Melissa's Story!
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Well it all started when I decided to attend the Campbell's Outdoor Challenge! I went out to get sponsors and really it turned into relationship building and trying to help out other local Flint Area Businesses.
I went into Ed’s Archery and met Steve Gilkes the owner and his wife Melissa. I noticed Melissa walked with a cane and couldn’t use the right side of her body. But she always greeted me with a smile!
I signed up Steve as a sponsor and we quickly became friends.
Later I went down to the Campbell’s Outdoor Challenge for the Team Film School and Whitetail Qualifier. As I was down in Carmi, Illinois I received a call from Don Haines from the Circle T Ranch. He was responding to my email advertisement for sponsorship coverage on Versus TV. Don agreed to donate a buck & doe hunt from his ranch. To my surprise we won the event.
When I got back from Campbell’s I immediately started editing the video footage from the event. It was beautiful hunting in Carmi, Illinois.
Next I had gathered all the items that were donated for sponsorship and had a raffle for the items. It was nice I ended up selling 30 tickets out of 100 and had more prizes than tickets sold so everyone won something.
Steve from Ed’s archery sold some tickets which was a great help. A gentleman by the name of Don Longstreet won the big buck hunt and the winner of the doe hunt gave it back to me to give away.
Come to find out Don was Melissa’s father and he asked me if he could give the hunt to Melissa. I was excited to film Melissa because I knew from doing some video work at the ranch that she was in for a great surprise!
Before we left for the Circle T Ranch a few guys from Eastman showed up at Ed’s Archery and gave Melissa a Crossbow to use for the hunt. The crossbow was a Covert 3.3 XB and it was a bad a- - crossbow 330 feet per second and shot like a dream. The guys from Eastman gave me a crash course on the crossbow because I was going to be assisting Melissa in the blind. It was great meeting the guys from Eastman (Mark Bower, Chris White and Lennie Rezmer)
Melissa practiced with the crossbow for 2 days straight and was deadly accurate!
Next a week before Christmas we were off to the Circle T Ranch, where we met up with Don Haines. The accommodations were very nice and the cabin made you feel at home.
The snow was beautiful and ranch was amazing. The beauty of the snow glistening off the trees, the Ranch riddled with maples, oaks, poplar and cedar trees, it could not have been any more of an amazing sight knowing the blessings of what God had set before us was breath taking. The vision of what was to come was icing on the cake of life and touched my heart in a way that is indescribable.
THE HUNT
The first night we sat out and just watched allot of the big bucks and does walk by. The goal was to shoot a particular buck that was a 135 class 8 point. I met mention that hunting one buck is much more challenging than hunt any buck that comes by but I could tell Melissa was up for the Challenge!
The second morning God could not have planned it any better! An albino buck came out as Steve affectionately named him Judas because he was always leading the other deer out right before they get shot hahaha!
Soon after Judas came out the Monster 8 point buck was sneaking in. I started videoing him from about 125 yards away coming through the snowy woods. As I was telling Melissa here he comes she up right on point with a gleam in her eye. The excitement on her face was amazing and she was definitely ready to go.
As the Monster Buck approached he was greeted by a Monster Squirrel much like Rocky and Bull Winkle! Closer and closer the Monster buck slowly made his way in 80 yards, 70 yards, 60 yards, 50 yards, 40 yards, 30 yards and 20 yards as I rattled off the readings from the range finder. Melissa’s excitement grew with each and every step closer then she and the buck were both in sink. WAIT! I whispered as the buck slid behind a tree as he stared in our direction noticing something was different. He looked spooked then stepped right out in front of us. GO! I whispered and she squeezed the trigger the bolt slammed into the huge buck’s body and he took off running like the wind as Judas the Albino Deer followed him out of the area. The expression on Melissa’s face was priceless she could barely talk and I thought her ears were going to hurt due to the huge smile across her face. I was very excited as well and knowing how everything happened and the “Meaningful Coincidence” I knew this was God’s Work and had nothing to do with me I was just the tool to make this awesome exciting event take place.
After a little tracking we found the monster and brought it up to the cabin for Melissa by sled because that Monster Buck dressed out at 192 lbs after hanging for 3 days. I could hardly move it!
As I videoed Melissa she was still so excited to see the Monster Buck in front of her she could only say one word over and over! IMPRESSIVE! IMPRESSIVE! IMPRESSIVE! Melissa was absolutely right, what a blessing God had handed us; for me it was so heart warming that I could spend my life helping others just like that and I know God always works in mysterious ways but there was no mystery here!
I would like to thank you for reading this article and if you would like the DVD it is $10 plus Shipping and Handling. This purchase will be used to fund more events just like this one! I am currently trying to raise funds to go film some handicapped children on a turkey hunt through Dream Pursuit.org and DA Outfitters. If you can help let me know!
Bless you!
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