My favorite part of deer season this year was the evening of Friday, November 11. To fill in the back story, five years ago my hunting buddy and I started taking a couple of newbies hunting. They killed their first deer a year apart, a doe for Kendall and a buck for Tyler. While Tyler took a hiatus for a couple years, Kendall has been hunting his tail off with my buddy or I to get himself another deer. For four years. His attitude never faltered through the trials, tribulations and disappointments of hunt after hunt without an opportunity to harvest a legal deer. His drive to hunt and spend time in the woods with friends overcame the frustrations of deerless days. Tyler decided to join us again this season, and the aforementioned evening found a group of seven guys miles apart from each other on public land to see what luck might bring us. As I sat watching a beautiful creek bottom pinch point with about ten minutes of legal light left, I started to receive a flurry of text messages. "Deer down!", "I got one!", each from these two boys who were hunting on their own in spots chosen by themselves within a minute of one another. I have never climbed out of a tree faster in my life. I raced over to where Tyler was, as Kendall had two others en route to his aid, and helped him gut and drag his second deer ever.
When we convened at my parent's house in Richmond, as we had done many times before to skin and quarter deer together, we regaled the stories and triumphs and reliefs and laughs and exhausted, off handed jeers and jokes. I have never been a part of a deer camp as my father grew up doing in western New York, but this gave me a glimpse into the that kind of camaraderie. To watch these two kids, and especially Kendall, finally get their second deer ever (and Kendall's first buck) definitely takes a spot of the five greatest hunting moments of my life.
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I was talking with my cousin last week about his incredible rut trip to Ohio with his hunting buddies. He commented on the fact that all of the greatest relationships he has with friends and family come from the simple fact that we all share a common passion: Hunting. I agreed with him, but it wasn't until the five of us were cleaning up the shed around midnight after skinning and quartering two bucks that it hit me how right he really is. The people you hunt with, from mere acquaintances to those you have spent years worth of days in the woods beside and no matter the quarry, leave a lasting impression on you that is tough to match by other types of relationships. Even my friends who do not hunt become a part of the equation when I have the opportunity to share the harvest in the form of a meal.
I have attempted many times to put into words the characteristics and ways of this passion, but the more I try the more difficult it becomes. Maybe it is like a sunrise and sunset or the way the steam comes off of a duck swamp in that it is pretty much impossible to capture the true essence of the moment with a camera. Its just as it should be. Indescribably perfect.
Hope everyone is having a great season so far. Stay safe and happy hunting!
Best,
Royce