Most of you know that my background before trekking out into the hunting industry on my own was time spent at Legends Ranch in Michigan. I have been away from there now for over a year and I often think back on my time spent with the many wonderful hunters that entered through the Legends gate. I met big game, big name hunters. I met housewives turned hunter. I met famous people/in the limelight hunters. I met "save every penny you have to do this one big dream" hunters. As I think of all the hunters that I had the good fortune to meet, a particular group of hunters comes to mind more than the rest. These hunters touched my heart and gave me a little of themselves to take home and cherish forever. These are the youth hunters that kicked off every season at the Legends. Organizations such as Christian Sportsman fellowship, SCI, Mossy Oak, Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shop and many more joined with us to make many of these very special hunters’ dreams come true.

A few years ago, the Make a Wish foundation stopped granting children's wishes that pertained to any form of hunting. When this happened, hunters from all over banded together to grant these forgotten wishes. At Legends, we did our tiny part by hosting some of these hunts. Eight children from around the country where sponsored and brought to the Ranch with their parents and sometimes other family members to kick off our hunting season every year in September. The help involved with this is indescribable. Local lumber companies donated lumber to make the blinds, wheelchair accessible. Local builders donated their time to build these ramps. Camouflage clothing and boots where presented to each child. Special guns where brought in for those children that needed them. I can go on and on about the time and help that was given to these very special hunters. For 6 ½ years, I was blessed to meet eight of these hunters a year and I can say, I remember each and every one of them. We think that we are doing such a good deed to make these dreams come true, until they arrive and we are touched more deeply by them than anyone has a right to be. The lessons and warmth they gave me will stay with me for the rest of my life. Some of these children are no longer with us and have been called to walk with God, but I will never forget the impact they had on me or my life. Their big bright smiles and their excitement over the smallest of things, is unforgettable. They did more for me and gave me more than I could ever hope to have given them. It is very ironic when, one minute, you can be worrying about a bill or your car not running right and the next be looking into the bluest eyes of a child who has no movement from the neck down or fighting a horrible cancer and hear him or her say, "this is the best thing that has ever happened to me." The joy in their eyes when they bring their buck in and want to tell you detail for detail about their hunt. What we take for granted everyday in our lives, they thrive on for a brief moment in time. The skills that some of them possessed were remarkable. My young friend Nick had lost his sight in a pheasant hunting accident. Though he could not see, he never failed to point out the sounds and smells of the outdoors. It was really magical how he could detect the slightest things in his surroundings. I even watched as some of the teens that where confined to a wheelchair, mentor and counseled others whose chairs were fairly new to them. Angela led the girls in a quest for the biggest deer and showed the boys that just because she was a girl, didn't mean she wasn't still competition! She shot her bow from her chair. Her father had rigged it to sit parallel with the ground and let me tell you she can split fletchings. I wish all of you could have experienced it with me, because it is one of the most valuable things I have ever received. My many thanks go out to all of the boys and girls that taught me so much. I am a better person for having met all of you.