Deer Hunting

These are a couple of the big boys roaming my land. I captured them with my trail camera and only posted them to get your attention.
Thirty or so years ago, a buddy of mine told me that his grandfather had once told him that if you hunt deer for nine days just for that split second when you pull the trigger you should probably find something else to do to occupy your time. The return on the investment wasn't worth it. For some reason I never forgot that.
I first started hunting deer when I was 15. I got to go with my dad the last 2 days of the 9 day season. There weren't many deer back in the 60's and by the last weekend, what few that were left were hiding out pretty good. I wore hand me down clothes, socks stuffed in old shoes and overshoes and stood in the snow carrying a gun I had never shot. Never did see any deer but dang it was cold!! My dad asked me later why I kept hunting considering the lack of deer and lousy clothing I was stuck with. I guess I was just too stubborn or maybe I just liked hanging out with my dad and my uncles Wally, Lenny and Vern. They enjoyed each others company more than they did shooting deer. What I group of guys to be able to hang out with. I miss all of them so much.
When I was 21, my dad bought me a used 30.06 semi-auto rifle. It was used but was in good shape. We also started to see some deer. The way we hunted in the woods was to get out to our stands in the dark and sit all day. I'd pass the time by reliving my life (that would take 5 minutes), thinking about work, wondering if the other guys were as cold as me and looking at birds and whatever creatures would wander by. Then, out of nowhere, a deer would appear like a grey ghost in the morning mist. I'd wonder how the heck did he get so close without me seeing him? My heart would pound so hard, I just knew he could hear it. As long as my heart keeps pounding, I'm not going to worry about the return on the investment.
Next Friday my son and the guys will arrive for Saturday's opener. The hunting party is changing again. One guy's gone but we've added a new hunter. We can tell him all our stories and plot our strategy for opening morning, which basically consists of all of us sitting in trees....
Opening morning I'll walk out to my stand in the dark. I'll sit there and, of course, relive my life. I'll look down at that old 30:06 I'm cradling in my arms. I'll think of my dad, I'll think about my sons and I'll wait for that grey ghost to appear out of the morning's mist......