Terrible Three

Well, what a weekend. Of course you know I went hunting, so here is the story of that and how bad things come in threes and you have to laugh at it all to keep smiling. Don't let anything bring you down, no matter what.

Like usual, I went to bed VERY early on Friday night and got up at 430am thinking it was plenty early enough to get the spot that I wanted. I got to the hunting area and NINE guys beat me to where I wanted to be. So, I drove to the other side of the area and took that spot. Of course on the way there were deer everywhere on the side of the road and I knew that was good sign. I got in the stand a little later than I wanted, but no one's fault but my own. It was right at day break I started hearing the cracks of shotguns and muzzleloaders, some very close to me. That meant I must be in a decent area, but will any of them get past the other hunters to me? Well, it was several hours later, about 430pm, and I turned around and could see two does just waiting on me to put a shot in them. One was considerably larger than the other and I had my eyes on her. I let them closer, closer and then it looked at though they might go out of site and move on so that meant it was time to take a shot.

My heart racing. Adrenaline flowing. Heart pounding out of my chest (a feeling every hunter knows and loves it) like a cartoon!! I lined up a shot. POW!!!! The smoke cleared and they both were still standing. They never moved!! They turned and looked the oposite direction of my location then went back to eating. I flattened against the tree and as quietly as possible, I reloaded. They never saw me or heard me for that matter. I turned around and lined up another shot. This time aiming a little lower and a little faster because they were starting move on out of site. POW!!! This time they took off running. I got out of the tree as fast possible. I looked for blood and NOTHING!!! How did I miss?? I never miss!!! I tracked them for a while and never a sign of them again or any blood. How could this be? Did my scope get off somehow?

I gathered my stuff in extreme frustration, ran to the truck and drove as fast as I could to the rifle range on post to check my rifle. Guess what!!! I was right on the money. Perfect shot. Not off at all. So what happened? Who knows, but I will not miss again!!!

That was the first of three bads for the weekend. On to Saturday morning. I get up 30 minutes early and get ready to take off for hunting. This time I am the first out and I get the spot I wanted the day prior. I pull over and park, and then my truck tells me I have low tire pressure. Could not wonder why, but I get out and look. PPPPPSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! CRAP!!! I have a serious leak in my tire!! I grab the flashlight and start looking, and sure enough there is a ROCK in my tire. Not on the side, but straight through the tread. What the heck can go wrong now? Then I remember bad things come in threes. That was not going to bring me down at all. I move the truck, change the tire and park again where I was. A very nice guy about my age showed up about that time and we discussed where we would hunt and decided to hunt close to each other, but not as close as we ended up.

Well, about 9am it hit me. Get the heck out of the tree or crap my pants. Yes I am telling a story about pooping my pants. I tried to get my tree stand and the bottom was stuck on a branch and no matter how I tried, I could not get it down. I was running out of time and decided it was time to jump. I unhooked the safety harness and swung out of the stand and fell a few feet to the ground. Grabbed the TP and made for a tree. Just as I finished I look up and see the guy that I was talking to early. He was VERY close and laughing at me. He watched the whole ordeal of me trying to get out of the tree. He could there was a problem and once he discovered what it was, he could not stop laughing. Neither could I. Afterall, find humor in everything!!

We stood there and talked for a second and decided to scope out the area. We walked down the firebreak and saw another hunter in the distance and we all gave the "where the hell are they" arms up in the air at the same time. We kept walking and found some very fresh tracks on the edge of a field and I decided I was setting up shop on the trail. I go back and get my stuff, set up and wait. And wait. And wait. Then, I hear something close, but there is no way it is a deer because I would be able to see it at that distance. I figured a squirrel, but it didn't sound right. Then it let out a noise and I knew it was no squirrel. A big coon come walking by. He walked up close to my bag, smelled around and must have caught whiff of my pee and left. I didn't pee on my bag before you think that. I forgot my pee bottle and was having to just pee right out of the stand.

I set a time that I was done hunting, because if you remember I had a tire to fix and a house to clean. Plus I have only eaten one meal in two days and it was taking its toll on me. No fat jokes. I know I need to lose a few. So, I stand up and look around, listen very carefully. Look some more and as quietly as possible, I start down the tree. I get down and head down the trail to where I could not see that well and low and behold, right out of sight from my stand a deer took a big steamy crap. And I mean it was still steaming!! What the crap? Well, that is how it goes. Plus at that distance, I would not have taken the shot anyway. You might think that was the third in the threes. Never. That is part of hunting. I don't consider that a bad one. Just bad luck.

Now, you wonder what the third is? Well, on my way home after another day of hunting, I get pulled over on post for speeding. I was not paying attention to my speed and just going. I got a nice speeding ticket. When he brought me the ticket to sign, I started laughing. He was shocked and wondering what was so funny, so I explained my weekend, a lot shorter than here. He asked how in the world could I be laughing. That was simple. I spent two wonderful days in the woods in lovely weather. I had my health, and life is good. I told him to find humor and everything and laugh at and it will be all good. Never let anything bring you down.

To continue that on, I had a friend call me last night and wanted to know if she could stop by after work and of course I told her after she said she was having a horrible day. I was thinking, OK, I had some bad luck this weekend and it will be easy to cheer some one up. She comes over and tell me she thinks her boyfriend in Afghan is going to dump her and she is tore because they were fighting yesterday. After a little while, I had her laughing and understanding that it is easy to let things bring you down, IF you let them. By the end of the night she was doing a lot better. And guess what, I get a text first thing this morning telling me thank you for cheering up and she wanted to know how I stay so positive. I told her it is easy. I also told her that she, along with everyone, should read a book called, "You are What You Think" by David Stoop. You can get this on Amazon for $0.01. It is worth it. I plan buying a few copies and giving them to people who I think will benefit from them. It is a great Christian book and VERY easy to read.

You might wonder the outcome of the tire. Well, it can't be fixed and I have to buy another tire. Wal-Mart and the dealer both cannot fix it. Oh well. Chalk it up to the costs of hunting.

I am headed home this week to visit and do the mediation thing. I have mediation on Wed morning this week and hopefully Christina will finally think about Courtney and not only herself. Courtney always to stay longer and her mom never lets her. Imagine that. Pray that this goes well and we finally work something out and do not end up in court to have a judge make the decision for us.

I hope that everyone has a great week!!

SGT John Strader