Red Palm Tradition

You wake up before the sun does, to the screaming of an alarm clock.  Next, you ponder weather or not to even go out today. In your groggy state of mind you toss the covers off, sit at the end of the bed, and rub life back into your eyes.You flip on the weather forecast and a fresh pot of coffee; there are only a limited number of these opportunities each year and you’re not about to let one slip away.  You’ve been doing this for so long it is just the start of another season for you.

On the other side of the cabin a young boy has been laying in bed wide awake for the past hour. He did not need an alarm clock to wake up and has just been waiting to hear you stir in the dark quite of the early morning. Before your pot of coffee is even done brewing, here comes the boy out of his room already dressed and eager to get out into the crisp morning air. He starts the truck up to get it warm, comes back in and insists you need to get moving if we are going to beat the deer waking up.

There is no music filling the ride out to the spot you have been scouting all year. You are still trying to fully wake up while the young hunter is concentrating on the task in front of him. It is his first year hunting where he is the shooter. He has been waiting for this day ever since earlier that year when he passed his hunters safety course without missing a single question. Finally the boy breaks the silence when he asks, “Do you think we’ll see a twelve point? I bet we will since I am twelve and it will be my first deer.”

A fresh frost has covered the ground as you both sneak into the woods. Easing back to the perfect funnel where a creek bottom joins with a rolling oak flat. As you both sit in the silence at the base of that big oak tree there is the slight echo of movement on the far hillside. Your eyes strain to see in the darkness. All you have to go off of is the unmistakable crunch of leaves a whitetail makes as you wait for the sun to send its bright orange glow into the sky.

At last there begins to be dim light and the woods come alive. Birds start chirping in the gentle hue of day breaking. It is still hard for you to see when out of no where the boy leans over and whispers, “There’s one.” You could not see it but the youthful eyes next to you picked that buck out as soon as there was enough light. The boy moves into position ever so slowly resting his 30-30 on his knee.  By this time you can see the deer making its way down the hillside to the creek bottom.

The boy peers through the scope and his heart starts pounding so loud he can’t hear himself think. He doesn’t count the points but he knows it is a big buck and that is all he needs to know. The cross hairs settle on the buck’s broad shoulder and the whole world goes mute. It is just the boy and his prized buck. The silence is broken by a firery shot ringing out of the end of the Winchester.

Birds fly, the buck takes off down the draw and around a bend. You look down to your hunting partner and to your surprise he is laying on his back trying viciously to right himself. He was so focused on aiming when he fired the blast knocked him over. The boy asks, “Did I get him? Did you see Dad? Where is he?” You settle him as much as you can and say we have to wait and give the deer time to expire.

Ten Minutes go by and you cannot hold this boy back from his prize any longer. Fairly certain that the shot was true, you let the boy go to where he shot the buck. Before you can pack your gear up the boy is yelling up to you he found blood. Sharing in the excitement, you hustle down and start tracking the deer with the boy leading the way. In the distance you see a white belly laying not 100 yards from where he was hit. The boy keeps tracking like a bloodhound with his eyes locked on the ground. As you approach the deer the blood trail is getting larger and the boy's excitement is building. All of the sudden, the boy shrieks with joy as he almost trips over his buck before he sees it. You share in a handshake and a congratulatory hug.

He can’t wait to get his hands on the buck and after the initial finding of the deer he begins to count points. It is not the twelve point he had predicted, but this did not matter, it was his first buck. This nine point could have been a new world record and the reaction would have been the same. After tags were applied it was time to teach the boy how to field dress a deer.

Once the demonstration was over, you reminded the boy that he must now be initiated into the hunting world. You reach your wet red hand out and give the boy a pat on the cheek. The red palm print is recognized all over the hunting world as a symbol of a hunter's first successful hunt.

Here at Red Palm Nation we love the outdoors and everything about it. The family, friends, and traditions it builds will never be forgotten. We are dedicated to keeping these traditions around and sharing them with the nation, A RED PALM NATION!!!