My wife was a little concerned when I took up deer hunting. She was worried I'd fall out of a tree or shoot myself. Little did she know.
I joined a new lease this year with some great guys in Rhea county. Many of the guys hunt out of ground level shooting houses positioned on firebreaks in the pine thickets. Being a newbie and not knowing where I should position a shooting house, I got the bright idea of building one with a sled frame so I could drag it around or even load it on my golf cart trailer and tow it to different locals until I found one I liked.
Saturday, I was up at deer camp and loaded my new shooting house on the trailer and ran ratchet straps front and rear to hold it to the trailer. I attached it to my 4 wheeler. Before leaving camp I climbed inside for some quick adjustments. As I backed out the door facing the rear, I forgot about the trip wire (er ratchet strap) behind me. As I fell backward one foot down to the ground I reached out to catch myself with my hands.
My right palm hit a rock hard. As I got up cussing my stupidity I looked down and saw I'd cut my palm 3" long and 1/2" deep. I started looking for a wrap to put on it and as I wondered from trailer to trailer, I noticed 2 of my comrades following a blood trail. MINE. Geez guys...I guess habits are hard to break...
I got the darn thing wrapped, drove to the hospital, got sewed up and got back just at dusk to see the deer others got and hear the tales of luck....
The guys cheered me up by reporting their experiences of broken bone and gashes from tree stand falls and briar patches, but I was still pissed about missing the first Sat. after turkey day. Thank goodness I got to hunt today (walking and from the ground). No darn deer today for me, but I got to hunt. I'm not sure what would have happened if I'd pulled the trigger today (right hand), but I was gonna find out By George....
