biggest buck
Active Member
Yesterday my best friend/mentor/hunting partner/father nearly lost his life to a blood clot. He had a massive stroke leaving him without the use of his right side and the ability to speak. I am not looking for sympathy here, maybe just a few prayers from some other great hunters. My father taught me the greatness of the outdoors when I was very young and we continue to share this passion with my two sons. My 16 year old son, who my father was with when he shot his first deer, said to me yesterday after seeing his grandpa, that he will never hunt again if he cannot hunt with his grandpa. At this point I feel exactly the same and don't care if I ever step foot in a tree stand again. This is about the worst day in my life..
My father and I spend countless hours each deer season together and have always lived close by one another. 13 years ago my father moved nearly an hour away, my family and I followed and moved a mile away right around the corner in the country. Then 5 years ago when my son was paralyzed we moved to a new town. A year later dad and his wife followed. He is always there for me, he is the epitome of what a father should be. I only hope I can be half the man he is. He has taught me so many things in life and has more energy than many his age. This summer one of my big garage doors blew off during a thunderstorm, a couple days went by and here he comes. He says lets get this thing rebuilt. So in the next few days we had a new frame and new door built. He has never been able to just sit by and not do things. He has been a Caterpillar mechanic all his life, I dont think there is anything he doesn't know about a tractor. He is a collector of Minneapolis Moline tractors and just loved to fix them up. Just the other day he got a call about an MM from a guy in Texas wanting to know how to fix his. He said he couldn't find anyone down there that could answer his question and knew dad would have the answer. This man knows so many people its just unbeleivable. We had several rooms full of people at the hospital yesterday and today,the support was truly amazing. 5 years ago dad became friends with an old farmer from Neola, Iowa. This man is 78 years old and has never let anyone hunt his property due to the lack of respect his property was shown. One day he was talking to dad about deer hunting and offered his place to my dad! Dad jumped at the chance, he knew what this place looked like and everyone in the area knew this place was OFF limits. Dad goes in there and did a little scouting one day and found a place he liked. The next weekend shotgun season opened up. We did not hunt this place opening weekend. But dad was there in the middle of the day on Monday. Later that night around 6 pm I give dad a call to tell him about a monster that I had been hunting for the last 3 years was dead, by someone else unfortunately. Dad listens to me brag about the size of this thing and how upset I was then says, wait till you see the monster 18 pointer I just shot! I freaked out and immediately drove to his house to meet him. A monster it was, a 181 Nontypical. Definitely an awesome looking deer. How can life be so cruel? It is so unfair. Definitely a sad sad day for many
Thanks for lisetening and God bless all. And thank you dad for always being there for me! Some of you may know him, his name is Ed Thomas from Persia, Iowa.
My father and I spend countless hours each deer season together and have always lived close by one another. 13 years ago my father moved nearly an hour away, my family and I followed and moved a mile away right around the corner in the country. Then 5 years ago when my son was paralyzed we moved to a new town. A year later dad and his wife followed. He is always there for me, he is the epitome of what a father should be. I only hope I can be half the man he is. He has taught me so many things in life and has more energy than many his age. This summer one of my big garage doors blew off during a thunderstorm, a couple days went by and here he comes. He says lets get this thing rebuilt. So in the next few days we had a new frame and new door built. He has never been able to just sit by and not do things. He has been a Caterpillar mechanic all his life, I dont think there is anything he doesn't know about a tractor. He is a collector of Minneapolis Moline tractors and just loved to fix them up. Just the other day he got a call about an MM from a guy in Texas wanting to know how to fix his. He said he couldn't find anyone down there that could answer his question and knew dad would have the answer. This man knows so many people its just unbeleivable. We had several rooms full of people at the hospital yesterday and today,the support was truly amazing. 5 years ago dad became friends with an old farmer from Neola, Iowa. This man is 78 years old and has never let anyone hunt his property due to the lack of respect his property was shown. One day he was talking to dad about deer hunting and offered his place to my dad! Dad jumped at the chance, he knew what this place looked like and everyone in the area knew this place was OFF limits. Dad goes in there and did a little scouting one day and found a place he liked. The next weekend shotgun season opened up. We did not hunt this place opening weekend. But dad was there in the middle of the day on Monday. Later that night around 6 pm I give dad a call to tell him about a monster that I had been hunting for the last 3 years was dead, by someone else unfortunately. Dad listens to me brag about the size of this thing and how upset I was then says, wait till you see the monster 18 pointer I just shot! I freaked out and immediately drove to his house to meet him. A monster it was, a 181 Nontypical. Definitely an awesome looking deer. How can life be so cruel? It is so unfair. Definitely a sad sad day for many
Thanks for lisetening and God bless all. And thank you dad for always being there for me! Some of you may know him, his name is Ed Thomas from Persia, Iowa.
