There was a cold biting chill in the air. We slept under 3 layers of covers. Although, the thermostat said 40 degrees F, we got a good night of sleep in the Hi-Lo (Camper) out here in Johnson City. This is the second year on the lease at Selah Bamberger Ranch and each time we pass through the gates to enter the ranch a sense of calmness, peace and presence fill my heart and mind. I didn’t grow up a hunter, in fact I never even hunted until a few years ago when my friend invited me out to his place in Uvalde for a Turkey hunt with the boys and I caught the “hunting” bug. However, I am always up for an adventure and when an opportunity to join a deer lease in the Hill Country came up last year I jumped at the once in a life-time chance.
Now, my dad was more of a fisherman, but my father-in-law gave the boys and me his heirloom rifles to keep safely in our gun safe here in San Antonio a few years back so I had the bare essentials to get started. What I have realized in the last two seasons is that there is a lifetime of lessons to be learned in the blind and on the ranch and I’m just now beginning my journey. The best part is that I’m learning these lessons side by side with my entire family, as they all have embraced fall hunting at the lease. In fact, my youngest son Eli has taken quite the liking to the outdoors and harvested a beautiful 5 year 8-point Hill Country buck and a nice 150+ pound wild hog, which will both nourish our bodies for the next year. This year we have made 7 trips to the hill country for hunts in a short 2-month period. This is the second year on the lease and this season I bought a camper and parked it out on the ranch so we can take more time and not rush each time we drive out. The set up is really nice, nestled in the epicenter of the Hill Country in Johnson City on a 5,500 acre conservation called Bamberger Ranch. Between the 5 hunters on the lease with me we have over 600 acres just to ourselves among 5 blinds perched on hills looking down on feeders roughly 125-140 yards away. The sunrises and sunsets are just as good as the hunting. In fact, there have been times that I sit in the blind without any intention on shooting anything, but rather to take in the quiet sunrise with my kids or breath cold air in the blind and watch it dissipate into the ether. I have many times felt a deep connection with the land and experienced the presence of God right there in a 5×5 deer blind.
A week before Thanksgiving this year, the boys and I decided to do an afternoon hunt on a beautiful Sunday. We had been home all weekend and the day was wide-open so we thought we would take the hour drive up to the hill country and spend some boy time together. Up to that day, I had been tracking a few 5+ year old “shooters” by way of the game cameras that we set up by each of the feeders. So I knew there were a few bucks that were ready for harvest and it was just a matter of time, if we put in the work and effort to be there at the right time. Hunting is an experience more than a sport if you ask me. You don’t hunt, at least I don’t for the kill. It’s all the surrounding process of planning, nature, technical details, ethics and love for the animal that make it something like I’ve never experienced before. It’s contradictory, the idea of loving and killing something at the same time but I promise you that is what it is. Anyway, the boys and I got to the lease around 3PM and wanted to be set up in the blind by 3:30PM, so we timed it perfect. We set up in the big blind (4 person) that we call the “Condo”, which has a nice downward view of a blind set up in front of a beautiful wide-open field. That day, I brought only 1 gun. The Remington 700 model 30-06, a wood stock sighted-in gun that if shot well will make a nice kill and harvest. Around 4PM, we started seeing some activity at the blind. A few doe, chased by several younger 6-8 point bucks. I didn’t even have the gun out by the time our “shooter” showed up. Right when we saw him, I told the boys that’s the one. At this point, I pulled the gun out and looked over to my left and saw Eli nervous, excited and full of anticipation. Then without even thinking much about it, I looked at him and said do you want to take it? He cracked a humble, innocent smile and said really? I responded, absolutely this one is yours. He took a deep breath and as I handed him the gun and he got set up. We always treat the guns as if they are loaded, even though this one was not yet. Eli set up, I dropped a bullet in the bolt action and put the safety on. As I watched Eli set up with focus and confidence, he dropped a few nice open breaths and said, ok I’m going. He moved the safety out of position and then a crack, followed by the smell of gun powder imprinted a memory in my mind that I will never forget. I watched as the buck dropped exactly where he was standing, no struggle, no wound, just a clean kill and a look on Eli’s face of pride, confusion and innocence that I will keep with me for ever. His brother Ethan, who was sitting in the blind with us said “Wow, Eli is a marksman”! We all took a deep breath, and then said a quick prayer for the soul of the animal we just harvested and reminded ourselves of the beauty of life and the promise to treat the flesh of the deer with respect as we would let it nourish our bodies over the next year. That was quite the day for us all. I’m so thankful for that moment.
As 2020, ramps down I am constantly reminded of the suffering and pain of the world as we enter our tenth month of nation-wide lock downs from COVID-19. At the same time, I am constantly reminded of the beauty and blessing of my time at home with my family and the memories I have been able to make while we have been forced to slow down and stay at home more. Christmas has wrapped up and New Years is only a few days away. I look forward to what 2021 brings us and I’m optimistic of the future and the memories we will make! Adelante and happy new year.
Bluescoder I/O 
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