Crutches don’t stop Coles from sharing special hunting bond

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A year and a half ago – before the motorcycle crash that could have killed him – Alan Cole was an avid outdoorsman who eagerly awaited the arrival of chilly November weather, and the hunting excursions that would follow.

It’s been almost 50 years since the Hermon man shot his first deer, but the allure of the Maine woods, and of spending time hunting with family members, was special to Cole.

Then, 14 months ago, he crashed his motorcycle head-on into a car, broke a dozen bones in his hip, legs, foot and ankles, and began a recovery process that continues today.

Less than six weeks after his accident, his passion for the outdoors remained. And with his son, Clark, lending a hand, he returned to the woods to hunt deer.

Clark drove the ATV, and helped his father to a stump. Alan Cole sat, and when he had to move, he used a walker.

But he was hunting. And that was good enough.

“I wasn’t supposed to [hunt] at all, but I snuck out a few times,” Cole said. “I did it enough that I loosened up the screws that they put in my leg, and they had to reoperate.”

Cole chuckles at the memory now, but his explanation will probably ring true to avid hunters everywhere.

“You just can’t lose a whole season,” he said.

This year, Cole returned to the woods with a familiar hunting companion: grandson Colby Cole, Clark’s son.

Colby Cole is also an avid hunter. His grandfather says that on opening day, Colby is always the first to rise.

And he said as hunting season approaches, Colby becomes increasingly anxious.

“He’ll actually get sick two or three days before hunting season, he gets so excited,” Alan Cole said.

Colby Cole, who also lives in Hermon, is an active 15-year-old freshman at Bangor Christian School. He manages the soccer, basketball, and baseball teams.

This year, he and his “Papa,” Alan Cole, shared another bond. Each time each goes into the woods, they face a challenge that many of us don’t.

Alan is still on crutches, you see.

And so is his grandson, who works hard to make sure that the mild cerebral palsy that he deals with every day doesn’t stand between him and the things he loves to do.

The first week of this year’s deer season, Alan and Colby headed back into the woods on a day that Alan thought might prove productive.

“The weather report said there was a front coming through, some rain, freezing rain, snow,” Alan Cole said. “So I [thought], boy, they’ll move early tonight, so I’ll take Colby into this secluded field.”

Alan Cole said getting situated was a bit of a logistical nightmare.

“We were kind of chuckling. I had him sit on his pail, and then I took his rifle over to him,” Alan Cole said. “Then I went back to the [ATV] and got my rifle and brought it over. Then I supervised him as he loaded his.

“He looked at me and we were chuckling over how much work it was to get things together,” Alan Cole said. “He said, ‘You know, Papa, it’s nothing short of an act of God if we ever shoot a deer.'”

As it turns out, the Coles didn’t have to wait long for their “act of God.”

Alan Cole figured that deer would move into view from one of two directions. From one direction, the deer would pass very close, and the duo would have to be careful not to spook them. From the other direction, the deer would be 125 yards away, and the hunters would likely have more time to get a shot.

“When they came out, they came out right where we had hoped they would come out,” Alan Cole said.

Four does stepped into view, and Alan Cole told his grandson the first doe was the largest.

Colby placed the Savage .243 youth model rifle on the crutch he was using as a rest, and aimed. And aimed. And aimed.

“I was kind of holding him, but I had reached down to steady the crutch a little more, because he had said, ‘Papa, I can’t hold it still.'”

Eventually, Colby held the rifle still. Then he pulled the trigger.

“When he did, the recoil from the gun knocked him right off the pail,” Alan Cole said. “The pail was sitting on a root [and was slightly wobbly].

“I was right there to catch him.”

Alan Cole took the rifle from his grandson with one hand and gently let Colby settle to the ground with his other hand.

“As I did, he looked over his shoulder and said, ‘Did I get him, Papa? Did I get him?'” Alan Cole recounted.

He did.

Better yet, the other does hadn’t moved, and Alan had a choice to make.

“I never shoot a deer the first couple weeks [of the season],” he said. “I never shoot a doe. But with everything I had going against me, I decided I’d better take that second doe.”

The only problem: When he helped his off-balance grandson on the ground, Colby ended up on top of his grandfather’s rifle.

Which left Alan Cole with an unfamiliar gun and a deer that was beginning to figure out something was wrong.

“I had never fired it before, and with that short stock, I couldn’t get the scope to open up,” he said. “I finally got things to work and fired.”

Alan’s shot was true as well, and the pair tagged nearly identical does that weighed 125 pounds apiece, field-dressed.

The deer was Colby’s first, which meant a lot to Alan Cole.

“I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve been with all my grandsons when they shot their first deer, and [I’ve been with] my sons,” he said. “It’s been a family tradition. It’s pretty special.”

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.