So, those of you who know me know the man who holds my heart spends deer season holding something else...
A
Bow
And
Arrow.
Yep, for a few months of the year I am a hunting widow.
My husband is a busy pastor who rarely takes time for himself but during this time of the year he grabs any bit of margin he can and retreats to his deer stand.
Stan and I live in the suburbs now where this is a pretty rare hobby but we both grew up in
small town USA...and this hobby is one that brings back his childhood...his roots.
Being married to someone who hunts means that, almost by osmosis, I know ridiculous things
like when "the rut" is (and WHY "we" care).
I know what a "drop tine"is.
I know EXACTLY what time the sun sets each day he is in the deer stand.
The last one is the most important to me because by that I can judge when
he will be home to take over the care and keeping of our minions.
My mailman delivers magazines like this to our house more than he delivers bride magazines to the engaged girl down the street (but not more often than he delivers things I have ordered from AMAZON...cause I am addicted).
And I currently have these things sitting on my counter (my KITCHEN counter).
Bow hunting provides most of the meat our family eats (YEAH for that).
So I have to tell you I was a bit surprised myself that when I decided to try one new
thing each week for the school year I ended up with "shoot a bow" on my list.
HOW HAVE I NOT ALREADY SHOT A BOW?
So, this past week that is what I did...I shot a bow for the first time.
Now if you know me REALLY well then you know I am a DEAD EYE with a rubber band. So, I was pretty sure that I would have this bow thing in the BAG. ;) I may have even talked a bit of smack to my husband about him not wanting to teach me just in case I am a better shot than he is.
Ok, so here is where the introspection comes in.
It turns out that I can not even draw the bow my hubby hunts with. Do you KNOW how strong you have to be to pull back a bow? Do you know this already? I did NOT. I mean you can buy bows that are as easy or as hard to pull back as you want but my husband has a bow that is IMPOSSIBLE for me to pull back. I mean...NOT A CHANCE!
Luckily for me he also has a crossbow which I can shoot...so my "new thing" was not a bust.
However, you also have to pull back the crossbow and I was unable to get that done too. I tried...(apparently without a smile on my face). Thankfully he could do that for me though.
Once we got that down he taught me how to set the arrow, aim, take off the safety lock and shoot the thing. Now I am not great at taking directions but I was determined to listen and learn. You will have to ask him how I actually did with the listening thing but I think I did pretty well.
And for the first time ever I shot a bow.
And guess what, it was pretty cool.
That arrow leaves that bow QUICKLY.
It is HARD to hold that thing steady.
In order to do it you have to breathe just right...I mean that literally. You actually have to
breathe the right way to keep still enough to put the arrow where you want it to go.
You have to squeeze the trigger slowly...but with precision.
You have to pay attention to every bit of your own body.
I use to make fun of the way hunters go sit in a deer stand for hours on end. I don't sit for hours on end for ANYTHING. I just don't. But here is the thing. I think you may have to sit there for a long time in order to get yourself relaxed and focused enough to sit completely still and pull the trigger without movement from ANYWHERE in your body.
That is NOT EASY!
So, I know you are all DYING to see how I did.
I was, indeed, aiming at the middle black circle so I am pretty ok with this shot.
It was my first shot...the others got worse rather than better. But I'm not upset about it.
In NO WAY do I have bragging rights over my husband for this one though...
His were ALL DEAD ON!!
every
single
one!
I'm not sure what exactly I learned through this but I will tell you what I have been thinking about. For one thing...my husband is a total stud. I mean really, he literally hunts and brings back food for our family by doing so. And on top of that he is STRONG. I mean, really strong. And he is an amazing shot. He is good at this and now that I have experienced it I am telling you...it's not easy.
Yes, I got a few good shots in and after every one Stan would tell me that it would have gotten the deer. However, it took me FOREVER to get it lined up, get still and take the shot. Any deer would have actually been scared off LONG before I got any of those shots off.
So, lesson one...My husband is a total stud.
I am a lucky girl. He's a GREAT man and I could not love him more. And now that I can shoot a bow I am thinking that his love level went up...
Even so I am still asking for this shirt for christmas.
And I am pretty sure he will still leave me for hunting season this year.
But maybe this year I will join him once or twice.
(Don't tell him but one thing on my list of new things to try is to go hunting with him
and at the last second before he lets go of the cables yell, "RUN DEER RUN!!!")
I may need a place to sleep for a week or two after that!!
-Dawn
