Forty Years

We got our first decent snow of the year on Sunday night. Since we're coming to the end of the rut and I hadn't taken a buck yet, I went hunting. As you probably know from reading my blog, I love to hunt. It's not that I just want to get a trophy on the wall  (I do like big bucks) or that we need meat in the freezer or that I'm some weird killer type of person, but it's just that I love being out in nature facing the challenge, trying to out-think and outsmart some of the wariest of creatures. That, along with knowing that I'm playing a part in keeping a balance in nature, as well as providing food for the family makes it one of those things that brings me utmost joy. That's probably a big part of why I've transitioned into mainly hunting with a traditional bow. Not that it makes me any better than the next guy. It just allows me to enjoy being out there more, getting closer, and seeing things that you don't often see when you're shooting at a deer 40 or 80 or 300 yards away. That, along with the joy of shooting arrows instinctively, makes the whole panorama so much fun.

I was hunting close to the spot that I'd gotten my first buck probably 40 years ago. I remember him coming up out of the swamp. A nice 8 point chasing a doe. I had my dad's lever action .300 Savage. Somehow through all of my shaking I managed to squeeze off a perfect heart shot. BBD, or big buck down as they say, started my love for deer and deer hunting. Before that I was more into trapping and hunting for squirrels and rabbits and ground hogs. But that day opened up the door to a passion that not only has been good, but on the flip side, it also was probably one of the bigger stresses in Jenelle’s and my marriage. Not that she hasn't been supportive. She has. It's just so hard to find the balance of how much.

I thought about last Sunday when I talked to a young man at a benefit pancake dinner for lunch. The lunch was actually for a hybrid school where our son Blake attends, and so after eating we were on cleanup duty, putting tables and chairs away etc. He approached me as we were wrapping things up. He had a question about a bowstring for an old recurve that he had. Since I just love hunting and shooting with traditional bows, I was all in. After talking for a couple of minutes I could tell that I was talking to a younger me. He was passionate for deer hunting, was young in his marriage and was probably wondering why he was at a pancake dinner on November 9, when every bow hunter in their right mind was probably in the woods hunting. After all, this is the best week to hunt. But he seemed to be on the right path, eating pancakes instead of hunting.

I thought about all of this as I sat in the tree, thinking back over the hunting seasons and my marriage.

Before long I was watching a little buck chasing a doe. The design in everything is so amazing. About an hour later three does came down past my tree and about a half hour after that, here came a 10 point. I was sitting in some really thick stuff and when the buck stopped at 9 yards his vitals looked like he was in the perfect spot. There were some branches there but I thought I had a hole that I could shoot through. I shot but the arrow hit a branch and shot straight up in the air. I totally missed him. The deer trotted off and I thought to myself “well I guess I had my chance.” 

A while later a doe came by with a grunting buck behind her. Since I could only see about 30 yds in the  thick stuff, I had to make the decision to shoot or not rather quickly. As soon as I saw his beautiful antlers coming through the snow and rhododendron I decided to try to take him. As he came through a little opening at 8 yards I let my arrow fly. It looked like a good shot and it was. I was shaking and almost as excited as I was forty years ago. Maybe not quite, but I sure hope that feeling never leaves.

Looking back over those forty years between that first buck and this one, I've learned a lot. Some about hunting, but more about marriage.

The biggest issues were time. Between work and life and everything that goes on, it's easy to put your spouse at the end of the list. When you do that, you start to realize that the tension you feel totally takes the joy out of hunting. As Jenelle and I tried to figure out this path that we were walking on, we learned to appreciate each other more. Trying to hunt more when the time is less intrusive to our relationship,  or Jenelle encouraging me to hunt when the days are just right (like yesterday), we've learned to give and to take, and that has helped us grow. But more than that, we've learned that we are important to each other and we’re at the top of each other's list. 

The best part. I love her more than ever. And with that, hunting has become even more rewarding.

Who would ever think that a great marriage makes for a great hunt. 

If you're a hunter, remember that putting in the time doesn't necessarily mean time in the stand.

Good luck!