Christmas came on the 26th this year. I took John Michael deer hunting the day after Christmas and I had no idea how special a day it would become. We get to the hunting land about an hour before daylight, gear up and head for the stand like always. Half way there JM starts complaining about his stomach hurting - I told him it was just nerves and he would be fine. We walk a little further and he doubles over and says he really feels sick. I finally said "fine, lets go back to the truck", thinking that our hunt is ruined because of a little belly-ache. By the time we get back to the truck he is puking his little guts out and I realize that he really is sick - smart aren't I. We end up watching the sun come up from the windshield of the truck and after a couple of more dry-heaves I convince him to head to the stand. I know what you are thinking, "what kind of dad makes their kid go hunting when he is sick?", but I had a really good feeling about this particular morning and this is not the first time he has gotten sick on an early hunt. So I'm not perfect... Anyway, we are not in the blind 30 minutes before he starts feeling bad again so he asks if he can lay on the ground. Ofcourse being the sensitive dad that I am, I told "yeah sure, whatever". Bless his heart, he fell asleep after a few minutes and I am feeling like crap for forcing my son to sit in the woods with me when he would obviously rather be in his bed. Wouldn't you know it, around 9:30 a nice 4 pointer walks out and starts feeding not 20 yards from the stand. It took me a good solid minute to wake John Michael up, but once he did he went straight into the deer hunter mode. After a long Mexican stand-off between him and the buck, a shot finally presents itself and JM made it count. I won't bother with the datails afterwards, but the boy did everything himself and I just sat back and enjoyed the moment. He started hunting when he as 4 so this had been a long time coming. I was real proud of him, not just for making the shot or sticking it out, but for the compassion and respect he showed for the deer after the shot. My oldest son on his way to becoming a Man. Thank you Lord!
