The outdoors played a big role in my life. I grew up always in the woods playing with my brothers and four-wheeling throughout the trees.
My brothers and my father lived in the woods always hunting, hiking, and taking care of our land. I was always jealous when my middle brother, Travis, came home to tell all his cool stories and what he experienced.
Zac, my oldest brother, would come home with a turkey for everyone to be in awe over.
Finally, when I was eight, Dad took me on my first hunt. I barely got any sleep the night before. Getting up early was easy thanks to how excited I was. I was very clumsy, stomping in the woods just before sunrise; I remember sliding in mud, too.
Boredom struck an hour after getting in the blind and I fell asleep. When I woke up I saw the exact thing I saw before I closed my eyes: zero signs of deer. Maybe two hours later I bugged my dad and said I was hungry; so we left the woods with my shoelace untied and my pants too big.
I didn’t understand why I didn’t see anything and it bothered me. Three o’clock rolled around and Dad asked if I wanted to go out again. Having no faith I almost didn’t go, but instead I dragged myself out the door with a big sigh. We walked through the woods and watched a little bunny sprint away from my elephant stomps and monkey swinging arms.
