The guy to shoot the deer, his name is Ron Zimmer. Ron has a true passion for hunting and I have been lucky enough to share the woods with him and call him a friend for over 20 years. Ron is a High School teacher and wrestling coach for his chosen profession. He spends as much time hunting as he possibly can and he has been blessed with being successful on Thanksgiving. That is also a time that school is not in session and Mr. Zimmer can take to the woods more.
In 2005 on Thanksgiving morning it was 16 degrees and very frosty and Ron had the time to go hunting before his families big meal for Thanksgiving day. I happened to be along with Ron as it is a tradition for us to hunt that morning if only for a few hours. We talked about where each of would hunt as we drove to the woods. Ron was going to hunt on Bill’s ridge and I was going to hunt the valley behind the lake. It was 8:30 am when I heard the shot and I drove my Kawasaki Mule to Ron’s stand to start getting the buck out due to us having to hurry for lunch. I knew he had shot a good one when I heard his 12 gauge shoot that morning. We have hunted together since we were young boys and had served in the U.S. Marines together. When I rode up to him I could see his grin and he pointed towards his buck. A beautiful 8 pointer that field dressed 210 lbs and his antlers scored 145 B/C with long tines and thick bases. Here is the 8 pt buck for 2005 and also the 9 pt buck that scores 158 B/C that Ron got this year in 2006 on Thanksgiving break.
The hunter with so much to be thankful for on Thanksgiving though is me. All disabled hunters know what I am about to talk about. I am a paraplegic that loves to hunt and be outdoors’ all that I can. It has been 13 years since I got confined to a wheelchair, but in all of that time Ron Zimmer and my brother John have never once forgotten to hunt with me. They come to my house at 4:30 am and help me to load my 4 wheeler and gear. He along with John always help me to get my coveralls on and make sure I am not barefooted when I let them off at their stand. (That has happened before) Yes I am very independent, but without my brother John and Ron my time in the woods would be limited and not near as fulfilling. There are not words to describe what their help means to me. The trophy bucks are not the true reward. It is the friends like these that would not allow me to stay home even if I wanted to not go.

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