As a pre-school youngster, my grandson Zachery and I often watched outdoor television shows and played with his Cabela’s hunting games where hunters were required to stalk quietly through thick cover and make challenging shots on game animals. This was pure fun and fantasy, yet I looked down the road to the time when we could share outdoor adventures in the real world.
Unfortunately, Zachery’s family moved to the West coast and I only got to see him a time or two each year. We often talked about going hunting together, yet his life became filled with sport with his friends at the local school. In 2016, we invited the family to visit over Thanksgiving holiday and I realized that we could go hunting together. Since my grandson didn’t have a hunter safety certificate he wouldn’t be able to hunt, yet he could share the adventure and seemed enthusiastic to do so.
Picking the Right Stand-
I belong to a hunt club that owns more than 1,000 acres with a fair deer population so I wasn’t concerned about picking a good spot, but how to manage the conditions for an enjoyable hunt. I envisioned success as a chance to witness the dawn of daylight in the deer woods, seeing a number of deer and perhaps getting a shot. Normally I hunt a traditional spot from a tree stand, yet the ladder model I used was a single stand 16 feet high. I probably could have squeezed my grandson between my legs, yet I didn’t have a means of belting him in and the tight space could quickly become awkward.
To get a feel for deer activity I posted an HVO Spartan trail camera with text capability so that I could see game on my home computer screen. I freshened the mineral lick at the spot and was delighted to see a respectable 8-point the first afternoon. For a mountain deer, this buck was a good one, about as big as I could expect to see and I was tempted to hunt it during the last few days of the archery season. The probability of seeing that buck on opening day of the firearm season seemed slim, yet the buck passed by my camera regularly.
Gearing Up
My biggest concern on the hunt was keeping Zackery warm. The forecast was for cold weather with temperatures in the 30’s, normal for Western Maryland at that time of the year. Luckily, a Bass Pro Shop was not far away and I bought my grandson a set of insulated coveralls and found an insulated pair of boots that fit him well. We added gloves, hat, and handwarmers and I felt he was well equipped.
While going through my gear, I remembered I had a small ground blind that folded into a small package. If I used it with folding chairs, we’d be out of the wind and have a good chance of seeing game. After a great Thanksgiving dinner, I set it up in the back yard and my three grandsons had fun pretending to hunt from it. Since putting up a ground blind often alerts deer, we chose to wait until the evening before the hunt and brush it in with pine branches. All the boys helped carry gear to the blind and with the sun on the horizon everything seemed set for the great adventure.
Nature Intervenes-
I had monitored the weather all week and the forecast was for dry, cold conditions, exactly what I had hoped for. Going to bet that night, the winds were forecast to be from the west at 5-10 mph for the morning and becoming gusty in the afternoon.
I set two alarms for 4:00 am, but was awake at 3:30- too excited to sleep. I made two jugs of hot chocolate and slipped candy bars into my pack. At 4:00 I woke Zachery, a process that took several tries. We each planned to wear warm street clothes under our camo gear and he was soon up, dressed and ready to go. Our camp always had pancakes and sausage for breakfast on opening day and we downed our fill as well as caught up with the other hunter’s plans for the day. As we dressed in our camo on the porch of the cabin, leaves whistled pas us like passing doves and the wind howled. The blind I set up was more of an enclosure than a shelter like hub-style blinds.
As we approached our cherished hunting spot in the dark, the blind was completely flat. Luckily, I had brought a length of parachute cord to tie on branches and had to anchor each side to trees to keep the tent erect. The windward sides continually collapsed on us and had to repeated be re-tied. The wind not only howled, but blew exactly in the direction I expected deer to approach. I had hunted this spot for 35 consecutive openers and never experienced such hostile conditions. What was a dream for a decade had dissolved into a nightmare.
I Had Fun
As hunters, we often debate the meaning of hunting success and the events of this morning could not have been farther from my expectations. As we finally got back to my truck, closed the door and enjoyed the warmth and calm of the interior, I sheepishly asked Zachery if he had fun. His face lit up with the words I’d hope to hear. “It was fun,” he said cheerfully and suddenly the challenging conditions dissolved into insignificance. As seasoned hunters we often get caught up in the mechanics of hunting and overlook the joy of just being outside with ones we love. It was a day I’ll never forget and one Zachery and I will often revisit.
