It was a quiet night, I was bouncing between TV channels stopping frequently on game 7 of the World Series. The house was dark and peaceful broken only by a quick bark from “Pistol” our 2 and half year -old lab. Who was quickly scolded into silence.
It is unusual to be home alone with just the TV, I had completed all my evening calls. Sheila was working and her flight left her stranded in Chicago. She is always my first call and gave me the update on the girls. Abbey and Emily always call and share their day. We treasure these calls, it keeps us close. The girls call Sheila, Alex our son calls me. The girls are more consistent. Guys will be guys if we connect fine if not, no big deal. We talk football, classes and lots and lots of hunting.
Alex’s conversation that evening led to a discussion about hunting. He advised me tomorrow morning GET IN THE WOODS. He is always a strong advocate for getting me into a stand.
The food plot cameras are set to send photos to him in Duluth almost 200 miles away keep him up to date. It is a great way stay in tune with the hunting land when a long college football schedule keeps you out of the woods.
The rain and snow that evening kept me from going out this evening, but I was up for a quick hunt before work.
I quickly gathered my gear and set it out for a speedy departure in the morning. I was not sure what the weather would be like so I prepared for the snow, rain and wind. One more quick look at the World Series and I was off to get some sleep.
My phone buzzed as I entered my bedroom and it was an “instant message” from Alex. What the heck was this? I never get and instant messages from him. Usually just a text message. This technology stuff, so many ways to get to you, so few ways to hide. After some heavy lifting on the technology side I finally was able to get to the message. It was a video. I saw the big arrow and clicked on it.
The video lurched into motion. It was a video of a very young hunter shooting a gun from a duck blind. He was pretty small and the gun was very big. He pulled the trigger and it knocked him right over backwards. It made me smile and I thought it was funny. I knew Alex would like a video like that and thought it was cool he would share it with me. It made me remember when it happened to him. The memory raced back.
We were in the duck blind he was only 12 years old shooting a 20 gauge pump that fit him well. The hunting was spectacular we had ducks and geese locking in on our spread and the hunt was on. I was using a 12 gauge automatic with 3.5 inch shells for geese.
We were a foot picking up ducks and fixing the decoys and just like every waterfowl hunter knows when you have motion in the spread in come the birds. A low flying flock of Canada geese were locking in and on their way. We dove back to the blind. Alex was by my chair and I was nowhere near a shooting position and nowhere near a gun. I said “Alex grab my gun when they get close take em! He quickly grabbed my 12 gauge that was ready for the geese with 3.5 inch shells packed double B loads. I froze in positon and watch him pull the long gun up to his shoulder. I stayed motionless as I heard the flocks wings wrestle with the wind above. They had to be in range soon I thought. I saw him pull the gun up to 11 o’clock and it barked. The impact, the angle and the gun to kid ratio knocked him right over backwards. I rushed to him to make sure he was ok and told him he made a nice shot. “You waited perfectly until the birds were in the best possible positon.” I reassured him. It was hilarious. I cannot even remember if he hit the bird. I laughed a little bit at the time but only after I made sure he was physically and mentally ok. We never talked about it much. It was just tucked away in the recesses of my hunting memories. I wonder if he remembers?
The smile was still on my face when I moved the image on my phone and saw the attached message to the video that I did not see right away. “Dad remember when this happened to me?” It made me laugh out loud in a pitch black house with no one to share my outburst. I went to sleep with a smile on my face thinking about how each one of our hunts bring lifelong memories. Often not because of the game taken but the people you are with and the situations you end up in.
The morning came quick. I opened the garage door and was greeted by moist humid air and 39 degree temps. The snow had retreated to fog, but it was a light fog that did not hinder the hunt. I jumped in my truck and headed south 20 minutes to the food plot we had worked. I was still thinking about the video Alex sent as I sat in my truck in the ditch next to the path that led to my stand. A school bus roared by. I was greeted by this same bus prior to another hunt that did not end so well for me. But this time it was later in the year and it was still dark. All was good I was not late. I was ready and the walk to the stand was uneventful and quiet, the leaves were moist and did not crack under foot.
I thought this is going well. I am sprayed down with scent blocker, got in very quietly to a very comfortable ladder stand I received as a Christmas present. There was little or no wind. It was starting to get light. A flock of ducks raced just inches above the trees on their way to the swamp behind me the whistling of their wings made me smile. What a great sound. It was also natures alarm clock. It means we are minutes away from shooting light.
The food plot was clover and heavily grazed but the moist weather helped it along this fall. It was very green even in the low light. Obviously last night’s snow had been beneficial even though it had melted away. I was looking at the plot making mental notes on how to expand it and noting that this spring it will need to be reseeded. This plot was equipped with a camera that sent the photos to Alex’s phone. I do not imagine a college kid will be checking his phone at 6:15 am. I purposely walked in front of the camera to let him know I was on the plot and in a stand. If it made his phone burp and wakes him up. Ha one for Dad.
Light was gaining ground and it revealed a cloudy sky withholding a beautiful sunrise, a favorite of mine when I am in this stand. I guess I would just have to look at the ground like I am supposed to when hunting from this blind instead of gazing in to the sky. A flash of grey entered my vision form the right edge of the food plot. For sure a deer. For sure a buck. I could see that from the very start. He was moving slowly into range. His beautiful white rack stood out in the morning light. I was in awe in how quiet and smooth he moved. He caught wind of the scent I had left hanging above a scrape that was in front of the camera. He walked right to it and stood and grazed and sniffed and bobbed his head. He was facing directly away from me. Affording me absolutely no shot.
Let the mind games begin. Is he a shooter or not? I think I may have passed on him before early in the season. Pass once, pass always? There were a lot of bigger deer in the woods. But this one was right on the x. If you drew it up on the white board as the game plan for a perfect opportunity he was just about there. The mind games kept coming as the nice 8 pointer enjoyed the clover and was posing nicely in front of the camera. No, I won’t shoot I thought. I took the pins off him and looked at him again not through the sights. He looked bigger. I put the pins back on him. I repeated this semi embarrassing movement more times than I will admit in writing. All I had was a beautiful view of his back side and no good shot. What was I going to do? Wait for a bigger one? I was going to be gone for a week and gun season was quickly approaching. I wish I could text Alex and let him tell me. If he was awake and looking at the camera.
The deer was in front of the camera for 15 minutes now. The photos had to have made it to him by now. I could not text him. I would move too much and besides it was my tag and my decision. Grow up and make it. To date I had only arrowed one other deer a nice 10 point that was on my wall. Getting this one which would not make the wall but would double my success rate. Which by the way is not very good for the decades I have been hunting. Was I willing to add a possible miss to the long list of misses? Let me rephrase that to the double digit list of misses. My record is miserable. Kind of like a losing playoff record in the sports arena. You are very fortunate to make the playoffs, there are many, many other teams wishing they were in the playoffs but when you do not win it all it can be viewed by some as a failure.
I was on the clock, what was I going to do? It was a good buck. I had made a decision or at least sort of made a decision. I decided if he walks straight away or walks to the right around the tree and does not offer me a perfect shot I will pass. I was only going to shoot if he quarters to the left and offered a perfect opportunity. Only a perfect shot in close range.
He stood and grazed for a few more minutes. I enjoyed the show. The morning was in its full glory. The birds were chirping the geese were honking and I was still waiting for his next move. And then he lifted is head and sniffed the scented cotton swab I had hung in the tree. He looked left, he looked right and then took a step. The first step was straight away, I felt a twinge of disappointment. That told me I really did want this deer. His next two next steps called my bluff as he stepped left and offered a perfect quartering away shot. The whir of the bow string sung by my ear and the solid thud of a spot on lung and heart shot smacked into the side of the nice buck. He mule kicked and briskly walked off into the thick brush. I watched him disappear. I thought I could see him lay down just 15 yards off the open plot.
I sat in my stand and enjoyed the morning God prepared for my enjoyment and sent a text to Alex. I wondered if it would wake him up. My answer to that question was abrupt. No text this time. My phone buzzed and I answered it. It was Alex, His first words were THAT IS GREAT!. I was wondering if you were going to shoot him. I was watching the camera. Way to go. He is a good buck.
We talked and laughed and planned a strategy on when I should go recover him. It was almost like he was sitting beside me. Like we were both in the duck blind 9 years earlier only this time he is reassuring me that it was a good shot. At least I did not fall over backwards.
Tagged out!!! I do not get to say that very often.