January 28, 2002

On one of my recent visits to Mark's Outdoors, Mark mentioned that he was looking for hunting stories and pictures for the upcoming publication. I told Mark that I had some pictures of a nice 8 point that my son had recently taken on our lease at White Farms Hunting Club in Coffeeville.

Griff is 14 and has been hunting to varying degrees since he was about 7. The past couple of years he has blossomed into a very dedicated and capable hunter. As a teenager, he will sleep until all hours, unless it involves hunting, and then he is up at 5:00 a.m. every morning.

This particular morning began, as most do at White Farms, with a duck hunt. Following our duck hunt, Griff said that he was going to grab a cushion and go sit in an area that he thought might be productive. He sat against a tree for 45 minutes or so, when he decided to move. After walking fifteen yards or so, three bucks got up about 20 yards away. A 6 point quickly darted away and an 8 point and a 10 point began moving as well. Griff dropped everything and raised his gun. He could not get a clean shot on the 10 point but was able to drop the 8 point in his tracks.

I was in an adjacent field with my son Ben when we heard the shot. I told Griff that morning, that if he shot something to come back to camp and get me. Ben and I finished up and were returning to camp when we saw a group of 4-wheelers coming our way led by Griff with his youngest brother Sam on back. You should have seen the look on Griff's face when he said "Dad I got an eight point". When we went to recover the buck it was evident that Griff had done his homework and was in an excellent spot.

Our camp is blessed with a group of men who dedicate a great deal of time to their children. The great thing about the week between Christmas and New Years was that if it hadn't been for the children of our members, we would not have harvested a single deer. In addition to Griff's 8 point, Philip Mash's daughter Adair, John Pearce's son Dan and Billy Hiden's son Billy all killed nice 8 point deer. It's quite rewarding to see these young people enjoy the outdoors.

I look forward to many more special times hunting with my boys.