The frost is heavy this morning. The recent time change has left its mark and brought with it darkness at this hour with only the three quarter moon’s light. The early morning is quiet and still. I wonder if he’s nervous, or even scared.

I was nervous, but that has passed. Now, I am excited. This season has been a good one so far: good weather, nice deer, good times alone in the woods. And now this! It’s a wonderful feeling! I wasn’t so sure at first. I must admit that I definitely had my doubts! I really thought this could be troublesome for me – for him – for us. I couldn’t imagine if he weren’t a part of my life, but with this difference….it could have happened differently.

It’s not that he’s anti-hunting, but far from pro-hunting. I think because like most non-hunters, he just doesn’t know about it. I didn’t think I’d be the one to change his mind. I just thought maybe, hunting was something we could do together- if I got him involved. I didn’t know if I was ready to introduce someone to hunting; I am still a rookie at best.

But, on opening day, I was ready to go: clothes, gear, bow, arrows, Dead DownWind products. My prep work was complete. I was nervous at not being alone in the woods. As I sat in the stand, I began thinking about non-hunting things, which is not my style. Sitting in the tree usually blocks out the rest of the world, but this morning, a part of the rest of the world was there in the woods with me.

As I watched the heavy frost dissipate with the warmth of the rising sun, my thoughts kept wandering: Is he cold? Bored? What’s he thinking? Did I just blow it- we haven’t seen anything; no squirrels even! It’s even harder to sit still when my mind is racing like this. I am not used to dealing with my thoughts racing while I am in my tree stand surrounded by the quiet, still woods. I am hoping more that he likes the experience more than I hope I get a deer! How strange!

My thoughts are sharply interrupted as a deer, seemingly appears out of nowhere from the brush to my left. (This part of the story continues in a future WH article) After my arrow hits its target, I hear a loud shout of “Woo-hoo!” from behind me where he sits! I feel badly that I have to make a motion for him to sit back down and wait for a bit. I am so excited and relieved that he is as excited as I am! The best part is that he was there with me.

A short while later, as we get down from our separate stands and meet up, he’s grinning ear to ear. “…. I saw the whole thing! Wow! That was so cool!” And I know, at that moment, that we will be out there together again soon.