2007 has been a special year in pointing out how short life is for us all and what the most important things truly are in life.  Time shared with family and friends are the most important thing to me and I am not sure if it is because I am older or due to me being a father and having kids.  Maybe it is due to both of those things that deer camp and deer hunting is a such a quality time for us.  My brother John, Ron Zimmer, and I have been going to deer camp and deer hunting for the past 25 years.  It used to be the most important thing to us was keeping our secrets about trophy bucks and our hunting spots from outsiders.  But now it is actually in sharing those same things and helping people to get to experience what we have been so blessed with.  My brother and ron and I have got to hunt with our kids and been able to see them reach their goals of harvesting deer and now being able to hunt on their own.  Now my kids are in their late teens  and Sarah is 20 and in college doing her pre-med.  My son Sheldon and her our both so busy in their schedules that the deer camp is really one of the only times that we are not hustling off to a soccer game or to work.  It is so special to me that they still set aside time for this each year and every year I am afraid it will be our last as they grow up and take new interests.  But this year my daughter and son both brought friends and wanted them to experience it all.  My daughter brought her friend David and here is how their hunt went.      

Sarah and David went to the place we had picked out in a niche on a ridge; that made a funnel point for deer going around the lake to a bedding sanctuary.  They heard lots of deer in the dark and saw several doe walking along the tip of the ridge.  They had waited makin sure that a big buck was not after the doe as the rut was winding down.  After an hour the doe had bedded about 50 yards from them just over the ridge top.  They snuck closer as the wind was strong and from the right directionn to coneal them from the deer.  Sarah said it was so exciting as they got to within 20 yards of the deer and they did not know suspect they were even around.  They selected  the largest doe and harvested her with one shot!  What a great hunt and what an excellent way to see our hunting heritage continue to grow.  I was so happy for her and David and it was our second day of hunting so it was something they worked for and earned.  Here are some pictures of them.  It was also the day of her sorority semi-formal and she was mad at me as she broke a nail field dressing the doe.  Yes she did it and I was so proud of her for the job she did dressing it out.  Love ya Sarah!   

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post