“Hype me up, buddy!” These were the first words out of my buddy Blake’s mouth as he was driving to make his first hunt of the year. Considering I’m a hunting nerd myself, I couldn’t help but be nervous and excited for him all at the same time. We joked for a while before I left him with a few words of encouragement. I wasn’t hunting, but like most hunting buddies out there, I was hunting by proxy.
He barely made it down the road before he called me again. Considering this was his first hunt of the year, he was a little unorganized and had forgotten a stand strap for his new stand. I only live a few minutes from where he was hunting, so he called to ask if he could borrow one. I obviously obliged and set one out on the tailgate for him. When he arrived, I reiterated, “If you kill one, holler at me. I’m always down to drag.”
I’ve hunted with a lot of guys over the years and often sit back and reflect on what it means to be a hunting buddy. The community you build with these guys is unbreakable, and the stories you develop live forever. That’s what is so special about hunting: building the bond with the people you do it with.
It all started with my family. Reminiscing on the old dove and duck hunts I experienced with my dad, uncles, and cousins brings about as many laughs as it does lessons. Fast forward to hunting with my high school buddies and making a ton of boneheaded decisions. Talk about some truly hilarious stories. Now I find myself making new connections in the outdoor world while rekindling old ones. It’s a good place to be.
Not only do I strive to better myself as a hunter, but I also try to be an advocate for my hunting buddies and be there when they need me. They do the same for me. I’m excited to pass on the community and heritage that hunting has brought me. I hope the next generation enjoys it as much as I do.
When one of my buddies or I say we are “down to help drag,” we mean it.
It just so happened that I would get to fulfill my hunting buddy duty that day. A call from Blake an hour before dark confirmed what I had expected. Blake shot a buck! I didn’t care if he truly needed help or not; I wanted to be a part of it.
As we finished taking pictures and started dragging the big-bodied buck out of the woods, it was understood that Blake now owed me a drag later this season. I hope I can find an opportunity to take him up on it.
The season is young, and I’ve got plans to spend a lot of time with my hunting buddies in the coming months. There is no doubt in my mind that there will be plenty of stories and plenty of laughs. And one thing is for sure: they will all always be down to drag!