3rd Prize
Mark XXII Rifles (5 awarded)
Chad See, West Virginia
“It was the end of October and I found myself on yet another fishing trip to New York for trophy brown trout and king salmon. It was on this trip that I received the call from my mom. She was obviously upset and when I asked her what was wrong, she told me that my grandpa (Earl Sharp, also known as Pap to those of us who love him) had gone in for a check up and his cancer was back. He had fought this battle once and we thought he had won, but this time the doctors felt it was more serious. They told him that without treatment, he would likely not live more than six months and with treatment, a year. Needless to say, my mom had reason to be upset because Pap had told us before that he didn’t want to go through any more treatment.
Knowing there was nothing we could do at that moment, we finished out our trip and headed home to be with family. Pap decided to give the treatments another try, but told us that if they made him sick again that he would not continue taking them. Knowing that the likelihood of him getting sick again was high, my cousin (Rick) and I wanted to do something special for Pap while we knew he could still enjoy it. Rick remembered a trip that Pap had taken with his wife when they were first married. They had gone on a road trip out west and Pap had always talked of going back. With that said, Rick put in for two weeks off work and gave me a call to say that we were taking Pap on an out west road trip. At first I thought he was nuts, but soon realized that the memories that we would make on that trip would be priceless.
I told Rick it was a good idea but Pap would never go for it. Well, Rick called Pap and much to my surprise, he was packed and ready to go right away. So, with gear all packed. we headed out on a western road trip with only Pap’s memory of places he wanted to see again to guide us. This is where my dream hunt is really rooted. As long as I can remember, my grandpa had talked about going to the Badlands and to Yellowstone Park. Well, I never really knew what he was talking about until we arrived in South Dakota. There we were greeted with a light snow and mule deer that appeared to me to be rutting. We saw bighorn sheep and a large variety of other game. To be blunt, it was the most awesome thing I had ever seen in all my life. No wonder Pap had recalled those sights so many times to us over the years.
We continued on to Yellowstone, then to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and various other stops and sights along the way. We had a blast, took TONS of pictures, and made memories that I know none of us will ever forget. When it was all said and done, we had been gone for 10 days and been in 19 different states. We were tired but excited and filled with stories of our own to tell to anyone who would listen.
Well, here it is almost a year after Pap’s diagnosis and he is still hanging in there. He is weaker than he used to be, but doing well and there is not a person he comes in contact with that he doesn’t tell about his trip with two grandsons out west. One thing that he talks about all the time though is going back to the Badlands with Rick and I and trying to tag one of those rutting mule deer bucks or any of the various other western game we encountered.
So, there you have it, that is my dream hunt. To head back to the Badlands and to hunt for mule deer with my grandfather and my cousin whom I have already shared so many hunts with. My grandfather means the world to me and has always instilled in his kids and grandkids a love and appreciation for the outdoors. I can think of no greater joy than to give him a hunt like this while he is still able to go and do it. He has worked hard all of his life and never had the money to go with an outfitter for any hunt. It really would be a dream hunt come true for all three of us to spend some time back in God’s country hunting for the animals that we have only dreamed we may one day tag.”