Jim and Tabby Hurt – MO

My wife and I have been deer hunting together for 18 years, and ever since our first child was born I have dreamed of taking him hunting. Well, now we have three boys, ages 14, 12, 8, and we all love to hunt. This is a dads dream come true! Each year several weeks before archery season opens here in MO we start scouting and discussing where we are going to hang stands for deer season.

After careful thought we set out to prepare the ambush. If you haven’t done the math, there are five of us. That means at least five stands, five bows, five guns, five tags, well you get the idea. Deer season is a lot of work, and I love every minute of it. There is just something about being out in the woods with my family that brings us closer. I was always a die hard hunter when I was younger, but hunting is different now. It’s not about me any more, it’s about us. So, here is the story of my wife’s monster buck.

After church Sunday, my wife Tabby, my oldest son Evan, and I decided to go hunting since we had about three hours before getting ready to go back to church that evening. We pulled up to our hunting spot and had prayer like we always do, and I told them that we would have to leave our stands at 4 pm, no later.

So we headed for our stands. I arrived at my stand at about 2:45; at approximately 3:30 I heard a shot from Tabby’s direction. 30 seconds later my cell phone started to vibrate. She said she had shot a buck, a 6 or 8 point she thought but she was afraid she had made a bad shot on the deer so I told her to stay put and keep her eye on where she thought the deer went.

By the time I walked to her stand she was getting very anxious. She pointed out where the deer was when she shot, but no blood. She showed me which direction it ran, but no blood. So I started walking in the direction the deer went and 20 yards later there he was. As I walked closer I could see antlers rising out of the leaves. This is a nice buck I thought, and the closer I got the bigger he got. I had never been so excited over a dead deer.

Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled when our boys shot their first deer, but this was my wife, and after 18 years of hunting she got her first buck. She tells everyone that she is thankful for a husband who is willing to gut her deer. I am thankful for a wife who loves to hunt with her boys. Guttin’ deer is just part of the job, cuz “I’m da DAD.”