The Mother Huntress

As a mom I can still remember the excitement I felt when my boys smiled at me for the first time, their first words (neither of which were mama), learned to crawl and took their first steps. I remember the anxiety I felt as I dropped them off to pre school, then to kindergarten, and the relief yet uncertainty when they walked across the football field to receive their diplomas. Of all the first that my boys have had, none of them could have prepared me for their first kill.

I thought that nothing would compare to the exhilaration I felt when I shot my first deer, (mine was a bow kill), but I was wrong. There are just some moments in life, that no matter how good they were for you, are even better when you share them with your child. Knowing that you have done your best to instill in them the techniques that are needed and that they actually Listened and followed through.

My husband and I have 3 sons, of those, one lives in Germany, the other two with us, but only one of them has taken on our love and passion of the outdoors ( not for lack of our trying). Last year our son had shoulder surgery, had to repair a torn and shredded labrum and rotator cuff so we were not sure he would hunt. By the time season rolled around he was not able to pull back his compound bow, so he borrowed a cross bow from a friend. As long as he was willing and able to be in the woods I was not going to stand in his way. This year he harvested his first buck. I was not there, but his dad was and I got to hear how excited he was and “That’s my boy”, I felt like I was cheated.

This past season we hunted again, as we do every whitetail season, and our son was hunting with us, and this year with his compound. We had upgraded him from his Parker Sidekick to a Bowtech this year, and now the entire family shoots them. He had regained the strength needed to pull it back and had become quite proficient. Between school and working a full time job, we were not sure he would be out much, so every trip to the woods, he had to make count.

One afternoon he just got off work, and came to deer camp with us. The report did not look too favorable for movement, but we were not going to kill sitting inside the camper. Out we went, we communicate via text messages when we have service back and forth, so we know the other is ok and when they are heading in for the evening. Things were quiet all afternoon and evening, I had not seen anything, had not hear from my husband or my son, so I believed they had not seen anything as well.

About 30 minutes before shooting times ended I got a text, it was my son. He had just shot a doe and was letting me know. My heart began to race, I could not wait for it to get dark so I could climb down and go to him. I began thinking, Yea that’s my boy!!!! His dad and I rode the quad over to where he was hunting, and there she was, white flag flying. Doe Down, he had did it. I could not stop smiling, hugging him and just well, being a Mom.

There is just something about being a mom and seeing the excitement on the face of your children when they accomplish something. The look that tells you, they understand and finally get it. While it was not his first deer, it was the first I got to be there with and his first compound bow kill. I am glad we hunt as a family, I am glad he is following his dad and I in our passion for the outdoors, and most of all I am proud of the man he is becoming!!!