To be able to hunt with someone that has put his life on the line for our freedom is something I can't put to words! Shawn had been through 3 major explosions each causing concussions. The last explosion Shawn sustained a major brain injury. Shawn had to relearn walking and talking. He walks fairly well but uses the aid of a cane. Shawn also sustained an injury to a nerve bundle that supports his vision. At any moment Shawn can lose vision in his right eye!
Now...We slip into a Mega-Blind by Summit at 5:30am and immediately hear a bird gobbling right behind us about 200yrds across the field. As it gets light the birds gobbles even harder! By 6:30 he has shut up so I yelp occasionally just to let the bird know I am still there. At 7:00 I see a hen pitch into the field behind me. Followed by two more hens and the gobbler. As they worked out direction I clucked and purrrrred just a bit to keep his attention. As he came around the blind he saw the DSD Jake and Upright Hen in the field. He came on a string right to the decoy and beat the fire out of it for 10 minutes or more. We were taping a show for Pass'n it on Outdoors so we were trying to get the most video we could. I called Shawn off the bird until we got a few minutes of footage. Finally I got the go ahead from my cameraman and I told Shawn I would let him know when to send a load of #5 the birds direction. I tried everything I could to get the bird to pop his head up for Shawn to kill the bird but he was more interested in putting a whippin on my decoy. I could tell Shawn was starting to fatigue so I asked if he could hang in there, He said, " A few more seconds." The bird postured like he was about to jump all over my decoy again so I told Shawn to be ready. I supported his arm to take a bit of the instability from his weakening arms. As the bird jumped on the decoy and then back off he stuck his head straight up and I told Shawn to Kill him. As the words came out of my mouth the shot rang out! Boooooooommm....And Shawn had killed his first longbeard! I continue to replay his expression over and over in my head. I cannot express the feeling of emotion I feel now knowing what sacrifices he has made for our freedom! I hope that in the future those who have not had the same opportunity I have had will reach out to the handicapped hunter or wounded warrior type programs. It is the least we can do to honor the men and women for their sacrifices! God Bless, and thanks for taking the time to read!
