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A Families Tradition
As long as I can remember hunting season has been on our family vacation list. It was something we all looked forward to, cold mornings, long days and family around the campfire. We would scout our areas for months trying to see where the deer were moving to and from. We would spend endless days at the rifle range sighting in our rifles to pinpoint accuracy.
The 2009 deer season started the same as it had for years. My family would head up a couple days early to get the camp ready for the rest of the family’s arrival. I was unable to get up to deer camp early due to work restraints. The entire family had arrived and we spent the evening catching up on the past year before we called it a night. It was now time to turn in for a restless night wondering what opening day would bring.
O dark thirty rolls around and I crawled out of the sleeping bag with excitement. As the rest of the camp started to rise from the darkness the anticipation grew. Lanterns, Generators, and lights made an echo as we prepared for opening day. After a quick bite of hot oatmeal and a steaming cup of coffee we loaded up and headed out into the darkness. The race to get to your secret spot before any other hunter was on.
As the sun started to rise in the sky, the brisk morning turned warm and I knew it was time to hunt. As I sat next to a big digger pine motionless, waiting for the deer to move and that trophy of a life time to appear. Waiting and waiting the morning grew long and the sound of gun shots filled the air, some far and some near wondering if one of those shots might be apart of my hunting party. In the quietness of the morning the two way radio beeps you answer and hear the excitement “ I got one come help “. As I got my gear together headed toward there location I couldn’t help but wonder how big is it.
The celebration lasted for days. Pictures were being taken and stories were told. I would sleep much easier knowing that the hard work and preparation had worked with a hanging deer in the trees. It wasn’t the size of the rack that matters it’s the meat in the freezer that made me happy.
Although the days went buy the white game bags were filling up the trees in camp. Trying to find something to do like fishing or reading a book to taking cat naps was easy. I would rather spend the time with my family trying to find them a deer so the can fill there tags.
After a week or two in the deer woods it was time to return to reality. We packed are trucks and trailers and made sure deer camp was cleaned and empty. We would say our goodbyes, shake hands and give hugs and the familiar “see you next year” was heard. For those who hadn’t filled there tags it was going to be evening and weekend hunts for the remainder of the season.
As the families departed the camp and headed home the thoughts of what next year would bring stirred in the mind. I immediately requested vacation and time off for the fallowing year and the tedious planning process started all over again. The deer season will be a part of my families’ traditions for generations to come. Now that the 2009 deer season has come to an end, I was unable to harvest a deer but it was now time to start looking forward to deer season of 2010, and hopefully I would be able to meat in the freezer…
Topic: Trying my hand at Writing (Read 209 times)
