One Mis-Step Brings Some Hurt To My 2016 Season. And Something Good, Too.
On July 14 I tripped and fell down in my house. Both my shoulders and arms were banged up and I lay on the floor in a world of hurt, wondering how much damage I had done to myself. When I got my clouded thinking back on track I texted my wife and my step daughter for hep. They responded immediately and were both were at my home in 20 minutes.
They helped me get into their car and took me to the closest town and Emergency Room. Things were not good. I could not move my right arm away from my right side, it was just too painful. And plenty more places hurt, also.
After the X-Ray and a M.R.I. I learned I had a badly damaged rotary cuff of the right shoulder. The doctor gave me medication and put me on physical therapy. In August, when I asked if my shoulder would be good enough to pull my bow and bowhunt this upcoming season. The answer was the one thing I was afraid of, “No.”
At first the stretching phase of the physical therapy was painful but before long my range of motion gradually improved. It was a tough go but I felt more optimistic in the weeks that followed. However, as the season got closer it was clear to me that I would not be able to pull my bow, period. But I had an idea; if I couldn’t hunt with my bow I would take one of my best friends, John Askew, bowhunting and see if we could locate a bigger buck than he had ever taken before.
As I expected, John was good with that. I scouted hard and located a handful of big boys and now we are focused on hunting them as the season opens this morning, October 1. Here is a picture of two of the bucks I’ve been seeing.
This morning, as the darkness slowly moves out of the sky, John and I are in one of my secret deerhunting places. Lets see what happens…
