2nd Prize
Orion II D'Italia Over/Under Shotguns (3 awarded)
Jim Reath, Michigan
“I am writing in for this contest for my husband. This is just something he would never do for himself. He is a really hardworking guy who enjoys hunting and fishing in his free time on the weekends or after work at night. However, the weekend goes by so quickly! He has always wanted to go out west on a mule deer hunt and has never been able to. We were recently out at my husband’s family camp which is known as our second home in Hermansville, Michigan, for a week for opening bow season and that is when I saw this contest on TV on the Outdoor Channel. The Outdoor Channel is a favorite in our house and I have to admit my husband has me to the point where I watch it sometimes without him.
I would like to tell you first a little bit about my husband and the kind of man he is. We have been together since high school which makes 14 years. Of those years, seven of them have been married. He is a wonderful loving and supportive husband and has never let me or our families down. Whenever I need him he has always been there no matter what! He is a man who I can honestly say is true to his word. His friends can call him a true pal. If you need someone to help you with something he will give you a hand provided he doesn’t have any prior commitments. He is an extremely hard worker and has never had a problem with holding a steady job. He provides for us and works very hard all week in doing so. My husband is a man that people can say they are happy to know! He doesn’t sweat the small stuff in life. He takes each day he is given and lives it to its fullest! That is what I admire most about him. He never takes life for granted.
He has been into hunting and fishing ever since he was little. He grew up to become a die-hard hunter and fisherman. He gets a big smile on his face when I tell him how much I enjoyed hunting or fishing. Last year he had me practice shooting the rifle and then the bow. He just enjoyed showing me and had lots of patience in teaching me how to do both. He really wants me to start hunting on my own and feels it would be a good relaxation for me. I am getting close to being able to do it thanks to him. I think it makes him really proud to tell people that his wife enjoys hunting and fishing with him. It took me a while to start to enjoy hunting, but now the thought of sitting in the quiet and just watching nature at its finest is a great past time. I owe that experience to Jim. He enjoys hunting all kinds of game, but there is one in particular that he would love to hunt and that is the mule deer. He watches mule deer hunts on TV and just goes on and on about how much he would enjoy that kind of a hunt. He has told me before that someday he is going to have a mule deer to hang on the wall.
He had the opportunity to go on a mule deer hunt out west with a buddy and his buddy’s dad about two years ago; however, he chose to decline. I say chose because he decided what was more important at the time and chose on his own not to go. The thing he chose was to continue our infertlity treatments. You see Jim and I have been trying to start a family from the day we got marrried till now with no luck. Jim has always wanted a son or daughter that he could experience the outdoors with and share old hunting stories with up at the camp, but that isn’t coming so easy for us. I got pregnant almost two years ago and miscarried and our fertility treatments had not been successful after that. When Jim had the opportunity to go out west two years ago on a mule deer hunt he was going to get the money together and go. However, we had to keep our doctor bill at a zero balance after what the insurance wouldn’t cover (which left a big balance) and he chose not to have me worry over how to make both happen and told his buddy thanks, but this was far more important. I can’t say there isn’t another man who wouldn’t do the same, but I’m speaking totally from my heart about my husband and he did it for me so that I wouldn’t have any extra worries about making everything work. However, now we have pretty much left things up to God to take care of and give us an answer on how and when our family will start. He deserves a mule deer hunt out west more than my words could ever express to you. This man would be so grateful and would talk about it for years to come. I can just see him telling stories about it with our kids at camp someday. I say our kids because somehow someway he’ll have a child to share the outdoors with and all his memories. For now he shares them only with me and that makes me so unbelievably happy. If I could send him packing on a mule deer hunt tomorrow I would without a second thought! I just know how thrilled and grateful he would be to see nature out west.
In closing I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read through my letter. I know you get a lot of these and it must be extremely tough to decide on a winner. Just know that this would be a dream come true. Life throws you curves you never expect we all know that, but given the opportunity I would like it if you could make one of Jim’s curves a little easier to coast through. HE DESERVES IT SO MUCH!”
Thank You Either Way,
Stacey Reath