Remember when you were younger and you went On that special trip that you will never forget? That is where I took my boy this weekend!
Every year I try to build a new bow to take to Denton Hill. This year was no exception, the only problem was I didn't pull it out the spray booth until 11 o'clock Friday night! At 5 o'clock Saturday morning we were loaded up and ready to make it 3 1/2 hour drive to God's country close to where I grew up. I could tell my boy was nervous because I answered questions for those 3 1/2 hours! He wanted to know if I would know anybody there and I told him that if I didn't we sure would by the time we were ready to leave!
When we pulled in, we had to park high upon the hill and by the time we stopped my boy had his St. Joe's River longbow in his hand and was ready to go. I explained to him that it would take me about 45 minutes to make the new string for my bow and he would have to be patient. About 20 minutes into twisting and answering questions I saw this Chevy diesel pool next to me with a triad gang sticker in the window. Low and behold it was Charlie, Manny, Drew, and Nate, All friends that I met last year and shot the course with! I explained to them that my boys only concern was people were going to laugh at him because he's a little "rusty". They assured him that at the end of the day he would be the one laughing at us! We parted ways in hope that we would see each other later in the day! That little conversation was all it took to get rid of the butterflies out of his belly.
After a a few hours of shooting my boy wanted to know if we could find my friends and shoot a course with them? I explained to him that with a a few thousand people there it would be hard to find them again. It wasn't 15 minutes later that I felt somebody trying to pull some arrows out of my quiver in one of the tents and turned around and saw it was Drew! He asked if we would like to shoot the iron Man course and I had to run to catch up to my boy! We stopped along the way so Thaddeus could get to shoot the spinning target. Everybody there made him feel very good about his shooting ability.
On the way up the hill we were talking arrow building, bow building, and shared some hunting stories when I looked up and saw Drew and Thaddeus carrying a conversation like they've known each other for years.
I was happy to see every body one by one explain the rules of safety and shooting techniques to him. Like most eight year olds he seems to listen to others more then he will listen to his parents! That is okay though because I remember when I was eight!
Everybody took their turn taking him a few steps closer to the target and helping him with focus, draw, anchor, and release. You have no idea how happy I was see him soak it all in.
After a a few more targets I Look at Thadeus wearing something around his neck. I asked him what he had there and it was a necklace with a Bearclaw on it from a bear that Drew had shot with the bow that he was carrying that day! I can tell you that my boy knew he had something very special! Thanks Drew!
We ended up shooting a few more targets and shared a couple stories before we snapped a few pictures and parted ways.
We had to sprint down off the hill to make it to the eagle eye competition that he is had qualified for earlier in the day. We made it there just in time for him to shoot and qualify to go to the next round. After he hit the target he walked over to me and said how his necklace has "mojo"! The final shoot got delayed due to rain and we weren't able to make it back but he was very good about it!
Later on it was back to the rotating targets where Thaddeus was on a roll. He wanted to get a picture to show his new friends how much better he Has become! "Mojo"
After a rough night sleep in the vehicle we were up and moving to the top of the hill on the ski lift! We had the course to ourselves so I let him shoot every arrow out of his quiver at every target the whole way down!
When we finished the course we looked across the mountains and he told me it was weird because it feels like he has been here before? I just smiled and we walked off the hill and back down to the range!
On the way home I looked in the rearview mirror to see Thaddeus staring and holding the Bearclaw that Drew had gave him! I don't believe that Disney World could have brought him the same joy that this trip did!
I made some new friends and ran into some old ones but I would like to personally thank fellow trad gangers, Charlie, Drew, Nate, and Manny for the memories that they have given my son and I. You are all great leaders And may God bless you!
Thad
Topic: This is what its all about! (Read 544 times)
