Almost Here

September 19, 2008 by: Chris

For those of us who live in the great state of Tennessee the opening day of bow season is only 7 days away. I have the fever bad this year and in my opinion there will never be a longer week known to man. I have been scouting, getting advice from friends and family, looking at aerial photos, reading topo’s, and watching hunting videos for the last two weeks - nonstop. When I close my eyes to sleep all I see are whitetails - some bucks with huge antlers and some does. For me it doesn’t matter if it is a buck or a doe, if I have made the decision to harvest an animal, my heart is racing just the same.

The memories from past seasons are playing in my eye lids when I close my eyes. I can vividly remember deer hunting with my Grandfather in Jackson County Alabama’s Paint Rock Valley. It was just him and I sitting on a huge rock while my brother and Dad were probably doing the same thing on the top of the mountain. I was watching stumps and fallen trees so intensely that my imagination would make them move just like a deer. It got the point that I could make it happen on command.

I remember harvesting my first deer, a doe. Again I was hunting with my Grandfather, my Dad, and my brother. We wore my Uncle Bill’s old farm out. We knew exactly how and when the deer moved. I shot my doe just seconds after my Dad shot a little buck less than 200 yards away. My shot wasn’t the greatest and I remember having to slide down a bluff on my rump to retrieve the animal. I was so sad and so happy looking at my trophy with my brother by my side.

Then there are the memories of hunting in Southern Illinois during the shotgun season. I harvested my biggest buck there on the same trip my Dad harvested his biggest buck. We both have them mounted and hanging in our living rooms to remind us of the good times had.

It is these memories, and the opportunity to make some more, that keep me excited about deer hunting. As the season nears I am sure I am not the only one walking down memory lane. Feel free to share with us some of your hunting stories. But above all, please be safe this season. Never let your feet leave the ground without having a safety harness on. Always let someone know where you are going and what time you plan on being back. You have many more memories to make, don’t let them slip away.