Last Hunt With Dad

A few of you have read my stories about my father and I before and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy sharing them with you.  Like many of your own fathers I'm sure, I consider mine to be one of the greatest men who have ever walked this earth and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him I consider lucky.  It has been 2 1/2 years since he went home to the lord after a long fight with diabetes and the story I would like to share with you is the last day in the woods i got to spend with him.

When dad's health started to deteriorate I first began to notice it while we were hunting.  I watched him struggle to pick up his feet and not stumble over the branches and leaves that littered the forest floor, even on flat terrain, he was falling more so than most hunters do in an entire season and was opting to choose stands closer to where we parked even though there wasn't much action up that way.  He of course assured me that he was fine and would never let on that he was struggling or allow me to help.  By the beginning of the season of 2008 he was almost completely dependent on a wheelchair and had all but givin up on the hope of being able to make it out for another season.  I think that deep down I knew that this would likely be the last opportunity I would have to get dad out into the woods but I refused to allow myself to accept it.  I told myself that he would regain enough strength to make it through the surgery and I would give him the kidney he needed no matter how much he refused to let me.  I know it may have been foolish for me to not allow myself to think about the possibility that this may be it but I think I was just protecting myself from the realization that soon I would be entering the woods I had hunted with him my whole life.....alone.  

As rifle season approached that year I put my bow down for the last 2 weeks and made it my priority to cut a new trail down to the watering hole that I could wheel dad down in the dark and get him set up in a ground blind.  I spent hours and hours enlisting help to cut and haul away trees, clear brush, and set up the perfect little spot for him.  About 5 days before opening day everything was complete and I held out high hopes that my father would harvest a deer with no problem from that spot.  When opening day arrived I saw the spark in dad's eyes that I had been seeing less and less of as he grew sicker.  It was like there was no battle he was fighting, there was no end in sight......there was just a father and his baby girl gearing up for a day in the woods.  

We started out about an hour and a half before first light because, even though his blind was only 100 yards in the woods off the back porch, I was pregnant with my youngest daughter and didn't want to risk hurting myself or dad hurrying to get there.....and every second I would spend with him outdoors that day was going to be a memory I would always treasure and I knew it.  I got dad all settled, told him to keep an eye on his phone since I could let him know of any deer heading his way off the marsh, got my good luck kiss, and headed to my stand.  

The morning was eventful from the moment the sun began to peek up.  I saw numerous herds of does heading towards dad and of course I would text him to let him know and then anxiously await the crack of his rifle......which never came.  I began to get discouraged and a little worried that I was getting no response from him, let alone not hearing him shoot deer I knew had to be passing right in front of him.  At about 9:30 I decided to climb down and go check on him, not to mention that the baby crushing my bladder was encouraging me to climb down as well.  When I made it to the blind I peeked in and saw dad looking out the window with the most beautiful smile on his face.  I smiled back and began to ask questions about why I hadn't heard him shoot??  Didn't he see the deer I had text him about?  Was he feeling ok??.......

He simply continued to smile and said "I saw every deer you warned me was coming and enjoying watching them feed through was so much nicer than shooting one, I didn't want to scare them off.....I just wanted to see more".  With that I gave him a knowing smile and took a seat on the ground where we spent another hour just enjoying being together out there, in the woods where I had learned values, respect, love, understanding, compassion, and just how much it meant for a girl to have a wonderful father like I did.  At the time I had no idea that that day would be the last I spent with my dad in the woods, he would be too weak to make it out another day and we would lose him that following spring....but looking back on it I don't think there is a single thing that could have happened differently to make that last hunt with my father any more amazing.  

Treasure the moments you spend in the woods with those you love and care about, they will be so much more than adventures one day......they will be memories that will help you smile through the tears  :')  Happy hunting friends.