schedules, Austin believes strongly in getting children involved early.

“If you’re going to take your kids hunting or fishing, you’ve got to get them involved when they’re in grade school,” he said. “From the time they hit 16, they have a car and can go anywhere they want to go. Good luck getting them out in the woods then.”

Like their father, all three of the Austin children began hunting around seven or eight years old, learning not just how to shoot, but how to observe and respect their surroundings.

Gun safety was never treated as a single lesson — it was ingrained.

“We’ve all grown up around guns, and my kids have respected them from the time they’ve known what a gun was,” Austin said. “Even from babies, they’ve always known how dangerous it could be. You know, they’ve always known, you don’t mess with guns unless you’re going to use them.”

The rules were always simple, but direct. Firearms were carried unloaded. Guns were never handled casually. Those expectations were consistent and non-negotiable.

“I never really had to teach it,” he said. “It’s just what they knew.”

That familiarity, Austin believes, builds confidence, something he believes is an essential element of hunting.

“You’ve got to have confidence,” he said, “before you have anything else.”

Unforgettable day

Of all the hunts Austin has experienced, one afternoon stands out as unforgettable, but not because of his own success.

Years ago, hunting on his father-in-law’s property in Tennessee, Austin took Christian and Brayden out for an afternoon hunt. Brayden was 11. Christian was 14.

Within an hour, each of the boys harvested their first deer.

“I don’t think I’ll ever top that one,” Austin said.

The moment unfolded quickly and unexpectedly. Austin had just helped one son into a ladder stand and was about to help his second son get set up in another nearby tree when he realized he’d forgotten straps they’d need. The straps were in his truck.

“As I was walking back, I could see Christian up in his stand. I was walking past him, and I hear my other son shoot,” Austin said. “My first thought was, ‘Oh my God, he shot himself.”

A second shot rang out, reassuring Austin that his son was likely OK, but it didn’t slow his pace. When he arrived, relief turned to elation as Brayden shared the details of his first kill.

“Brayden goes, ‘I was sitting at the tree and he came walking by, so I shot him.’ Then he said, ‘He fell down, but there was another running with him.’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding?!’ We went over to the deer, and it should have been an eight-point. One antler was broken off,” Austin recalled proudly. “I told Brayden we’d clean it and head back to the truck. He goes, ‘What?! We haven’t been here 15 minutes. I thought we were going hunting.’”

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Christian, who hadn’t yet killed his first deer, fired his gun less than an hour later as Austin was helping Brayden finish field-dressing his prize.

“I heard Christian shoot and went over to him. I told him to stay in the stand, and I’d see where it went. Sure enough, he had a six-point down,” Austin said. “So, the first deer Brayden killed ended up being an eight-point, and then Christian got a six-point. First time for him too. I was like, ‘Alright. I don’t think I’ll ever top this one.”

Adding to the family lore, Austin wasn’t sitting with either son when it happened.

“They think the curse is if I sit with them, they won’t kill one,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve sat with each boy, and every time, whoever’s on his own gets the deer. So, they don’t want to sit with dad. They’d rather sit by themselves.”

A daughter’s patience

Camryn’s hunting journey followed a different rhythm — one marked by patience and caution.

She harvested her first deer at 16 and another the following year, though not without testing her father’s nerves.

“She wanted the deer to walk exactly where her gun was pointed,” Austin said. “She didn’t want to move the gun.”

On one hunt, Austin recalled, a six-point buck stood broadside for several seconds before walking away untouched.

“I’m like, ‘That’s the perfect shot,’” he said. “She said, ‘He needs to take one more step.’ I guess she thought that if she moved her gun, she’d miss.”

Eventually, Camryn learned to trust herself and began finding regular success behind the scope. These days, Austin insists all three of his children are better shots than he is.

Life outside the woods

Austin’s working life has mirrored many of the values he learned outdoors — hard work, adaptability, and family first thinking.

For 35 years, he worked in the restaurant business — long hours, weekends, and holidays included. His wife, Jessica, worked nights as a nurse.

“It was really hard to find time to hunt then,” he admits. “You really had to pick your time. Whenever I had a weekend off, you know, I had to make time for them. Those weekends were just so rare.”

Seven years ago, Austin left the restaurant industry and expanded a lawn care and landscaping business which began as a way to keep his teenage son out of restaurant work.

“When Christian turned 16, he said he wanted to go work for me in the restaurant. I’m like, ‘No you’re not.’ So, I got him into lawn care,” Austin said. “You know, he was playing football and had a girlfriend. I knew whenever he’d want or need to be off, that’s when the restaurant would have to have him there.”

What started with a handful of yards grew into Austin Property Management, serving roughly 100 customers and maintaining multiple apartment complexes. Christian and Brayden are now part owners, and Camryn has helped when she can.

“I know they’re not going to retire with me,” Austin said, “but I’ve taught them work ethic. If you work hard, you can play hard.”

That same philosophy explains why Austin finds peace outdoors.

“It’s stress relief,” he said. “I hate to say it, but growing up and having to dig in the dirt with my parents on the farm, I just hated it. As an adult, I really enjoy it more. It’s actually pretty simple.”

A hunter and a forager

Austin’s connection to the outdoors extends beyond hunting. He fishes, hikes, and forages. Each of those skills, he said, were learned through years of curiosity and shared knowledge.

“Just by being out in the woods and watching the outdoor channel,” he said. “I had a friend in college whose dad was a botanist for TVA. I’ve hunted and fished with him, and with his dad being a botanist, he taught me a tremendous amount about wild mushrooms and berries and things. We’d go hiking or hunting, and he was just like a walking encyclopedia.”

That knowledge stuck with Austin over the years and has even served him in his landscaping business.

“Over the summer, I was out at one of the properties mowing grass, and I saw a massive patch of chanterelle mushrooms,” he said. “I stopped and started picking. I came home with three or four gallons worth. A couple of days later, another customer told me about a patch. I got about five gallons out of that one.”

That week, Austin’s wife, Jessica, made chicken and mushroom soup from the spoils. The family passed some on to friends and froze the rest.

“They’re fresh, wild mushrooms you can’t really grow, so you have to pick them off when you find them,” Austin said. “I’m very fortunate my wife and kids aren’t picky eaters. We utilize everything.”

Of course, Austin extends a word of caution when it comes to picking food from the earth, especially in the wild.

“You’ve got to be completely sure of yourself when you start picking wild mushrooms,” he said. “You’ve got to know exactly what they are to be sure you’re not running into anything poisonous.”

From venison to duck, squirrel, rabbit, turkey, pig, and fish, Austin processes his own meat and ensures nothing goes to waste. He credits his years in the restaurant industry with shaping how he prepares wild game, and how he convinces skeptics to try it.

“Prep is the key,” he said. “You’ve got to know how to properly take care of the meat from field dressing to breaking it down to trimming it. Those are a lot of big takeaways.”

Venison becomes pastrami, roasts, or ground meat. Ducks are carefully cleaned. Even Canadian geese, often dismissed as unpalatable, have earned praise at his table.

“Everyone says Canadian geese are horrible. You don’t eat Canadian geese,” Austin said. “Well, we’ve cleaned them and ate them. My son, Brayden, was like, ‘We need to eat that every single night.’ I just looked up a recipe. My brother-in-law raises blueberries, so we did like a blueberry compote on top of the geese.”

Getting creative in the kitchen, Austin adds, is proof adventure doesn’t end in the forest.

“There are different ways to cook different things,” he said. “I guess you have to take it as a challenge and see if it tastes good. Don’t be scared to try something new. You know, don’t stick to the same old country fried steak. I mean, venison is good prepared like that, but that’s what most people try.”

Watching change

Over the decades, Austin has watched hunting evolve. Public hunts which once drew hundreds now see far fewer participants. Private land hunting has become more common. Forests have shifted from hardwoods to pine plantations.

“As agriculture has changed, so has hunting,” Austin admits. “Nowadays, we do most of our hunting on the family farm.”

The arrival of Chronic Wasting Disease has altered regulations and perceptions, though it hasn’t really changed Austin’s approach.

“I think there’s a lot of fear from the public’s perspective,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s not real, but I think more people are hesitant to hunt now because of that. I don’t have a professional answer on it, but it did not change the way I hunt.”

As Austin looks back on his hunting career, he doesn’t hesitate to share the memories he treasures most, and none of those include the time he downed a 10-point buck.

“My proudest moments are definitely seeing my kids enjoy it as much as I do,” he said, “and getting to see each of them kill their first deer on family land. I think that brings a little more meaning to it when you can hunt together and it’s on family property. It’s something pretty special.”