4th Prize
Vanguard Deluxe or SUB-MOA Rifles (7 awarded)
Frank White, West Virginia
“My dream hunt is to take my dad elk hunting in New Mexico and this is why. Since I was a teenager, Dad and I often talked about how great it would be for just the two of us to take a hunting adventure out west. We discussed several places to go and various animals to pursue but going after elk in New Mexico always seemed to come up.Then in the spring of 1999, my dad and I attended a local volunteer fire department fundraiser in which the grand prize to be given away was an all expense paid trip for two to hunt whitetails for a week in south Texas.
We sat there all day with friends and family exchanging old hunting stories and talking about how great it would be to win that hunt to Texas. After about eight hours it was time to draw the number for the grand prize so I took my seat across the table from Dad so I could tell him I had a good time today and I’d talk to him later.When I sat down, I’ll never forget it, he just looked at me and said, ‘Well, ya ready to go to Texas?’ and I just laughed. The next thing I knew they drew the number and it matched Dad’s number! That place went crazy, it seemed like everybody there came over to congratulate and shake hands with him. Everytime someone would ask him “Who ya gonna take?”, he would just look at me and I would grin ear to ear! I couldn’t believe it, we are finally going to get to take a hunt like we always talked about.
A couple of months passed and it seemed like not a day would go by without talking about the hunt. Then one day I received a call by a company that I had been trying to gain employment with for over a year, they wanted to interview me and I wanted this job. At the end of the interview the guy basically told me that I was hired and to wait for the phone call to come to work. I could’nt wait to get home and tell my wife the good news, but now I have a problem on my hands. During the interview it was explained that I would be on a probation period and that I would not have a vacation for at least one year. This meant the hunt was off for me, but I had to do what was best for my wife and kids. I kept the job prospect from my parents and it was eating me up inside how I would tell my dad if I got hired. Then I got the call to come to work so I had to give Dad the news. When I told him of the job he was happy for me and my family but now he didn’t even want to go on the hunt if I couldn’t go. I told him that he should go because he’s waited so long for an opportunity like this to come along.
Weeks went by and he barely spoke of the hunt, then one day he asked me what he should do. He said he could’nt think of anyone else to take and that he had cash offers to sell the hunt. I thought about it and told him he should take my sister’s husband( his son-in-law) because he enjoys the outdoors as much as us and he’s a great guy that would appreciate the experience. I also reassured him that someday we’ll go on a trip so go and enjoy this one. Well, they went and both took great deer and have mounts and memories for a lifetime.
Some years passed when Lady Luck smiled on Dad again. He purchased a ticket in which he won two guns. One was a 12 gauge and the other was a high-powered rifle in choice of caliber. He called to inform me that he was giving the shotgun to my brother-in-law and that I have to make up my mind which caliber of rifle I want. I didn’t take long in making a decision and cited the reason for the caliber choice was to have something to take on that elk hunt when we go out west.
Now about five years have passed by and we’ve barely spoken about that hunt we were going to take. In that time, Dad has retired from work and both of us have experienced some difficulties in saving for such an expense. It feels now like that elk hunt will only be a dream. I’ll conclude by saying that it truly would be a dream come true if I could take a seat across the table from Dad and ask him, ‘Well, ya ready to go to New Mexico?’”