Andy and I had returned from a remarkable trip to Colorado a few weeks before and that trip had drawn me back to what I wanted out of life. I wanted to slow down and enjoy all of God's glorious gifts. I wanted to focus more on my paintings, drawings, photography, and most of all, get back to my desire to go hunting again. Little did I know that my life would be making some subtle, yet fantastic changes. Andy and Travis took a weekend deer hunting trip south to Kentucky in October. I wanted to go with them so bad, but I knew that someone had to stay home and care for our daughters, the dog, and the farm. This would not get to be my trip. There is a place and time for everything, I told myself.
Travis and Andy returned home with no deer after a weekend of record setting heat. I could see the disappointment building in Travis. The last few years he had taken a young buck on our farm, but we don't have anything of size, he always says. He gets discouraged, but still hopes to bag a "Big One". If he could only see the contribution he makes, filling the freezer with meat, then maybe he would not be so discouraged. Travis hopes to become a Wildlife Biologist and a Professional Guide someday. We encourage him to follow his dreams, but I know that he is getting antsy and really wants to harvest a big one. I tell him in time it will come.
I hadn't been hunting in a long time and had no camos of my own. Travis gave me his outgrown camo bibs that could no longer contain his growing limbs. He also gave me a hand-me-down camo coat. These gifts came with a smile and a hug, this was his way of telling me to go hunt and have some fun. I did splurge and buy me my own gloves and a new orange cap. I had to settle for a youth large size, as there were no camo gloves in women's sizes. He loaned me his 20 gauge and I was now ready to go. But I didn't have time. A few more days passed and my boys told me to get out there and hunt, "But I can't," I explained to them. "I have to run to the grocery store, the mall, and the next day the farrier is coming to show the horses. There was no time in my schedule. I saw us all getting covered up with too many things to do.
The farrier arrived the following day and we enjoyed a mild, balmy, spring like morning with a dense fog covering almost everything in sight. We chit-chatted with our farrier, who is a former gun shop owner, about deer hunting and horses. He finished and off he went. By now it was nearly 11:00 AM. Andy had to get into the office, as he had a lot on his agenda that day. HE suggested that I go hunting. I agreed. Besides, I had a few hours to kill and it was a nice warm day to climb into a tree and sit for awhile. I had been standing on concrete all morning and my back was killing me. I put my jacket on, "...way too much clothing for a day like today,"
I thought to myself. Andy blasted me from head to toe with a scent eliminator spray, kissed me and told me "good luck". I think he secretly chuckled inside, surely I must have looked a comical sight in Travis' outgrown camos. I marched off to the stand in the woods where Travis had been successful for the last few years. I climbed up and settled in for a little while. By this time, I was suffocating. I made a note to myself not to overdress next time. I saw nothing, but a squirrel and I swore he was laughing at me too! I was restless and uncomfortably warm. I soon was making remodeling plans for the stand I was sitting in. I thought it would be more comfortable if we could extend it here and add an armrest there.
I decided to move to another stand. I unloaded my gun and fumbled to gather up my stuff in my backpack. The deer call fell out of my pocket, making a loud thump. By now, I was certain the squirrel had gathered up all his woodland friends for a good laugh. I thought that I should go to another stand. It might be better on a day like today. Travis had put this stand up a few weeks before the season opened. The tree stand sat in a large Walnut tree overlooking a 400 acre harvested cornfield with a small wooded area to the south of me. The tree row I was sitting in ran north and south with an alfalfa field behind me. I managed to lug myself up the screw-in steps that had been placed in the tree. Another note to myself, "Tell Travis to put the steps closer together next time." by now, my mental notebook was getting full. I snapped myself in, pulled up my gun, loaded it, and sat there trying to cool off with the warm breeze that was blowing in my face. To sit in this stand was fabulous, splendor surrounded me in every direction. Indiana has two colors in November, brown and mud, but somehow there was beauty all around. I wasn't thinking about seeing a deer at that point. I was just thrilled to be in the stand, happy to be sitting down, enjoying the mild temperatures and God's gifts all around me. This was one step closer to reaching my goal to return to hunting. I was satisfied with that. I didn't think I would see anything at all because of the unseasonably warm weather and the time of day. I retrieved my cell phone from my pocket and checked the time and the speed dial that my husband had added the night before. The time was 12:38 PM. Back into the pocket the phone went.
Within a few minutes some crows stirred up a ruckus and I looked to the south to see what those annoying birds were doing. "Oh, my gosh!" There was a deer walking along the south end of the field near the wooded area. He was a buck, but I couldn't tell how big he was. Size did not matter. I watched him for a little while longer. I remember saying to myself, "Thank you, God." What a beauty he was. It was such a privilege to sit up there and see this creature. The buck was relaxed, but I wasn't. I was sure that by now the squirrel had spread word to all his fuzzy cousins about the oddball in the oversized camo. (Darn squirrels. I don't like squirrels!)
"Focus," I told myself, "focus, focus." The buck stopped and gently sniffed the air. I had watched countless hours of television hunting shows before and never had I seen a buck so relaxed. It was almost like he was telling me to relax. He would be coming my way in a few moments. At this point, I did not need to call him in.
He continued walking along the edge of the field. I figured that he would either cross through the tree row and head into the alfalfa field behind me or maybe just maybe, I would get lucky and he would continue along the tree row right past me. By now, he was out of my sight. My excitement was building and my heart was thumping. "Where was he?" I asked myself. "What would Travis want me to do? Should I take him or leave him for Travis?" I knew that the chances of seeing this deer here again were slim and I knew that no one would believe me if I just told them this story. I made the decision. If given the chance, I would shoot.
There he was, walking quietly, slowly, steadily towards me. I released the safety button on Travis' Remington 870 20 gauge. I prayed, "Lord, please let this shot count." He was now within thirty feet and closing little by little. I looked through my scope and he was so close that I couldn't make out which part of him was in the crosshairs. I looked up again and he was almost directly in front of me...an easy fifteen feet away. I prayed that I would be able to get a good clean shot. I squeezed the trigger. I did not feel the recoil. I hit him. He leaped high into the air and stumbled off about twenty yards. He managed to spin himself around and stare at me directly as he took his final breath of life. My heart rate was uncontrollable at that point. I was happy that the shot hit him. There was no way I could have gotten another clear shot off. I was trembling too much.
Within a heartbeat, I had called my husband. Thank goodness for that speed dial, because I couldn't remember his phone number at work. "ANDY!" I screamed in the phone as I started crying. I stuttered and couldn't make out a clear sentence. I heard Andy on the other end of the line, "Are you ok?"
"I got one! I got one! I got one! I got one!" The tears were streaming down my face. Where were these emotions coming from? He started laughing and asked again if I was okay. He tried to calm my excitement. "Take a deep breathe," I heard him say. His voice was encouraging and calming. I could hear his excitement as I told him of what had just happened. A few minutes had passed and I knew I should get out of the tree and take a look at my buck. The tree that was almost to difficult to climb before, was now just a sapling. I know now that I must have jumped out of it, because I don't remember climbing down. I am sure that all that adrenaline pumping through my system had caused my short little legs to grow longer. Those steps were nothing now. I not only got a deer, I conquered the tree as well. I hoped the squirrels were watching me now.
I dialed Andy again. He asked how big the buck was. "I'm not sure! I was too excited to count the points," I said. He was dead. I had gotten a deer and that was all that mattered to me. I was experiencing that thing called "Buck Fever." Andy said he was on his way home to help me bring it in. I wanted so badly to call Travis at school because I especially wanted to share my accomplishment with him. But school rules would have made it difficult, if not impossible, to get him out.
Then I found myself kneeling down beside the deer, thanking him for his sacrifice. I secretly cried as I thanked God for his gift to me, a gift that would give me more than I would realize at that moment. It seemed like forever before Andy finished the twenty-minute drive home. I met him at the garage. "C'mon, let's go get him!" I said.
We headed out to where the deer had fallen. I was trying to explain everything that had taken place, but I couldn't. He asked again, "How big?"
"I don't know," I replied.
As we came upon the spot where the deer was lying, I pointed to him, but it was difficult to separate his outline from the muddy field. Then Andy saw him and his face said it all. I think his eyes became a little misty as well. He counted the points, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine. Nine points. I had no idea that the deer was a nine pointer. It took both of us to drag my very own "trophy" buck to the tractor, where we loaded him in the bucket. Andy snapped a few photos, hugged me and told me how proud he was of me. What a terrific gift it was to share this moment with him. I still had no idea of what I had done or what would lie ahead for me.
The afternoon dragged on. I picked up our youngest daughter, Mikayla, at school, and told her of my success. She can't wait to take her own deer someday and I knew at that moment that I wanted to be with her when she did. She was so proud of me. Kelsea, who is seventeen, and not into hunting, even offered her praises and support of me. Still, I had to wait for Travis. He was the one that I wanted to share this with so badly. After all, he did put up; the stand, loaned me his clothes, and helped me get ready. He was also the one that gave me the desire to go hunting again. How would he feel about my buck? I thought I knew my son pretty well and I was certain that he would be happy for me.
By now, what was left of the evening light was quickly sinking in the western sky. Andy picked Travis up from basketball practice and said nothing about my hunt. Andy wanted to give me the opportunity to tell my son of my accomplishments. I stood beside my deer as they pulled into the drive. It was getting dark quickly and all I could see was the white letting on his letter jacket and his outline in the truck. The lettering started moving up and down at a frantic pace. I knew he had seen that I had gotten a deer. The truck did not come to a complete stop before he leaped out of it. His mouth was wide open and his eyes were beaming. "MOM...," I vanished somewhere into his letter jacket. He wrapped his arms around me and spun me around and around. My feet didn't touch the ground. Neither did his. He then took a long look at my buck, counted the points, and hugged me again. "I am so proud of you," he said to me, "let me field dress him for you."
That moment in time will never be lost for me. It was better than I had hoped for. The one who wanted a big deer the most was so ecstatic that I had gotten one. I knew, without a doubt, that we had raised a fine young man, one with an enormous heart, a genuine love of hunting and a sincere love for his family. What a gift God gave to me that day. What a gift I have in my family everyday.
