Hunting Wishes

I spend much of my time in hotels as I travel searching the Internet and reliving the haunts of hunting past and harvest future. There's a dream of mine that exceeds any other goal or desire that I have when it comes to hunting: I want to hunt just one more day with my Father!

Merle Leland (Mike) Meyer was born to a Nebraska farmer, although his restless spirit made him chase an invisible dream it was his roots in the great state of Nebraska that quieted his spirit and soothed his soul. As so it is with me, his son! Mike-my Father-passed away in November of 2000 God rest his soul, he is buried in Nebraska.

As I sat at dinner last night in an upper class restaurant that sits right on the water at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, I listened politely as someone belittled Nebraska as a barren waste land. Honestly it was all I could do not to defend the great state however I decided that she doesn't need me to defend her from someone who knows nothing about her. For me Nebraska is a state of mind, a safe place to be when life is in turmoil, a great escape if you like. I too, like my father, harbor a restless soul, and as my wife defines it-I wish my life away. I only feel complete when I stand once again within the boundaries of my home state.

As the conversation moved on to several others who couldn't help but put in their two cents worth on a state they have merely traveled through-my thoughts began to wander and it hit me: when I go back-I go back to be with my father! It's as though I'm safe there with him to see over me, I'm once again-a kid-my fathers son! Although my wife would never live there, she fully understands that something draws me there and that I'm a better man when I return home to New Jersey just for having been there. It's somehow-my time with Dad!

Deer hunting will forever be-Deer hunting. But Deer hunting with Dad is a thing of the past. A memory that will linger for as long as I can lift my rifle, a dream to be smiled about, a goal to be cried about. I'll never again in life-hunt with my Father. It is my wish to those who hunt that they may see more than the harvest when they hunt, I wouldn't want anyone to miss the smell of coffee as the thermos is opened, the horizon as the sun comes up or lays down, the short distance between them and their fathers who sit next to them.

May hunting forever be a place where one feels safe and secure, and for me at home if you will-with my Father.

In loving memory of all the cornfields and duck blinds

Respectfully your son Kevin Scott "Scooter" Meyer