Quite honestly, we were eagerly anticipating this hunt. A few weeks earlier, we found this picture on one of our trail cameras:
While we did not get the chance to see him, let's just say it this way -- the woods came alive!! As my buddy said on the way home, we, at one point, we almost surrounded by deer. We both heard a deer blowing and snorting at something but could not see it. Then, I saw movement to my left as three deer were coming in from a direction that neither one of us would have expected. I heard the dreaded foot stomping for awhile and then they bounded off in the opposite direction showing those white tails. A few minutes later, my buddy and his son had more blowing and snorting behind them. There was movement everywhere -- except right in front of them on that bean field, which is where they wanted the deer to be.
Needless to say, things were getting entertaining. I was paying attention to the ruckus over near his stand and then heard running through the woods -- on the opposite side of the creek bank that I was facing. I slowly shifted into a ready shooting position with my Wicked Ridge crossbow. ***For the record, shoulder pain has forced me to use the crossbow this archery season and I miss my Quest QS33 compound bow.*** Slowly, the sounds descended into the bottom; and, finally, I saw a doe step out. I raised my elbow off my thigh to an unsupported shooting position as she was moving ever closer to the shooting lane where I was planning to shoot.
Something caught my eye to her left, and, out of nowhere, came another deer. I was in trouble! The picture below is of "Knob" (the nickname I gave the deer). He is not a deer that I would normally shoot but notice that strange black bulge between his shoulders. We were not sure what that was and decided that it may be best to go ahead and take him out.
Here was the problem -- he was staring and me, ears spread wide, and he was not budging one bit. He stood rock solid staring right at me up the ridge because he could feel something just was not quite right. Any lowering of the crossbow or any other movement would spoil this hunt. I know how long I can hold a bow drawn, so it was time, I guess, to find out how long I could hold the crossbow.
He would take a small step forward, but his eyes never left me. He quickly turned around, so I slid the crossbow his direction. At that moment, he started to walk away giving me a negligible shot, and I had one chance to pull the trigger. THHWHHACK! Both deer took off, and I could not see the bolt in the ground. I had hoped for a total pass through, but no bolt mean I had a hit. The sounds seemed to indicate that animal was down and struggling with the bolt, but I could not see him. Some texts were being exchanged, yet I was going to sit tight.
I started chuckling as my buddy was sending texts that his son was "dying to go track that deer." A few minutes later, it was stated again and again. The next text asked about now, could we come now. Then, the text advised that we go now while we still had daylight and did not have to track in the dark. I was laughing out loud at that point because I knew he was advocating for his eager son. I slipped down, found the blood trail, followed it, and there was the deer behind a big log. As I moved back down to that creek bottom, I sent a text saying to come down. They must have jumped from the stand and ran through the woods because they were there at no time.
Here's where the title of the post comes into play -- it would have been faster to say I found the deer, take them to it, drag it out, then go home and clean. After all, it was during the work week meaning I had to be up at 5am the next day after cleaning, processing, and burying the deer. That decision, however, would have been the wrong one. We allowed my friend's son to learn to track that deer. I'll tell you something -- he stayed on that trail. He lost it only one time but he learned how to backtrack to recover. He did a great job and eventually found the deer.
In a parental desire for speed and efficiency, we often short-change our children with quality time that they so desperately need. This extra effort and time can be used to teach them a skill rather than just "bringing them along" for the ride. Men, we need to learn to slow down. We need to model behaviors and action. We need to specifically teach our kids. We need to stop taking over to do things faster. Why? Think about the patience God demonstrated to us as humans. We destroyed the relationship but He made a way to reconcile. We run from Him, but He still waits for us to return. Since He is our Heavenly Father, we need to the same sort of patience toward our own children. Now, think about that....
