Tarheel
In 1957 at the tender age of 14 I went on my first deer hunt along with my father and grandfather and other members of a hunt club. This was in eastern North Carolina where we ran them with Walker hounds; (it's pretty thick in places). Within minutes of the dogs being released, they struck and brought two 6 point bucks to me, so in order not to embarrass any family members; I killed the lead buck. Scroll forward 10 years to-67; I'm fresh back from S.E. Asia and posted in Colorado when I get a call from my father just before Christmas. It seems that he, my younger brother who is now 14, and our grandfather who just turned 79 were hunting with a deer club on adjoining stands when Grandpap killed a 6 point, made sure he was dead, then walked a few paces and died of a massive coronary. 25 years later my father was two months past his 79th birthday and he, myself, that same younger brother and his two sons were hunting together on a private lease when my father killed a 6 point. Biggest difference is that my father is still with us,will be 96 in Sept, and we all went turkey hunting together spring of -09. We weren't able to get him interested in going this past spring so I called toms for his 85 year old brother. What are the odds of so many coincidences in one family?
This might all sound like a tale, but it's all true to the last word. My brother now has Grandpap's Belgian Browning he killed the deer with, I have the empty casing he shot him with as well as all the buckshot he carried in his jacket, and we all have precious memories of a man we all loved, a family who have hunted and fished all our lives together, and the gratitude for being able so to do. Lest I forget; I'll be 67 this month and am joining my nephew in Wyoming for antelope season. If I get a 6 point, it will have two up and four down!
