Thanksgiving two days early!

Last week I was on vacation and despite getting some much needed rest and the pile of wood in the side yard split I was disappointed that I didn't succeed in harvesting a deer. As you all know I missed a doe on the first day of the season and the deer just seemed to disappear the following days. On Friday night I decided to sit out back and it didn't take long before the deer were all around me. I had 5 does and the biggest buck I have ever seen while out hunting. After what seemed like an eternity they were finally coming close enough for me to take a shot and just as I was calming my self down to do so my neighbor's kid came screaming down the hill on his quad and in disbelief I watched all 6 deer disappear over the ridge line.

Despite it being a short work week my schedule is packed solid with customers wanting to get their maintenance done before the long holiday weekend. While I love this time of year leaving for work in the dark and after a long day coming home in the dark really cuts into my hunting time, actually it completely eliminates it!

Yesterday and today I began counting down the hours until Thursday morning when I could once again settle into the woods with my daughter for our annual Thanksgiving tree hugging convention. And yes Rebecca doesn't even flinch anymore at the mention of Thanksgiving morning hunts despite the never ending memory of our first turkey day as a married couple. If you don't know that story let me know I am comfortable with talking about it now that we have been happily married 18 years!

Today was going well and before I knew it I was on my way home. I was sitting in traffic on the Parkway watching the deer taunting me on the side of the road for what seemed like an eternity. But once the trucks picking up all the road kill cleared the right lane traffic began flowing and before I knew it I was almost home. I called and had Ariel check what time sunset was and much to my delight I had an entire hour to sit in the woods when I pulled in the driveway. In a flash my work shirt was off and my hunting jacket was on, I grabbed my trusty .35cal and ran to my tree stand. It wasn't going to be a long hunt but the fact of the matter is we had entered into the magic hour and I couldn't wait to see if there were any deer in my neck of the woods!

It felt good to be in my tree stand, all my thoughts and concerns from the work day were distant memories and the crisp air with a hint of smoke from peoples wood stoves made for a relaxing, stress free outing. I kept watching my right flank expecting to see the deer to appear at any moment but they never came. Today they decided to surprise me and came from the left. It was a rare occasion in that I heard the deer before I saw them - they sounded like Captain Caveman stomping through the woods and I half expected to see people due to the amount of noise. I waited for the doe to jump over the stone wall and when she was only 15 feet away I took aim and gave thanks that my family was just provided with fresh, healthy venison for the upcoming year. As I was composing myself I turned to see that there was 2 more deer coming over the wall. Once again I calmed my breathing, took aim at the front deer and gently squeezed the trigger. Once again my aim was true.

I realized that I still had my cell phone in my pocket so I called to share the good news with my kids. Shortly after Rebecca called me and once I told her the good news I asked if she would take a walk out back to assist with getting the deer to the house. Not only was I blessed with 2 beautiful deer to feed my family with I have also been blessed with a wife who appreciates natural food and is willing to assist with the processing of the animals and this time she actually helped with dragging them out of the woods - There is no man luckier than me and that's a fact!