Goodbye to a Friend By Mike Crittenden My hunting buddy and close friend, Milton Stanley and I first met in the fall of 1981 at Sam Houston State University. Our friendship was immediate; a common thread between us was we both loved deer hunting. Years quickly passed as we shared many memorable hunts in and around Lampasas, Junction, Ozona, Freer and LaSalle County. Our story of camaraderie and whitetail hunting is really no different or special than that of countless other hunters, except Milton's hunting career was cut short way too soon. We were able to laugh and carry on while trying to best each other in friendly competition for the "best" buck each season. One of us might spot a good deer and the other end up harvesting it. Our third year hunting the LaSalle County lease found Milton and me as the only hunters on the ranch the last weekend of the season. Having spotted a nice buck, we each played a game of switching hunting stands in an effort to bag it. The last evening at dusk, I connected on the biggest buck of my life. The buck had been trailing several does and was approaching shooting range at Milton's stand when the doe spooked. The group headed back my way. The rest is history, but Milton enjoyed reminding me often he had put me on that great buck when it turned away from him. My wife and I were returning from a party on Saturday, December 4, when her cell phone rang. I knew immediately that something bad had happened. My friend and hunting partner had been killed in a hunting accident. As Milton led the way up the ladder of a tower's stand, a friend's loaded rifle accidentally discharged. Milton would be the first to say there is a lesson to be learned here. In pursuit of the sport that is a way of life for so many of us, there is also a danger that lurks. All it takes is a split second and the world as we see it can change forever. Goodbye my friend. In memory of Milton Stanley Jr. March 25, 1963 - December 4, 2004 This article orginally published in The Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters Pre-Season Hunting Annual 2005 - Trophy Hunting Volume 2, September 2005. Permission to re-print granted by TTHA. Judy Jurek - Author.