I read his recent book and he was talking about his sons when they were young and impressionable.
A couple of one of boys decided to go play baseball with some mailboxes and Phil got wind of it. When the boys came into the yard with the car, all of them got 3 licks, even the boys who were not his sons.
Told them they either took the licks or they would never come back on the property.
He was driving home from hunting on Halloween night and in a small town some boys standing at the county courthouse proceeded to start throwing pears at his car. It was an 55 Plymouth wagon and built like a tank.
Dad decided to put some fear into them. He stopped and got out then started string up his bow. They scattered for safer places. He had no intentions of harm though.
About 20 years later he was at work in the lunch room and was telling the story to a co-worker. Another guy sitting at the table said yea we thought you were gonna kill all of us LOL. He was one of the kids.
My dad made me behave he expected me to and there was punishment if I didn't. But he was also one to give me freedom many kids never experienced. When I was about 14 he'd take me to the lake and help me set up camp, launch the boat with an old open faced Evinrude 7.5 hp motor, and leave me there with the dog and a rifle for up to a month in the summer. He'd come up at least every other day to check on me bring ice and some food etc. That was in the early 1970's. Our nation sure has changed.