Huntsmen: Part Three

Deuce and Doug crest the hill behind me. Deuce makes his way down to Mike and I, he tells everyone to sit tight while he devises a plan, he knows his land better than any of us and he doesn’t want to spook the deer any more than he already is. Another note I’ve taken about the hunting community is the respect they have for others and their property, Deuce’s main concern in this scenario is to not disturb someone else’s property while we are tracking this deer. He asks where I had seen the deer enter the wood line, then proceeds to give us marching orders into strategic locations that will inevitably surround this deer. We hold overwatch on the thicket until sunset. Deuce comes around and pulls us out of our spots and we head back to the barn for the night. The plan is to go in at first light and this should be a recovery mission. I’m sick to my stomach at this point, wondering what I could’ve done better or differently to mitigate a situation like this. The forecast for the next day is a high chance of rain and temps in the mid 40’s.

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Deuce notices me gathering my thoughts and offers some words of encouragement, “Brother, you killed that deer, I just know it. You wait, we’re gonna find him…”

Owney interrupts, “Then, that’s when the real party starts! You get your first buck, and a nice one at that…”

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The following morning, the rain held off, we all congregate at the barn prior to pushing out at first light. Deuce pulls everyone in and makes the call that we will all post up, it seems as if we’re getting our operation order. We will surround the thicket like the night before, but this time, Deuce and Mike are going in and searching “every square inch”. This is no easy search, every square inch of that thicket is also covered by a plant that they call Flora Rose, which is a beautiful flower, I’m sure, but trudging through them is a nightmare. They can grow to be giants and branch out all over, they’re completely covered in thorns, these things have the ability to stick in and rip against you. We sit while they search for about an hour and a half, Owney packs up and starts moving toward my position. Owney and I begin a conversation that I can’t even recall the topic when I get a FaceTime call.

“Don’t mean to be rude, Owney, but this is Deuce,” I say.

I answer and there’s Deuce’s face, serious at first then breaks into a smile, “Hey Wade, I found somethin’ for ya!” There lies my first buck, a nine-point, Owney and I are jumping up and down, basically frolicking around through the open field screaming nonsense at the top of our lungs. Again, I’m almost certain Owney may have edged me out a little bit on the excitement but we were both very amped up! I laid my rifle down, took a knee and gave thanks to God, then we packed up and headed in there to aid in the recovery. When I came across him in real time, I realized how magnificent he truly was, truly one of the most beautiful animals I’ve ever seen. He was a mature deer as you could see the gray become prevalent around his snout and eyes, he was as majestic as I recall when I first seen him crest that hill. His antlers, unique and wide; his tines shoot up straight and hook to the right at the tips and he had a ‘crab claw’ antler.

I was thoroughly impressed by the accuracy of my rifle, upon examining the wound channels, both of my shots made impact. The first being a low, double lung shot and the second landed right in front of the deer’s shoulder. This is where the training with my rifle and keeping in practice with my marksmanship have come to pay off. If I didn’t know where my hold was at different ranges and have a gathered understanding of how the 350 Legend flies, I would’ve missed.

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself and say, “Man, I’m really starting to think Kerns’ buck curse is legit.” It seemed as though as soon as he left, all the bucks started coming out (Kernsy, I apologize, again, I know this is purely coincidental. You have to admit, it is kind of funny, though). I dressed my deer then Mike and I drag him out to a clearing where Deuce could pull the truck up and take him to the barn.

What a rush! The ups and downs of hunting are real, and I’ve become a direct participant. The moments prior to the shots, the shots and the follow-on tracking- all the time in between had me at extreme highs and extreme lows. I experienced moments of pride and moments of doubt, the night that we left him in the thicket had me so sick to my stomach that I felt physically ill. Nonetheless, this moment will be forever etched into my memory. The sentiment of this memory is derived from all that really is behind this hunt, I’m talking years of service in the Marines, the emotional toll of losing friends during and after active-duty, some of the events that happened in service that leave us forever changed. Each and every person on this hunt had overcome so much to be united with one another today and it all culminates, for me, into getting my first buck and enjoying the celebration with my closest and most loyal friends. It’s moments like this that make it all worth it, makes all those tough times, hard-fought battles pay off in the deliverance of a beautiful moment like this. To look around and see genuine happiness on everyone’s face provides me with a feeling of elation, a feeling of fulfillment, knowing that, even if just for this moment, I know that my guys aren’t in a dark place, they’re here with me in revelry.

That night, we all stand outside the barn, reliving great moments and telling tales of how we dealt with the bad as we harvest my deer. Tonight’s a big night as Doug and Sherry have made arrangements for a dinner with everyone, so we are all on this harvest together. We make quick work of it, get cleaned up and we’re on our way to meet up with everyone. Deuce and I ride together, on this particular ride we’re discussing travel plans.

“I’m thinking about heading out tomorrow, brother. This way I can get everything set-up and get some rest before going to work on Monday,” I divulge to Deuce.

Deuce replies, “Yeah, I’m thinking the same…, hold on, someone’s calling me…” He fumbles around in his pocket and unsheathes his phone, “It’s Kernsy.”

The conversation unravels and I can tell by the parts that I hear that Kerns’ hunt was unsuccessful. Deuce wraps up the call and concludes, “I think Kerns is coming back!”

Being the die-hard hunter that he is, Kerns is making the trip back to the farm to finish out the week with us in hopes of landing a good deer before heading home and breaking his ‘Ohio Buck Curse’. This reignites the excitement and foils what we had THOUGHT our travel plans were, “Gah, I hope he gets a record-breaker,” I say to Deuce.

Dinner goes great, we all break bread together and fill up on copious amounts of food as Doug and Sherry have brought us to an all-you-can eat buffet. This is my first experience with crab legs, it’s a very awkward process of getting to the meat, but when I do, it’s very rewarding. Knowing that this will be our final interaction of the trip with Doug and Sherry, we impart our gratitude and goodbyes. I try to pull Doug to the side and express to him how the impact this week has had on us is so much more complex than I believe he even realizes. I try to talk and get choked up, all I can find the courage to put to spoken word is, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The things you’ve done for us make this week possible and I don’t know that you understand what exactly you do for us.” That’s all I can impart before I have to crack a stupid joke and throw on a smile while I cover the tears welling in my eyes, because, well, that’s just what I do.

Kerns’ arrival is around 11 that night and that’s around the time that we return from dinner. We meet up at the barn and then proceed to the lodging that JR Lerby and his family had donated for this week. This community has accepted us and been very welcoming. We all get in and hit the rack because that 4:15 alarm is right around the corner.

Just as I suspected, the alarm rings and today’s the hardest day not to silence it. We all shake it off and go about our morning routines and inevitably wind up at the barn, reunited with the crew for one final day of hunting. I decide to sit in The Chalet one last time and let Kerns have The Bottom because of the information that JR had given us about spotting a monster buck coming out of that freshly cut corn field heading directly towards that tree stand. We give our good lucks and head out.

The luck didn’t pan out. I didn’t see any movement at The Chalet besides the two deer I spooked sitting next to it when I was on my way in. Kerns seen nothing, we all had similar reports, Owney and Mike spotted a few doe and that’s it. At this point, we all reconvene in the barn and prepare to say goodbye to Mike and Owney as they have tickets to the Steelers game the following day and will start their long journey home afterward. We say our goodbyes, it never gets easier, I see tears well up in Owney’s eyes as he turns away, “’Til next year, fellas.”

Kerns would wind up going out that evening to no avail, while he was doing his sit, Deuce and I tore down the blinds and began to clean up. One more night in this sleepy, quiet town and we would be on the road headed back to our respective homes. I’ve never been good at goodbyes; who is? We all have one last reminiscent talk in the barn and head back to get a night of rest before putting wheel to pavement; I’m excited to be back with my family, but man, I’m going to miss these guys.