One nice day in April of '08 Pastor Dan Snowbarger and this author went turkey hunting in rural Kansas. The gobblers turned a cold shoulder to all our best hen talk that morning. Noon found us back at the truck with none of the ingredents for a turkey dinner. To try and make something out of that 90 minute drive we decided to scout for new places to hunt. Dan and I work as a team when doing this. It's my job to drive the truck, spot likely looking farms and keep Dan entertained so he doesn't fall asleep. Once a nice looking woodlot is located we find the farm house and Dan goes into action. Few famers can turn down a request for permission to hunt from that ol' silver tongued rascal. It helps that he is a Minister to boot.
Anyhow, on the day in question we spotted a modest white home near a country crossroads. Out front was a small sign that said "Fresh Eggs For Sale". Being a country boy that loves eggs (and just about anything resembling food) Dan said "pull in here and let's get some eggs". Dan is a little like Will Rogers in that he never met a meal he didn't like. Anyway, that is how we met the Reusch family and my life has been changed forever.
You see Mark and Jackie Reusch have two sons Jonathan and Wesley. Over the ensuing weeks we bought lots of eggs and became friends with these fine folks. It turns out the boys wanted to take up hunting and needed mentors to teach them how. That first fall we loaned Jon a muzzleloader and after a few trips out he succesfully harvested a nice fat doe. The family truly enjoyed the fine meat that doe provided.
A good portion (my wife says waaay too much)of my time is spent chatting with friends on Field and Stream.com. The following spring one of those friends donated a Browning bow for Wesley and he has never been the same since. It looks like Wesley will be a bowhunter for life. Soon money and gear started pouring in from other on-line friends. Eventually we got both boys their first gun. Wesley received a new Henry leveraction 22 rifle and Jon got a new CVA Optima muzzleloader. There was also ammo, boots, camo clothing, hunting knives, caps, gloves, orange vest and a scope. A neighbor gave us permission to hunt his land and shoot on his personal range. We've had much fun shooting our guns over the summer while waiting with great anticipation for the Kansas September muzzleloader deer season.
Then a couple of week ago I went to Cabelas. You see my old blind was 4 years old and in bad shape, that blind never was very good and we needed a replacement. While looking at the blind display three Cabelas executives walked by and started a conversation with me. After hearing about the old blind and the boys a nice man turned to the department supervisor and said let this man trade his old blind for anything in the display. Glory be what a blessing that was.
That afternoon Wesley and I set up the new Michael
Waddell Bone Collector blind and climbed in to watch for deer. We had the blind set up near the edge of a soybean field that has been badly damaged by feeding deer. About two hours later two bucks entered to feed on the beans and Wesley shot a very fat 7 pointer. That kid's feet did not touch the ground for two weeks but the thing that got me was the letter that came a few days later.

Dear Mr Akins,

Thank you so much for taking me hunting. I am so excited to get that buck. Everything you do I appreciate more than you know. If it weren't for you I would not have even started hunting. I just love to hunt with you and when we get the deer butchered I will save some meat for you. There's so much I want to thank you for. YOU'RE LIKE A GRANDPA TO ME (this is where the lump jumps into my throat).
Thank you for taking me hunting. I had a ball. Now I feel as if I can't sleep for about two week...
Thank you so much.

Your good friend,
Wesley Reusch

We talked to Jackie Reusch last week and she said Wesley is a changed young man. His grades have taken a sharp turn for the better. A one time unhappy young man has a whole new attitude about everything. As for me, I look forward to taking my newly adopted grandson pheasant hunting next month.

When I was 12, I accompanied my dad, brother, and uncle on what would my first of many hunting trips. As the days grew fewer until I would be hunting, I grew more and more anxious. I read books, magazines, and watched all the hunting shows I could so I could tune my senses for the big day. My weapon of choice, a 12 gauge Remington pump action shot gun.
As I packed my bags to leave, thoughts ran through my head of the day to come. Would I see a big buck? What would I do when I shot one? My dad, brother, and I all left for my grandma’s the night before the first day of the deer season. We arrived at my grandma’s and met my uncle Jim. We sat around for a little while and talked about previous hunts. As I laid in bed I could barely lay still. I tossed and turned all night. Minutes seemed to take hours. Then I was being shaken by my father to get up.
We all got up out of bed and got ready to go. As we headed out to the farm, we discussed the plan for that day and where we all would be sitting. I would be sitting with my dad on the south side of the farm. It seemed like it was taking us forever to reach the farm, but it only took about fifteen minutes. As I stepped out of the car, I could feel the cool, crisp air on my face. I grabbed my camouflage suit and climbed into to it. Then my dad handed me my gun and told me to walk as quietly as I could. As we began to walk in to the woods I could smell the leaves and the plants. But the most pungent smell was the cows.
About ten to fifteen minutes later we reached our stand. My dad told me to go ahead and climb up into it. He went and sat next to a tree not too far from where I was. As we sat there waiting, the anxiety kept building. Would I see a deer? Would it be a buck or a doe? Could I get a shot at it? Then the first shots of the season echoed through the woods. My dad said they had came from the farm next to us.
At around 10:30 we started to walk across the farm to see what had happened. As we walked through the fields of grass and corn, we talked about my father’s many hunts on the farm. When we reached the other side of the farm, we found my uncle who told us Brad had shot a doe. My dad and uncle discussed what to do since it was approaching lunch time. We decided that my uncle would accompany me back across the farm to sit for a little longer while my dad helped my brother field dress the deer.
My uncle told me that we were going to go sit on a hillside for about 45 minutes, and then we would go pick my dad and brother up. When we reached the hill, my uncle sat on the ground, and I climbed into a old, rotten stand that we didn’t use anymore. No more than ten minutes must have gone by when I saw it. A deer had run out into the field but was not coming our way. My uncle jumped up and started running up the hill and yelled for me to follow. I was unsure of where he was going at first, but the I realized he was heading for the dry dam. We ran at a dead sprint for about 200 yards, and then my uncle stopped. I kept running and passed by him to a opening on top of the hill. I couldn’t believe it there it was. The deer was just jumping the fence and heading up the hill towards me. I raised my gun to my face and felt the cold steel on my check. As I put my sights on the deer she spotted me. She made a sharp turn and cut into the hill where I couldn’t see her. Then boom, boom, my uncle shot and the deer turned back towards me. Still holding my gun and ready to shoot, the deer came my way. As soon as I got a clear shot, I squeezed the trigger and boom, my first shot at a deer rang out through the air. I pumped the gun as fast as I could, placed the sights again and boom. This time the deer fell to its knees. Again I pumped the gun and squeezed the trigger, hitting the deer once more. Somehow the deer was still not dead.
My uncle then approached me and told me shoot the deer again, but this time I missed. He told me to wait and that he would go get his knife to slit the deer’s throat. The thought of that made me feel weird inside. Just the thought of holding a deer in my hands and cutting its throat upset me. Unable to find his knife, my uncle told me to shoot the deer again. This time I did not miss, and the deer fell over. We then field dressed the deer and dragged it up to the car and loaded it up.
We went down the road to where my dad and brother were. We got out of the car, and they asked what had happened. We told them the story, and they both congratulated me. We took the deer to the check station and then went to lunch. I didn’t see anymore deer for the rest of that season. But it made me realize so much. It made me realize the power that you can hold in your hands. From that point on, I gained more respect for the animals and the land than I had ever had.

"LAST HUNT"
A few of you will remember this one.(get a hankie ready).

A few years ago(8) we had been out "scouting"/squirrel hunting an area we had hunted long ago.
Well I find a "HOT" spot ! Scrape lines, Rub trees(hook bushes), pawings(truck hood size !),etc.
So a couple of the other family members with me also see some good sign too, so it's decided that we'll be there in the A.M.(bright and shiney).
4:30 comes and we all get up and get ready, and await the arrival of my little brother at our mom and step-dad's house.
5:00 no Devon(Lil brother),5:30,5:45. Finaly at 10 till 6:00 he come in and it get's light around 6:30ish.
We FLY out to the spot and I'm telling him what I've seen and where we'll set up to "ambush" the "BIG BOY" !
We get to the spot right at good light and hurry off to our spots.
I'm there about 15 mins. when I see a deer ! Keep in mind this was the first year that Ark. had the 3pt. or better rule.
As I watch this deer walking to me(I'm down wind in a "blow down/blind" I keep looking at him though my scope(saw horns before I pulled daown on him", But only see "forks"(not legal !)
Closer,and closer he comes still no third point. FINALY he turns his head to the left and THERE IT IS ! A sticker on the left side just legal size too !
He stopes at a scrape(paw mark) and starts to investigate when I pull the trigger ! Sounded like "rain"(hair) as the 06' 165gr. "Balistic Tip" goes though him and exits ! Well I think this is going to be and easy one to find, and start out after him.
Across the "fire trail" up the hill side( half way) down the ridge, back across the "road" and I see him again and shoot 3 more times!
When I get to him I find that the impact was so great that he had "cleaned himself" with some help from Mr. Nossler.
As my step-dad and I were dragging him to the truck we hear a shot. I said I think that was Devon, and head to the truck with my deer.
When I get there he's at the truck with a doe he'd shot.
He starts to yell at me. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ! I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU !
He went on to say that he'd heard me shoot and came to find me to help me drag him out. Crossed my path(toilet paper/tracking) and followed it till I had run out of T.P.
He sat down to think whay to do next when 3 does walked up!
He takes the biggest one(single shot .243) and heads to the truck.
Say's to me "I THOUGHT ALIENS HAD TAKEN YOU !" when the "paper" ran out in the middle of the woods !
I moved to Colo. before the next season and wanted him to come up to hunt Elk with me that year.
We lost our dad on the Friday before fathers day(13th!), and he had taken it really hard( they were really close).
He was going to come but his best friend was getting married in Chicago and had to beg off the hunt.(First Gun hunt/Late Sept.)
He passed from massive heart failure on Sept 11, 2003(88 days after we lost dad). I think he was "heart-broken"(badly) and that contributited to his demise.
That little buck is'nt the largest I've ever taken, but I'll never kill one "bigger".
One the elk hunt I guided a guy with the same first name(Charles) as my little brother and he killed a 8x7 bull that was/is one of the largest taken in the Black Conyon area on Public lands scince the World Record(#2/3 ?) Black Canyon Bull(1897). He said he felt my "lil bro" was was with us and he just took the shot for him.
Thank you for listening/and the memory,
Big O.

Turkeys In Training
I absolutely love the sound of the world waking up, and there is no place better than a tree stand to experience it.
On Saturday morning my husband had harvested a doe and cleaned it out on the south end of the field where I hunt. I hunted my stand Saturday night and there were a few deer in the field feeding when they all came to full alert. I thought, what the heck is coming that caught their attention? I couldn't see anything from my stand but they sure could.
Now if you have ever been in a tree stand and had turkeys come through, you know they sound like a small freight train. They not only make a lot of noise as they move through the field or brush, but they are constantly making clucking noises. With none of that going on, I waited to see what had caught the deer's attention.
Soon two small, young turkeys showed up and they made little noise, only faint little "peeps." Once they made their way through the field, the deer could see them and settled back to eating. The youngsters moved along and eventually I saw them fly up into a tree to roost.
The next morning I was in my stand at first light and the crows and ravens were feeding on the remains of the doe that was harvested the day before. They would take turns flying in, taking a piece and then you could hear them as they flew overhead. As they flew over, I remember thinking how cool it was to hear the wind under their wings.
I had heard the turkeys fly out of their roost but they didn't come out on the field. I listened as the blue jays and chickadees came to life. The squirrels ran up and down the pine tree next to me knocking down the pine cones. A woodpecker broke the morning silence with his extremely LOUD pecking. The deer continued to feed in the field and when they were out of sight, you could hear them pulling up a mouthful of rape and chewing it.
As I sat there, I heard a sound that was unfamiliar to me. It was like a shrill whistle and then almost like a yelp. Again and again I would hear this and even pulled up my face mask to hear it more clearly. Again and again but often it would be two whistles and a yelp. Then one whistle and two or three yelps, moving around but not far.
I finally figured out that what I was hearing was the young turkeys. They were too young to make the sounds that the older turkeys do, but were working their young voices up to the yelps and clucks. By the time I left my stand, I heard more yelps and whistles.
Not long after the turkeys moved away, I saw a head bounding through the tall grass on the south/west side of my field. What in the world was that, I found myself saying out loud. I leaned forward and a large coyote raced across the field towards the spot where the doe had been cleaned. The trees came to life with crows and ravens and the sound was deafening.
Within minutes, movement caught my eye and another coyote came out of the woods. He stood on the west side of the field about 60 yards from the tree that I sat in. Soon another coyote joined him and they stood together on a rotten log. The two of them wanted to join the first one across the field but soon turned to walk back into the woods.
Those two were not out of sight when I spotted yet another coyote making his way to the field. Four coyotes in less than 10 minutes. Almost immediately the three of them moved back in to the woods and disappeared.
I climbed down out of my stand and couldn't wait to get home and tell of my morning in the blind. My husband told me he thought that was better than seeing the 8 point bucks that had frequented my field. Many people don't get to see a coyote in their lifetime and those that are lucky enough to get to see one. I got to see four in one sitting.
I cannot stress to people how wonderful it is to sit and listen to the world wake up. Whether it is on your front porch, on your back deck, in a tree or at a park, there just is nothing better. It truly is the greatest therapy and is there for everyone, free of charge.
I love to morning hunt and most days I have to go to work once I get out of my stand. That couple of hours in my stand has awakened every one of my senses and cleared my head for the day ahead. I am relaxed and ready to meet the challenges of the day. I have woken up with nature and it just doesn't get any better than that. - J.B.

Big Buck Moment
During the 2008 bow season i had set my stand in what i thought was the perfect location. I always went hunting with my dad but this day was the first day i was gonna be able to go by myself. I was so pumped and ready for a good day of hunting. It was November 8th, a saturday morning and my field and stream magazine had recommened to hunt this day. It was perfect, and the middle of the rut. So the game was on. I got into my stand about half an hour before sun rise, just enough time to get settled in and for the woods to settle down. It was a little windy but it was in the perfect direction. I was waiting and it seemed like forever till shooting time came around. Then the time came and not five minutes after time a nice 8 point buck rustled in the leaves not 20 yards behind me. I got my bow, stood up, and waited for him to walk behind a tree. I drew back and he walked into my shooting lane. I thought he was about ten yards away or so so i put my ten yard pin on his vitals. I let the arrow go and he jumped like he had gottin hit but it was still to dark to tell. So i sat back down and knocked another arrow. About 3 minutes later, a giant ten point buck was trotting to my right not 15 yards away. I stood up, made him stop, and shot him at ten yards. He ran down the gully and stopped. He acted like he wasnt hit so i was kinda mad and sad. Then all of a sudden he jolted to the left and fell in a creek bed about 20 steps from where he was standing. I waited a minute or so and he had not left the creek bed yet so i knew he was down. So i got out of my tree and went to go see if i had shot the first deer i saw that day but when i got to where he was standing when i shot, the arrow had missed him and he got away. So i went to the spot where i shot the 10 pointer and saw good heart and lung blood splattered on the ground. So i followed it and saw the giant laying twenty yards away from where i shot him. I yelled so loud im sure every deer around heard me. It was the best day of my life and a great start to the years to come of hunting by myself (no offense to my dad who got me started in the sport.)