Wow, I guess I am one of those lucky guys.

My wife grew up in a hunting /camping family. She loves to camp but until last season tolerated my hunting and threw an absolute fit on major purchases.

All that changed the day I invited her out to watch our son (black lab) work some quail. While she never pulled the trigger, she said she had one of the best times ever out in the filed. Her heart was going a mile a minute every time we jumped a covey. All the money spent on training and on hunting made sense to her. What a change !

This year I was drawn for my first serious Mule Deer hunt in, of all places, The Kaibab ( Can I get a "WOOOHOO?" . I went down and ordered my rifle, going easy on the checkbook. One day I came home, and there was a picture of my rifle. Apparently she had some cookie jar money, called the gunstore and paid for the rifle as a present to me, saying that she knew how important this hunt was to me.!

My real passion is duck hunting (partly because we dont get drawn a lot for big game here). I only missed two weekends last season andit runs 107 days.

This year, she wants to join me for a duck hunt but doesn't want to shoot. I'm borrowingan extra layout blind and putting her in camo and waders. I'll call "take em" just like I do when out with boys, and she has to pop out of the blind too. I'll let her release the dog to retrieve the duck. Heck, I think she is more pumped up about openers next week than I am.And I am downright giddy !

Yep, God Bless my wife. I have a keeper !