Sleepy Dad
by R.Fauble

In 1985 I had been archery hunting for four years.  I hunted with a friend and his father every fall.  I always had a great time, but wished that I could get my father out with us.  My friend’s folks had a hunting cabin in central Michigan near the Manistee National Forrest.  That is the area that my dad grew up in.

After four years of asking my dad if he could take some time off work to go with us, I got a surprise.  My dad took the day off work and asked if I would go with him to buy a bow.  I was so happy, I loved bow hunting and wanted to be able to share that time with my dad.

The following day, I got up early and talked my dad into going in the yard to shoot.  I was one of the best days, just enjoying the cool morning air, sharing my love of archery with my dad.  It was great to be able to finally teach him about something.

We practiced all summer long, I couldn’t wait for bow season.  When opening day came, we loaded up and headed up north with my friend Matt and his dad Chuck.  When we got there, we went out driving the dirt roads to see where the deer were hanging out at night.

The next morning about 6AM, we loaded up and headed out.  We parked along a two track by some power lines.  I walked with my dad up a long hill by the power line cut where we had seen plenty of deer every year.  I set my dad up in a stand of trees and told him, “It’s time to h

unt.”  I told him that we would meet back at the truck a noon to go for lunch, unless someone got a shot off. I then went to my favorite clearing along a creek.  I didn’t see a single deer that morning and at 11:45 I headed to the truck to see how Matt, Chuck and my dad had done.

I got back to the truck and met with Chuck.  He said that he had seen a couple of does, but no bucks.  About ten minutes later, Matt arrived.  He had been set up on the edge of a bog and saw plenty of deer but not in shooting range.

At 12:45, my dad still had not got to the truck.  We all wondered if maybe Dad had been the lucky one that morning.   Chuck, Matt and I loaded up our bows in the truck and headed out to check on my father.

As we topped the hill along the power lines, we saw at least 20 deer, bucks and does.  Unfortunately, we left our bows back at the truck.  After five minutes of watching, the deer never even moved. We continued along the tree line to where I had set dad up, the deer were all within 25 yards of his stand.  I figured that he must have gotten a shot and was just waiting so we could track the deer together.

When I got close, I saw that my dad had his eyes closed.  I went and had to wake him up, so I tried to grab his bow to take a shot.  When I grabbed the bow, I startled him so much that he yelled, “What do you think you’re doing.”  It was loud enough to chase all to deer back in the other direction.

When dad got his bearings and stood up, I told him that were a bunch of deer that he could have taken, but he had fallen asleep instead.  Dad then took and apple out of his pack and began to eat it.  When he was finished, he tossed the core out in the clearing.  That’s when I noticed that he had tossed more than a few apple cores before this one, and that’s what the deer were eating.

We all had a great laugh at dad’s expense because he was set up perfectly. Dad said that he was so used to working all the time that when he sat down, he just fell asleep. I may have been an unsuccessful hunt for taking a deer, but it was my most successful hunt because I was able to spend that time in the woods with my dad and share my love of bow hunting with him.  Dad hunted with me for the next few years until I left for the military, but we will always remember our first hunt together.