Life has a way of throwing a fellow a curve once in a while but the strong always seem to find a way to bounce back. Such is the story of my good friend and hunting buddy, Robert.
My acquaintance with Robert came about almost 30 years ago when he was the Chief of Police in a small north Texas town where I moved and began my career in the insurance business. He became one of my first clients.
Our relationship soon developed into more than a business relationship – we became good friends. Not long after that, we began hunting together and realized we both shared the same passion for the sport. Robert and I spent many days together hunting everything from dove to deer and always managed to have a great time even when we came home empty handed.
Several years later I introduced Robert to the sport of bowhunting and before long he was as addicted as I was. Like most folks, he and I gradually moved from bowhunting on occasion to bowhunting exclusively. We were hooked and couldn’t get enough. We even began to look for more game to hunt with a bow, taking several trips to west Texas to hunt mule deer and trips to south Texas for javelina.
Robert’s hunting days were put on hold rather abruptly when a family member was diagnosed with cancer. He had to quit his job to stay home and help with the recovery as well as household duties. As you can imagine, hunting and many other things had to take a back seat during this difficult time.
Robert and his family are strong people and with the help of good doctors and countless prayers the cancer was beat and Robert went back to work. He began rebuilding his life and finances and soon his thoughts turned again to hunting.
I had been after Robert for several years to join us on a few hunts with Brazos Archery Outfitters and he finally agreed it was time. A few weeks ago he asked me to take a look at his bow and help him upgrade it with new sights and such since it hadn’t even been out of the case in almost 5 years. I agreed to work on it, but informed him that I was holding the bow for ransom and he would have to come to the ranch and hunt to get it back. I didn’t have to twist his arm.
Robert arrived at the ranch mid afternoon on Friday and after a few minutes helping him get the bow fine tuned and sighted in, we headed to the woods for a try at a whitetail buck. I knew of a stand where several nice bucks had been spotted by previous day hunters and sent Robert to the spot.
A cool front had passed through the area the day before and the deer were very active. I saw several nice bucks that afternoon but never had one in range for a shot. At dark, I loaded up and headed back to camp and was pleased when I pulled into the drive and saw Robert’s truck backed up to the game hoist. I was even more pleased when I saw what he had in the back of the truck – a very nice 9 point buck!
Even after taking off 5 years he hadn’t lost his touch. He made a perfect 20 yard heart shot on the buck and watched it fall in less than 20 yards. The buck gross scored 125 2/8 P&Y! What a comeback! Congratulations Robert. It’s great to have you back.
Trailboss
My acquaintance with Robert came about almost 30 years ago when he was the Chief of Police in a small north Texas town where I moved and began my career in the insurance business. He became one of my first clients.
Our relationship soon developed into more than a business relationship – we became good friends. Not long after that, we began hunting together and realized we both shared the same passion for the sport. Robert and I spent many days together hunting everything from dove to deer and always managed to have a great time even when we came home empty handed.
Several years later I introduced Robert to the sport of bowhunting and before long he was as addicted as I was. Like most folks, he and I gradually moved from bowhunting on occasion to bowhunting exclusively. We were hooked and couldn’t get enough. We even began to look for more game to hunt with a bow, taking several trips to west Texas to hunt mule deer and trips to south Texas for javelina.
Robert’s hunting days were put on hold rather abruptly when a family member was diagnosed with cancer. He had to quit his job to stay home and help with the recovery as well as household duties. As you can imagine, hunting and many other things had to take a back seat during this difficult time.
Robert and his family are strong people and with the help of good doctors and countless prayers the cancer was beat and Robert went back to work. He began rebuilding his life and finances and soon his thoughts turned again to hunting.
I had been after Robert for several years to join us on a few hunts with Brazos Archery Outfitters and he finally agreed it was time. A few weeks ago he asked me to take a look at his bow and help him upgrade it with new sights and such since it hadn’t even been out of the case in almost 5 years. I agreed to work on it, but informed him that I was holding the bow for ransom and he would have to come to the ranch and hunt to get it back. I didn’t have to twist his arm.
Robert arrived at the ranch mid afternoon on Friday and after a few minutes helping him get the bow fine tuned and sighted in, we headed to the woods for a try at a whitetail buck. I knew of a stand where several nice bucks had been spotted by previous day hunters and sent Robert to the spot.
A cool front had passed through the area the day before and the deer were very active. I saw several nice bucks that afternoon but never had one in range for a shot. At dark, I loaded up and headed back to camp and was pleased when I pulled into the drive and saw Robert’s truck backed up to the game hoist. I was even more pleased when I saw what he had in the back of the truck – a very nice 9 point buck!
Even after taking off 5 years he hadn’t lost his touch. He made a perfect 20 yard heart shot on the buck and watched it fall in less than 20 yards. The buck gross scored 125 2/8 P&Y! What a comeback! Congratulations Robert. It’s great to have you back.
Trailboss
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