(I know what I was supposed to notice, when Chad sent me this picture, was that Jamison harvested a very nice deer. Instead, I was completely blown away by how OLD my son looks! Seriously. . . he is only 18 people! 18!)
Anyway.
Chad was thrilled when Jamison decided to hunt this year. The last several years, Jamison has been racing during deer hunting season. If all goes as he hopes, he will be racing during hunting for the next four years as well. However, since injuries prevented him from racing at all this fall, he decided to skip going to the regional meet (as a fan of his team) and spend the time with family instead. That made for one VERY happy dad.
And a proud one, as well. After Jamison dropped this deer, Chad texted me, "Jay made a long shot. He was standing. He's got my blood running through him."
That is high praise, especially considering the source!
It is the first year that Chad's grandpa, and biggest hunting mentor, has not been able to hunt - so having Jamison walking the fields by his side has been reassuring. The hunting tradition will continue - from grandfather, to daughter, to grandson, to great grandson and great granddaughters. (Sierra has been a "deer dog" this weekend, since she was not drawn for a tag this year. Brenna hunted during youth season.) Loss, it seems, makes the stability of tradition that much more special.
