Pennsylvania Game News - December 2021 - 39

hoped you would fill that void. I think
that's why Keith left his gear and guns
behind. "
Jim bent his head and spoke slowly.
" I grew up a city boy and wouldn't know
where to begin. I'm not Keith or Richard.
They had the whole outdoors thing in
their blood. I could never live up to them.
Richard was a hometown hero. I'd just be
an embarrassment floundering around out
there with this bum leg. "
" Jim, you're a great dad and a terrific
role model. There's no one to judge you
out there. The measure and value of success
is what you both decide it should be
and starting at square one together will
only make everything that follows even
better. If Richard had the outdoors in his
blood as you said, so do you and Steven.
He's trying to live up to his big brother
and that's a pretty tall order. He needs to
be shown that he is his own person. That
we don't expect or want anything more.
We need to convince him of that. "
Jim went down to the basement and sat
at the workbench. He reviewed Steven's
much reworked checklist. The list was
two columns wide, Steven's name on the
left, his own on the right. Jim selected a
few hunting magazines and a deer hunting
book from the wardrobe. He put Steven's
list on top of the pile then went upstairs.
Steven came into the kitchen where
his dad was sitting at the table, drinking
coffee. " I made 12 bucks, Dad. "
" That's good. Looking at your gear list
here, you're going to need more ammo
for practicing at the range this summer.
And I need to get some .270 ammo for
that Model 70 Uncle Keith left here. That
sure is a beautiful gun and fits me well.
I'll need boots, too. I added a few things,
but maybe you could help. "
Steven sank slowly onto a chair at the
table. Stunned, he blinked and swallowed
DECEMBER 2021
hard, then managed a question. " What do
you mean? " he asked, his voice cracking.
" Let's do it. Me and you. Step by step.
I can't get around too fast, but hunting's
not a horse race. We have a lot to catch up
on, but we have time. We'll scout places to
hunt, get a handle on our shooting skills,
learn about deer, all of it. There's a big
learning curve, but we can do it together.
It'll be fun. "
S
TEVEN THOUGHT IT the greatest
summer ever as they transformed a
room in the basement into their hunting
headquarters. They went to public sales
and picked up a gun cabinet, a sturdy table
and bookshelf, another wardrobe and odds
and ends from hunting careers now past.
They hung a large corkboard for pictures
and blocked out a schedule on a calendar.
They joined a sportsman's club with
a shooting range and set new challenges
for each range session. At night, after
they cleaned their guns, they reviewed
their targets. The aroma of Hoppe's No.
9 collected between the floor joists, an
unforgettable incense that became synonymous
with this ritual.
In late summer, they sat at the edges of
fields near dusk with binoculars, watching
deer filter in, studying the ways they
walked and tested the wind, how the
movements and positioning of their tails
and ears were used to communicate.
They became familiar with the anatomy
of bone and muscle beneath thin summer
coats. They judged distances and placed
imaginary shots as the deer changed
positions.
September found them far and deep in
the mountains surrounding town, using
the topographic maps they found in Richard's
pack. One large hollow was marked
with several Xs followed by an R or a K
that were stands that he and Keith used.
39
Pennsylvania Game News - December 2021

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