Deer Hunter?

When I was leading the Jeannette, Pennsylvania Free Methodist Church, I quickly discovered that the men of that church were deer hunters.  I was not.

Which always makes me feel sort of bad.  I've just never been into killing animals - although I did kill a robin one day.

When I was a kid, I was always throwing rocks at targets.  The telephone pole on the corner of our property was my favorite target.  Like William Wallace, I became pretty good at it. One spring day while I was throwing at the pole, I noticed a robin had landed in our yard.  I wondered if I was good enough to hit it?  I winged a rock in its direction and nailed it in the side of the head!

I felt horrible!  I looked around to see if anyone noticed.  I gathered the bird in my hands and took it deep into our back yard where no one could see me.  I got my dad's shovel and buried the poor, innocent bird.  I never threw a rock at a bird again (except a few crows).  :-)

Where was I?

Oh, yes, I decided that if I wanted to get to know the men of the church better, I should go hunting with them.  So, I borrowed a rifle from my brother and bought a hunting licence.

I went with the men and walked through the woods praying that I wouldn't see a deer.  For two seasons, I walked through the woods and spent time with the men.  I was right, it did give me a fantastic opportunity to build relationships.

Later, while living in McClellandtown, I went again with a young friend named Gary.  I was fortunate that I didn't see any deer.  Gary was fortunate that he did!  I got my first lesson on field-dressing a deer.  By the way, it's a great way to warm your hands.  The rest of it I won't go into detail.

Then, we took it to my back yard and skinned it!  Another first!  It was like a rite-of-passage!

I gave the rifle back to my brother and haven't been deer hunting since.

Don't get me wrong.  I love the outdoors and have spent weeks backpacking. I respect my many friends and family who love deer hunting.  I love to hear their stories and I am happy when they get one. I'll eat their deer-jerky and venison steaks anytime!  I love seeing deer when I'm in the woods.  But, I think I'll stick to hunting them with my eyes!  :-)