TX hunter ‘makes it happen’ with kid in tow

Photos of a Texas hunter who doesn’t let being a dad stand in the way of enjoying his hobbies are making their way around the internet.

Travis Zatopek, owner of Hacienda Wildlife Company, posted a photo to the business’ Facebook page Saturday with the caption, “When it’s dove season, and you have baby duty!”

In a little less than three days, the photo has been shared more than 15,000 times and has garnered over 3,000 comments. While the vast majority of the comments were either positive or people tagging others, there were, of course, a few haters. Zatopek responded with both explanation and eloquence in a Facebook post this morning.

My wife and I would like to express our thoughts on the recent media attention of our FB post this weekend. As American citizens, we have the right to raise our children utilizing what we, as their parents, feel is right and wrong. We do not apologize for raising our girls around guns and hunting. Educating them young is a huge attribute for their future. We, as parents, promote positive family morals and values along with teaching them respect and responsibility. Unfortunately, many of the youth today are not taught this. We’ve raised every one of our girls around guns and hunting, just as we were! Hunting is not just a sport, but a way of life. We feel it is important for our girls to experience the great outdoors and wildlife versus video games and Illusive Pokemon’s. This is our choice, and we stand true to our values. I would like to thank the keyboard warriors, because for every one negative comment, five positive comments have evolved.

In regards to how our daughter was in the carrier, she is our third daughter, we know how to properly place our child in it. She was briefly placed in it for a photo opportunity and was enjoying it so much that we let her sit that way, while numerous people were watching her. As soon as she dozed off, my wife immediately took her inside.

Thank you all for the support and keep raising them right!

Along with the post, the proud father took the opportunity to show off another photo of his two older daughters (who are still quite young) after they took down their first does last year.