Challenging

[Gill-T]

In the wonderful world of the internet age, one of the bad side effects of Facebook and internet dating is infedelity is easier. We have all heard stories of so and so reconnecting with an old highschool sweetheart with the family left holding the bag. Weekminded indiviguals. My cousin suffered this fate when her a-hole husband met some german girl on the internet and decided to leave a family of three young boys to persue this woman. Along the way, a-hole is not paying child support or alimony . Thank god for parents and grandparents as the rest of the family is left to help pick up the pieces of a fractured family. As often the case with a working mom, kids often get away with too much internet, too much video games, and too much junk food. Mom does not have it in her after working all day to put up the good fight. Hoping to add a father figure back into the lives of these boys, I have taken them fishing and dock jumping when my scheldule permits. This season I decided to take the oldest boy (eleven) to deer camp and sit in the woods with me and see a different world with animals, life and death, deer camp stories, food, farting contests, poker, and all the wonderful sights, sounds ......and smells of deer camp. My plan included building a ground blind to hide a figitity eleven year old. Built of natural materials such as logs and evergreen boughs complete with two rock seats and a couple of blankets I thought we could make good. The blind sits on top of the first rise overlooking a bedroom area of thick hawthornes. I had to figure out how to get the little porker up the hill into buck central without spooking the hill. So the plan was to send up my little noisy friend up the hill, huffing and puffing with feet dragging in the leaves and me on my grunt tube following behind to reenact a chase scene. Unfortunately, it worked too well. Within five minutes of setting up in the dark, a deer ( had to be a buck) came in to within twenty yards downwind, smelled us and then slinked off. Deer 1, us 0. Oh well. My grand plan included my buddy carrying his BB gun so we could work on gun safety, a pair of binoculars, and a video camera so he could video the hunt. Anyone trying to repeat this feat.......don't do it. Simple is better than complex. The figit factor was taken to a level I could not comprehend. Dropping the video camera in the mud, clanking it against rocks, fixing a weggie, picking a nose etc. etc. Well, thirty minutes into the hunt here comes a 2.5 year old eight pointer behind my buddies tree and closing fast! Buddy, there is a deer coming......turn around, turn the camera on.......huh?.....closing fast! Where is he? At ten yards he caught our wind and gone. Deer 2, us 0. Oh well, I kept telling myself it is not about you it is about him.......learning. At about 10:00 we had a doe with yearlings come in but suffered with the same fumbling of the camera.....where is the deer? Mom smells us and bye bye.

Deer 3, us 0. Stop figiting......"but my feet are cold".........Ok, I have some warmer boots in the car, at least he got to see me still-hunt using the technique of waiting until a car goes by the road below to mask my footsteps. Later....."my hands are cold"......where are your gloves....."I think they are in the car". The kid got another lesson on still-hunting. Back in blind....day getting later...pressure mounting to have the kid see a kill. I say to him, " why don't you close your eyes if you are tired" thinking if he is sleeping he won't be figiting. Well it worked. Within five minutes I hear snoring.....loud snoring . Luck would have it a small doe worked her way in, and I call to my buddy "wake up a deer is coming"...........nothing, still sawing logs. Hey, wake up! Nothing. At this point the deer is close enough I am sure the deer is going to hear the snoring so I slink around the tree I am up against and grap his leg and shake him...buddy wake up......nothing.....I shake him harder....wake up!.....nothing.....I shake him violently at this point and he wakes up . I reposition and shoot the doe front facing at thirty yards and she goes down. He says "you got him.....cool". Hopefully, I left an impression with images in his head not soon forgotten. When I dropped him off at home his younger brother asked if he could go next time. Going to have to get a big ladder stand with walls next year

[on the lam]

Great story I felt like i was there lol.... keep up the good work for the boy deadbeat dads suck

[FX]

Great story! Brings back memories of my kids - my daughter called in a cow one time when I let her use a grunt tube - we still laugh about it today! Way to get the boy involved and hopefully he'll want to go again.

Shawn

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Well written, Chad, and all of it o-so-true. I did the exact same thing with such a youngster only it was Spring turkey hunting. The blind hunting went just like yours. However, the belly crawl stalk we did when we spotted a gobbler in the grass as we left will be with him forever. No, he didn't get the shot off(he suddenly stood up when we got to 30yds), but he was all smiles as we drove away.

Seems to be countless families in that situation, fractured in just the same way. Men AND women succumbing to the "fantasy world" of the internet. Thanks for helping sportsmen and society in general with your time and patience.

[Diversion]

Great story Chad, good work with the young guy