by STEVE HUMMER; Staff , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"He has his first gun (a .22/.410 rifle/shotgun combo), not that he's using it," proudly said Keith Brooking, who is occupied for much of hunting season playing linebacker for the Falcons. "It's locked away safely in the home.

"A couple more years, we'll start teaching him gun safety, and hopefully he'll be big enough we can go out there and he can fire it a few times."

Matthew Jones was 10 when he ventured into the Texas scrub with his father and grandfather last winter and took his first deer. As it will be with Logan, that bookmark moment was a few years and many fond memories in the making.

"Ten is kind of the magic number with me," said Matthew's dad, Braves third-baseman Chipper Jones.

"The kids ride around with me the first couple years learning the secrets of gun safety, deer hunting, deer spying, learning what deer are trying to do before I let them get on a range and actually shoot a gun."

The tradition of fathers and sons hunting together is alive and well in certain corners of Atlanta's professional clubhouses and locker rooms.

It was his older brother, Kevin, who taught 10-year-old Keith Brooking to hunt, taking him along on trips in Coweta County, on land too near the Atlanta sprawl to be hunted now. These days, Brooking owns and leases a couple of hunting sites in rural Georgia.

"I enjoyed the experience of hunting, the sport of it. But a lot of hunting is the fellowship, hanging out with friends and family and the bonding experience I had with my brother," Brooking said.

Chipper's father, Larry, exposed him to hunting while growing up in Florida. A hobby would become a lifestyle for the Jones boy. (Out on DVD now is a production featuring Jones with friends and former teammates chasing deer. "A bunch of good ol' boys having too much fun" is how he describes the episode of "Buck Commander".)

When he was 21, having missed several deer seasons while playing winter ball, Chipper had what he called his most memorable hunting experience.

"Every year, I try to take my dad somewhere so he and I can get together, and we can reunite and regalvanize our relationship," he said. "We kind of lost that bond for a while. It was something I really missed."

He arranged for a trip to Texas, and the two had such a fine time that they decided then and there they'd one day own a ranch in that part of the world. They all call Carrizo Springs, Texas, home now.

For his four sons, there always will be a time and a place to hunt.

Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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