With the wheeler trailer secured and the truck loaded with all my hunting gear I was feeling plenty of anxiety as I started the 3 hr drive to central Wisconsin for the 2010 deer opener. This would be the first time in 25 years that I would not be hunting with my Dad since his passing Nov 25th last year.
My mind was flooded with all of the memories of hunting with Dad all those years. I remember how proud of me he was when I shot my first deer, it was a yearling doe but that didnt matter to him it was my first kill and he was proud. I remembered how I thought my Dad was the greatest shot in the world, he never missed, and it didnt matter how far away the deer were he always dropped them. I thought back to the lessons on stand placement, deer habits, how to read the terrain for funnels, the all important lesson on tracking, and the right way to gut one out when you got to the end of the trail. I remembered having to work my way up thru the ranks on deer drives. First as a middle of the line driver and not being able to carry a gun, then to an edge driver and being able to shoot as the deer would bust out the edge of the cover after being pushed by the middle drivers, to the first time Dad trusted my shooting skills and put me in as a poster. What a great day that was.
As I grew up and got older it was always important to me to try to give back to Dad in any way I could to show him appreciation for all he had done for me. Last year I built him a brand new tower blind and when it was complete I sent him a picture with my cell phone. He called me right back and I could hear a bit of crackle in his voice as he thanked me. As luck would have it opening morning of the 2009 season was foggy and Dad could only hunt Saturday and Sunday then had to go home. He never got a chance to kill a deer from his new stand before he passed two days later. So my mission this year was to sit in his stand with his 30.06 and shoot a buck he would be proud of.
My 9 pointer and Dads 30.06
Opening morning had me in the stand in the pre dawn darkness I was locked and loaded just waiting for legal shooting time. As the sky became a blaze with reds and yellows of the comming sun I began to hear movement. It seemed like forever but shooting time finally came and I was on red alert. Not long had past before I saw the ear flicker of a deer. Thru the scope I could tell it was a doe and she was giving me the tell tale sign that she wasn’t alone because she kept looking behind her. As I scanned her back trail I noticed a set of antlers and my heart began to pound. As they made their way out of the thicket there was not one buck but THREE following the doe and two of them were shooters!! I took a deep breath and centered the crosshairs on the biggest one and let the .06 bark. The buck barely made it 5 yards before it went down. At that moment I could feel my Dad standing behind me with a big smile on his face and I could almost hear him say “nice shot son”
It was hard to contain myself and not run right down and check out my trophy, but the doe and other 2 bucks were just standing there wondering what just happend so I just decided to sit still and wait till they left the area. It ended up being awhile before I was able to put my tag on that buck because for the next 2 hours I had a merry-go-round of bucks crusing the area. All in all I ended up seeing 8 different bucks and one doe. I gotta think Dad just kept sending them my way.
memorial in the stand
This season was very special for me I got a chance to sit in my Dads stand shooting his gun and take a buck he would have been very pround to put his tag on. I had hoped this day would never come, but we cant stop time.
I miss you Dad