Family Spot

After World War II had ended, American veterans who had headed off to war came home to resume their lives. Unfortunately, many members of the armed services were killed during the war, including my uncle Blaine Reigh. All of these brave men made it possible for us to experience the freedoms we now enjoy.

Following the war, Dad and many other veterans became interested in deer hunting. As the deer herd increased and Dad learned the habits of the animals, he discovered a nice spot on a local mountain where he, my uncle Bill Rhodes, and later several of us from the next generation regularly hunted for deer. We considered this section of game lands our family spot, just as other hunters who discovered other deer crossings considered these locations to be their family spots.

Dad’s biggest deer from the family spot was a dandy 8-point buck. Later I also tagged a fine 8-point from one of the deer crossings there, which was my favorite buck from the mountain. My uncle Bill; my brother, Bill (named for Uncle Bill); my son, Bob (named for Dad and his other grandfather, Bob Mingle); my brother-in-law, Bruce Houck; and my friend Brady Appleman all killed deer there regularly until the establishment of new hunting rules in 2002 that dramatically reduced deer numbers on that section of game lands. After Uncle Bill had passed on and Dad turned 70 before passing on 18 years later, Bill (who died at age 59), Bruce, and Bob found greener pastures for deer hunting.

Brady and I continued to hunt there, despite the low population of deer, and Brady tagged several nice ones. One morning he shot a fine 8-point that ran down the other side of the mountain before expiring. I was 66 at the time; he, a couple years younger; and it took us from 8:30 till 2:30 to get the deer back to his truck. That strenuous deer drag ended our hunting there, and we tried several other locations before he settled on his family’s property. Meanwhile, Bob’s spot became known to another hunter who had no respect for the 20 years Bob had spent at a deer crossing he had discovered; and Bob sought a move. I lamented being unable to get back to “the top,” as we referred to our family spot. But, Bob is resourceful, and several years ago he secured permission for us to drive within 100 yards of the top. Once again, he and I have been hunting there on the deer season opener.