A very Merry Christmas to all! And may your Christmas morning dreams come true, each and every one of you!
Celebrating Christmas morning with family is always a very special occasion. My memory bank overflows with unlimited images of excited siblings around the decorated tree with mom and dad, wildly tearing away at the colorfully wrapped gifts all around. Birthdays and Christmas were the only days of the year that we ever got anything, and mom and dad went overboard for Christmas.
Sure, I truly appreciated the new socks, some school clothes, maybe new gloves and some toys, but what really brings a gleaming smile across my face was when those special looking packages were unwrapped with a frenzy.
You know what I’m talking about. The long, slender box with the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun! And the long package that only arrows would fit in.
My earliest Christmas memories glow as I got my 1st Whammo slingshot and a bag of marbles for ammo.
The little wooden longbow and feather fletched arrows overshadowed all the other gifts.
I remember Christmas morning 1960. Mom and dad would have us kids make out a wish list for hopeful Christmas presents, and that year I wrote down only 1 item. I had just turned 12 and I wanted a real recurve bow to replace the beat up old kid’s bow that I had nearly worn out.
My sister Kathy and brothers Jeff and John and I raced down the spiral staircase to the lighted tree well before dawn, and mom and dad joined us post haste.
I remember gazing at all the presents under the tree and was shattered that I saw no gift that could possibly be a recurve bow.
When I turned to go back up the staircase my father, in his trademark stern voice, told me to remain with the family and enjoy opening the gifts together.
I did my best to feign joy as I opened my new clothes and a few other items.
With my siblings having the time of their lives, little spoiled brat Ted remained rather sullen.
It was then that dad asked me if I liked my gifts and I half-heartedly said yes and thanked them.
Leaning back in the sofa against the living room window curtains, my father asked us kids if we had opened all our gifts, and we replied in the affirmative.
Taking a long sip from his coffee mug, my dad leaned back, grab the edge of the tall drapes, and said; “Ted, you haven’t seen this one yet, have you?”
Like the opening curtain of the most famous Broadway musical ever, I swear to God, I heard angels blowing on trumpets emerging from giant white clouds on wings, for there from behind the curtain my eyes locked on the most beautiful natural wood Shakespeare recurve bow I had ever seen in my life!
I performed an Olympian winning standing long-jump over the coffee-table and grabbed that bow and hugged my dad with tears of joy streaming down my face. Frantically yanking on my jeans and jacket, I grabbed my new bow and my back-quiver of arrows and raced outside to let ‘em fly!
Do not underestimate the power and soul-cleansing healing dynamo that sporting goods gifts provide. Even to our non-sporting family and friends, there is not a soul alive that wouldn’t thoroughly appreciate a BB gun, pellet rifle, new pistol, rifle or shotgun and all the ammo to go with them.
Nothing captures the imagination of youth like the mystical flight of the arrow.
As I prepare to celebrate my 68th Christmas with my wonderful, loving family, I still have that old Shakespeare recurve from 1960 and revel how it help shape me all these wild years.
All Christmas days are very special, but in the homes of American deerhunting families, I have a funny feeling that the spirit is just a little more intense, and the giving of outdoor gear accentuates the love of life and love of family more than average.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good deerhunting night.
Ted Nugent is an award-winning musician and writer, with numerous best-seller books including “Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto,” “God, Guns and Rock ‘n Roll,” and “Kill It and Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish” with his wife, Shemane, among other books. Be sure to check out his website for more news on his latest music, thoughts and upcoming shows, and also at World News Daily, Newsmax and Daily Caller for more insights.
+++++
Maximize Your Deer Season Planning With the 2017 Whitetails Wall Calendar!
From Deer & Deer Hunting magazine, the 2017 Whitetails Wall Calendar features the work of deer researchers Wayne Laroche and Charlie Alsheimer, who reveal the 2017 whitetail rut prediction, based on years of lunar cycle research. Utilize this deer moon phase calendar to find out which days the deer will be seeking and chasing, so you can time the rut for the best time to hunt.