MESSIN’ UP – Vol. I (2006) No. 5
“Within an Inch of My Life”
By Mike Faulk

October 14, 2006



While I hadn’t seen anything all morning, I was beside myself after hearing Brother Loy tell about seeing the biggest deer he’d ever seen in his life - in the field at least.

Loy is in his seventies. He’s hunted since Uncle Shag took him deer hunting as a teenager. He’s harvested deer in several states. He knows deer. A few years back he took a monster eight pointer on Strum Island. The deer field dressed at 207 pounds. Like I said, he knows deer - especially a big one.

His report at lunch described this granddaddy with foot-long tines and a rack that stood above the paw paw trees that separated him from a clear view of the riverbank and old Granddad. With the buck was a doe and two yearlings.

As you might imagine, I was excited to get back to my perch on the trail some 200 yards downstream from Loy’s ladder stand and - especially so - since I had heard commotion and splashing in the river shortly before coming to the cabin for lunch.

The stand I was hunting is in a multi-forked tree some 20 feet above the main north-south trail. My left foot was on the 3rd peg and I was pushing off that foot for the next step when it happened.

The folding step had been in the tree nearly 10 years and with the natural growth of the tree, the step was not at a 90-degree angle to the tree – it was more like 45 degrees. That old footstep came out of the tree as I pushed off. I was able to catch myself somewhat with my arms but my torso slammed into the tree. Unfortunately, my groin was impaled on another of the tree steps that was the same height as my waist. I had to use all the arm strength I could muster to lift myself off the impaling step. I fell some 5 to 6 feet to the ground landing on my buttocks.

My pants and boxers were ripped and there was blood already. After a quick inspection of the wound I knew I needed to get back to the cabin for help. Loy was still there finishing up the lunchtime dishes. The look on his face told me all I needed to know. Since there wasn’t a rush of blood down my leg, and because I hurt but wasn’t in unbearable pain, I thought the wound might be superficial and we could just clean up the injury site and I’d be fine. I was wrong.

My afternoon hunt was spent at the hospital where, one after the other, medical personnel each displayed the same look on his or her face that Loy did when he first saw the wound.

I am a lucky guy. I’ve always known it. The very good Lord watches over me even though I don’t deserve it. The wound was stitched up. I had previously received a tetanus injection. I’ll make a full recovery. The laceration missed my femoral artery by about an inch. My buttock’s is sore, but nothing broke. My pride was hurt. I'm not walking normally. But I'll live to hunt another day.

Note to self: be sure to pray more: "Thank you, Lord."