It had been a good hunt, but it was obvious as the last shooting light became darkness that it was not going to end the way I had hoped. I had seen a lot of deer and a lot of mature bucks, but none of them were the kind of deer you travel to a place like Saskatchewan for. Seconds later, I heard the ATV coming down the trail and soon saw the lights as my outfitter Lyndon Gliege arrived.
“We gave it a good shot,” I told Lyndon. “That’s hunting, though.”
“Sorry it didn’t happen for you. I was really hoping you would get one,“ he replied. “It sure wasn’t from lack of effort.”
“Not on anyone’s part,” I agreed.
It was mid-November in northern Saskatchewan. The whole week had been the fulfillment of a long-time ambition to one day hunt those giant Canadian whitetails. Other than the day I arrived, the temperature never got above 35 degrees the entire time. Pretty chilly for this Georgian who sometimes hunts deer in a T-shirt. Each day consisted of almost 10-hour sits in ground blinds, watching and waiting in thick woods.
Sitting for long periods is not everybody’s favorite way of hunting, but I love it. Sitting in treestands is how I grew up deer hunting and is still the primary way I hunt deer. Stand hunting for 10 hours a day gives you plenty of time to think about all kinds of things, and that I did. But what I thought about mostly this week was my dad.
I am a hunter because my father was a hunter. Before the age of 10, I already had a .22 and had hunted squirrels and rabbits. Then in 1970, when I was 12, I got to go on my first deer hunt with him. That truly changed my life! I could not wait each year for deer season to come. We hunted together as much as school and other responsibilities would allow, finally hunting together for the last time in the fall of 2006, before his passing at 85 the following year. Though I have been blessed to do many different types of hunting through the years, without question my all-time favorite hunts were those deer hunts with my dad.
Together, we harvested a lot of nice deer, especially dad, who took several real wall-hangers. Although I shot quite a few mature bucks—8-pointers and the like—I was never able to take any bucks to compare to some he took. “Your time will come,” he would say. “You just have to stick with it and keep putting in the time. It will happen. You’ll see.”
As I sat those long days in the blind on this hunt, I couldn’t help but think of all the wonderful sights and experiences I have had as a hunter—all because my dad loved me enough to want to share with me something he loved, too. I cannot possibly imagine what my life would be like if he hadn’t.
Back at the lodge, when we sat down for dinner, the table was empty except for me, Lyndon and my hunting partner for the week, Kevin.
“Everyone else has left,” Lyndon said. I wasn’t too surprised at that, as everyone except for Kevin and I had driven up. “You know,” Lyndon continued, “since it’s just the two of you left, if you guys want to go out again for a couple of hours in the morning I can take you.”
Kevin was hard core like me, and we both couldn’t answer “Yes!” fast enough.
Day six of a five-day hunt—overtime. Nineteen degrees and I was back in the same blind that I spent the first two days in without seeing a deer. Just as it got light enough to shoot, there like a ghost stood a buck like I had never seen when hunting. Unfortunately, he was facing me head-on with his head down and he was acting very antsy. As I took aim, all I could think was, Whatever you do, don’t shoot him in the antlers! I didn’t, and he collapsed right where he stood.
As I walked up to my buck-of-a-lifetime, tears began to well in my eyes as I thought once again of my dad and how happy and proud he would be. My time had finally come as he had told me so many times it would. It had been 54 years since that first deer hunt and 52 hours in the blind this week. Thanks, Dad. Fifty-four years and fifty-two hours; seems like just yesterday.
2026 “Member’s Hunt” Prize Package
In 2026, every published author of our 12 “Member’s Hunt” department published here will receive an NRA membership prize package including a handful of hats (including a hard-to-get American Hunter hat), a made-in-America Buck Slim Ranger folding pocketknife, a rechargeable headlamp and a packable duffel.
