Deer Hunting

What is it that you deer hunt?

I was asked the other day, “Why is it that you deer hunt”? I pondered for a second and said, “Well, it is a family tradition”, remembering that my dad hunted on the family farm, as did his father. Thinking back to how I was introduced to deer hunting, I remembered a photo that hangs above my desk at home. It is a picture of my dad, uncles, cousins, and me. We are all dressed in vintage clothing, lined up in a row in an old sheep sheering shed converted into a hunters cabin. We spent that deer season together in the rugged hills outside Carta Valley, Texas as a family. It was a time when nothing else in the world mattered, including how big of a buck you shot. It was the year I was given my first rifle and the year I shot my first deer. It was a time when you could look forward to sitting around the campfire and cooking over the open flames. There was no TV and no cell phone service at our remote deer camp; we were able to leave the modern world behind. The opportunity to be one with the outdoors was never in short supply. Each night the coyotes would howl as the sun set signaling the end of our hunt, and the beginning of theirs. We would never run out of jokes or stories to tell around the makeshift dinner table, and it was always exciting to hear how the day’s hunt went for everyone. Many years have passed since that photo was taken, and we have all gone our separate ways. But, the memory of those days will always hold a special place in my heart. So next time someone asks me why I deer hunt, I will think back to that picture and remember to myself, that is why I deer hunt.