Something I'd Like To Share

I happy to announce that I took my first deer yesterday morning. I've been waiting pretty much my whole life for the opportunity, and thanks to fellow Sidearmer Ranger Steve, I now have a freezer full of venison.

First, the story in brief:
Ranger Steve and I were sharing a blind on private land in a particular state. We were set up well before sunrise, sitting and waiting by 5:45am. Shortly after 6am, before it was light enough to shoot, we saw a grey mass move slowly across the cornfield to the line of trees opposite from the one we were situated in. Nothing more until just after 7am, when a good sized buck with a tall rack came across the field toward us. Because of some high brush blocking part of our field of vision, we didn't notice him until he was about 120 yards away, and he was on the run. I took aim, but he never slowed and I couldn't get a shot off, nor could Ranger Steve bring his gun to bear. Five minutes later, another smaller buck followed, more slowly. He stopped to eat at about 100 yards, but with the iron sights I was using on my muzzleloader, I didn't feel confidant taking the shot. Ranger Steve passed me his scoped one, and I took aim and waited, as the buck was slowly on the move again and getting closer. At 85 yards he stopped to eat again, and when he picked his head up, I fired. I lost sight of him because of the smoke, but Ranger Steve said he was running with his tail down. We waited for a bit, to see if any others would follow (which none did), and went to search. We found him on top of a small hill just inside our tree line, maybe 40 yards from where he was hit, dead. The shot had entered a bit low, hit a rib, then ricocheted up through both lungs and out. A good, clean kill.

I'm still smiling about it. It was an awesome experience, and one I hope to repeat. And one that I hope my children and grandchildren repeat as well. And really, its a tribute to so many things that make America great. Fine traditions that are constantly under siege by a great many in this country: hunting, private firearm ownership, the private land that we hunted, the freedom to move and travel as we see fit, not as some governmental agency tells us. Just the pure exercise of Freedom. For all the experience was, and it was an awesome and multi-layered experience, one thing it most definitely did was add a steel girder to my resolve to not let those freedoms be taken away by those who think they know better. They don't.

2010 is the beginning of one of the most critical times in our Great Nation. Starting at the polls, and continuing as wide and as far as need be, we need to reclaim this country from the likes of Hussein and his administration as well as his backers. We must strive to protect what so many have fought and died for, what so many have lost sight of, what so many fail to see. Because someday I'd like to be there as my son watches his son take his first deer.