| 24 years later … | | | 
Chance Usrey, 13, of Maritn tags his first deer, a four-point buck. | | Every hunter knows that each day spent tagging “the big one” is a story in itself for the young and old who participate in the sport. From the moment the hunter rises early to greet the brisk morning air just before dawn with a family member or family friend leaves legacies for years to come.
For one Martin family, the legacy a soldier left behind for his 13-year-old son will be etched into their family’s history book.
“While the first deer is a magic moment for any young man, this one runs a little deeper and spans over a 24-year period to the week,” Jack Usrey of Martin said in an email. Usrey described how he and his family have spent 75 percent of their son’s life in Germany or Hawaii since Usrey’s enlistment in the United States Army.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Usrey’s son Chance, had the opportunity to go on his first deer hunting venture. His father, who is thousands of miles away serving a 15-month deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he knew he would not be the one to stand beside Chance on his first hunting outing, but knew there was only one other person he would have stand in his place — family friend Jim Reynolds.
That day, with Jim Reynolds at his side, Chance tagged a four-point buck. Following in his father’s footsteps and casting forth a family legacy, Chance managed to claim his first deer 24 years to the week that his father harvested his first deer — a six-point buck, with Jim Reynolds at his side.
WCP 11.29.07 | | | | |
