Ironic, poignant and probably a few more fitting adjectives describe what fell into my lap early this morning, on Memorial Day.
Up at 6:00 a.m., my wife and I began the morning coffee rituals and she took her recipe box from the shelf over the stove to retrieve a couple of items in preparation for her part of a picnic later this afternoon. I was sitting at the bar in the kitchen thumping the keyboard to try and catch up on some writing projects that were overdue when I heard her exclaim, “Awww, look what I found.”
On one side of a scrap piece of typing paper was her recipe for onion rings, and on the other was the handwritten first draft lead-in to an article that our son, Wilson, wrote for a magazine… Tennessee Sportsman, I think.
Even though I can’t remember which edition the article was published, I do recall the hunt. It was the opening day of The Volunteer State’s archery season in 2007. We were hunting a farm in Sugar Tree, not far from where Interstate 40 crosses the Tennessee River. Wil was 15 at the time he experienced this hunt. We lost him in August 2018.
A little bit of history around the following episode bares sharing. At the time, I was the Director of Marketing for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. I had become friends with Ronnie Ballinger, who was a heavy equipment operator for the TWRA. He owned a farm in Sugartree, which was sandwiched in between Heart’s Desire hunting club, the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge and former NFL lineman Trey Teague’s farm. Ballinger and Teague had invited me to hunt and bring my son, Wil. That summer, Wil and I joined several others as we worked on food plots on Ballinger’s and Teague’s farms in preparation for the fall’s deer season.
A few weeks after the hunt that follows, I hosted Bowhunter Magazine’s Editor Dwight Schuh and cameraman Larry D. Jones as they filmed for Bowhunter TV. This was right on the heels of a hunt that Dwight and Larry had made for Yukon moose. They were rightfully excited about their hunt, the most spectacular hunts I’ve ever seen on TV.
I can recall Larry connecting his camera to my television in the den of our house in Brentwood. He played back the original footage of Dwight arrowing a bull at about five feet and surviving the ensuing charge. We stood in a semicircle in front of the TV in my den while Dwight, Larry, Wil and I watched in awe. I’ll never forget how Dwight visibly got another rush of adrenalin as he narrated the unfolding hunt. It was a special memory that I was able to share with my son and these two legendary bowhunters.
Re-publishing the article on my blog is a fitting memorial to our son, Wil, who was an avid deer and turkey hunter… following in his father’s footsteps in both the woods and a career in outdoors writing. Being a re-creation of a first draft, I left the little imperfections intact.
Wilson’s Bowhunt
One pleasant morning during very early bow season, I once again found myself in my Summit climber for the first hunt of the season. The sun and temperature began to rise as I watched for the slightest movement. The freezer was getting low after the summer months, and I was looking to address the problem.
I was overlooking a drainage ditch in the bottom of a hollow with steep sides and a definite deer crossing at the shallowest point. I picked a straight, limbless pine thirty yards form the crossing, well within my comfortable shooting distance.
Scouting the property earlier that summer I had noticed multiple deer tracks leading from the ditch towards my tree and continuing up the ridge. The sign was fresh. I was positioned in an ideal spot and the combination of anxiousness and excitement had me very ready for my first kill of the season.
Several hours after daylight, slight rustling from across the hollow peaked my interest. I quickly distinguished the now noticeable walking sound from a mere squirrel or bird. Dinner was walking my way.
I reached for my bow hanging beside me, arrow already knocked. Luckily I had time to stand before the first doe came into view across the divide. The two now visible does moseyed down the opposite hill toward the crossing and continued toward my stand, perfectly in line with my plan.
I waited until their heads ducked behind trees to draw my bow, only to find that the rubber tubing holding my peep sight aligner had dry rotted and broken.
I decided against the now fleeting shot opportunity and let down the Mathews.
After this experience and many like it, I have made it a priority to prepare and sometimes over-prepare for archery season.
With fall soon approaching, all serious bowhunters with the intent of having a successful season must spend an adequate ammount of time preparing their gear and practicing with their bow.
Bow hunting offers a great challenge because of the limited range of even the most advanced archery gear. This is why preparation and practice are imperative to a successful season….
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