Ever so often I get letters from folks that have read an article that I have written and send their thoughts and feedback. There is also an occasional letter or email that is sent to me by people who live in ignorance and wish terrible things on me and my family due to the fact they don’t understand hunting and the reason so many of us take to the woods as often as possible. Being a woman that hunts is even worse in there eyes, that really makes me an extremely sick individual and they can’t believe that women like me even exist.

I recently received a letter from a gentleman in Bellingham WA. When I pulled it out of the P.O. Box I said to my husband, "Oh well, is this the latest death threat from another person that has a very closed mind". Jim just smiled and said, "You never know it might be a letter from another hunter this time".

I opened the letter and was very surprised at its content. It was handwritten and if you will allow me, I would really like to share it with you. I don’t usually do this but this letter touched me and I believe that every hunter that reads it will understand why I felt the need to share it.

Dear Lynne,

"I just read you fine writing "The People You Meet" in the Lady Archer. ( National Bowhunter Magazine) How wonderful to have such dear feelings for a friend.

It made me shed a tear as you wrote it from the heart. I have had friends such as you, but I am now 84 years old and I started shooting bow and arrows in 1936 and have shot all those years and am still archery hunting.

I shoot carbon arrows and my Mathews Bow. I am looking forward to the coming elk season and God willing I’ll make it. I always sit in the woods and talk to my departed friends for most all are gone now, but they are still in my thoughts and memories of wonderful times past.

I too will soon join them. Maybe that faint noise you hear while sitting in your tree stand will be this old bow hunter dropping by to say "hello". Though my eyes have dimmed and my feet stumble with age, I’ll try to run a large deer under your stand. If you shoot your arrow and by remote chance miss, we will both have a good laugh.

May God bless you Lynne. I will call you my friend also."

Kindest Regards,
"Your Friend"
Jack

Now you understand the need to share the letter. We all have friends or loved ones that are no longer with us that we take to the stand or blind every time we go in our hearts, thoughts, and memories.

Hunters are a very special breed of people they look at things much different than most. They cherish every day, they stop and listen when the big Canadians fly south in the fall. They see the chubby groundhogs on the sides of the road that most people are oblivious to. Their keen eye’s can pick up the slightest glimpse of a whitetail deer as it fades into the woodline. They live and love on a deeper level than most. They are in tune with all things wild that are far removed from loud noise and pavements. To me it is a privilege and an honor to be a hunter and what makes that even more special is when others except me for who and what I am.

Jack, it is a privilege to have a person such as you call me "friend". The knowledge you carry with your years of experience is a priceless thing. I hope someone is willing to listen to you while you share your stories and passion with them.

I wish you many more elk seasons and much success. When the day comes and you walk to the other side it would be an honor for you to drop by my stand. No matter how you speak to me, on the whisper of the wind, in the cry of the hawk, or the rustle of the fall leaves, I will be listening.

Thank you for your letter Jack, it sits on my desk as a daily reminder that hunters are the truest of people and the dearest of friends.