Most of the old timers here remember, but for the benefit of the new folks, two years ago, about this time of year, my wife, Misty, suffered a near fatal ruptured brain aneurysm, while on her first deer hunt. Through the grace of God, and with the help of a first class rescue squad, paramedic flight crew, and the doctors and nurses at Inova hospital in Farifax, she survived and continues to improve to this day.
A few weeks ago, she received an invitation to attend a deer hunt through Sheltering Arms Hospital in Richmond (where she did her rehab). The hunt would be a traditional Southern deer hunt, with hounds and buckshot. I asked her if she wanted to go, and she responded "YES!"
She immediately claimed my new Mossberg 20 ga as "her" gun. We checked it out with buckshot, got her a "hunting coat" and waited.
The hunt was held a couple of days after Thanksgiving. Since we live in Fredericksburg, and the hunt was being held down in Providence Forge (New Kent County), we got up early, and drove down. When we arrived at the club house we found a warm greeting and the wonderful smells of breckfast being cooked. The typical jokes ran back and forth.
We checked in and drew our stand. Since she's disabled, and still new to hunting I elected to stay with her on her stand. The club, I'm sorry I never did find out which one, had great facilities and we were able to drive right up to the stand so she didn't have far to walk (she uses a walker). We got her situated and I parked the truck and walked back. We got our guns loaded and waited.
It wasn't long before I heard the tailgates drop, and the dogs hit. For the rest of the morning there were dogs running all around us, and shots were ringing out, but we never saw a deer. Misty bless her, kept asking me what was going on, commented on this and that. I'd "shhhhhhhsh" her, and in a few minutes she'd ask me something else. Praise God, she is still with me to ask questions. I just grinned and answered her and told her "be quiet" again. It was kinda like hunting with a kid.
I thought sure when lunch time came she'd want to go home. She was cold and her back was hurting, so I figured she'd want to pack it in. Not at all. We went back to the club house, had a great lunch the fellows from the club had prepared. At least six deer had been killed, including a pair of eight pointers, and one big six pointer.
I asked her if she wanted to go home, and she looked at me like I was from Mars. "Of course not" she replied. So we went back for the afternoon drive. Again we didn't see anything, but heard a couple of good chases. As evening came on she finally said she was getting really cold, so we packed up and went back to the club house and checked out and drove home.
Nope. No big buck killed. Just a good time and an opportunity to praise God for His mercy and His grace.
Misty on stand that morning. She was getting pretty cold by this point.
And a couple of deer killed that morning on the first drive.
A few weeks ago, she received an invitation to attend a deer hunt through Sheltering Arms Hospital in Richmond (where she did her rehab). The hunt would be a traditional Southern deer hunt, with hounds and buckshot. I asked her if she wanted to go, and she responded "YES!"
She immediately claimed my new Mossberg 20 ga as "her" gun. We checked it out with buckshot, got her a "hunting coat" and waited.
The hunt was held a couple of days after Thanksgiving. Since we live in Fredericksburg, and the hunt was being held down in Providence Forge (New Kent County), we got up early, and drove down. When we arrived at the club house we found a warm greeting and the wonderful smells of breckfast being cooked. The typical jokes ran back and forth.
We checked in and drew our stand. Since she's disabled, and still new to hunting I elected to stay with her on her stand. The club, I'm sorry I never did find out which one, had great facilities and we were able to drive right up to the stand so she didn't have far to walk (she uses a walker). We got her situated and I parked the truck and walked back. We got our guns loaded and waited.
It wasn't long before I heard the tailgates drop, and the dogs hit. For the rest of the morning there were dogs running all around us, and shots were ringing out, but we never saw a deer. Misty bless her, kept asking me what was going on, commented on this and that. I'd "shhhhhhhsh" her, and in a few minutes she'd ask me something else. Praise God, she is still with me to ask questions. I just grinned and answered her and told her "be quiet" again. It was kinda like hunting with a kid.
I thought sure when lunch time came she'd want to go home. She was cold and her back was hurting, so I figured she'd want to pack it in. Not at all. We went back to the club house, had a great lunch the fellows from the club had prepared. At least six deer had been killed, including a pair of eight pointers, and one big six pointer.
I asked her if she wanted to go home, and she looked at me like I was from Mars. "Of course not" she replied. So we went back for the afternoon drive. Again we didn't see anything, but heard a couple of good chases. As evening came on she finally said she was getting really cold, so we packed up and went back to the club house and checked out and drove home.
Nope. No big buck killed. Just a good time and an opportunity to praise God for His mercy and His grace.
Misty on stand that morning. She was getting pretty cold by this point.
And a couple of deer killed that morning on the first drive.
Bet she puts some meat in the freezer before the season is over...survivors are like that...yes they are! 
