York, PA - When Lester Warner left home for the mountains for the first day of deer hunting, he told his wife, Shirley, it would be for the last time.
Three weeks before that, the 86-year-old was in the hospital, dehydrated and sick from the chemotherapy he was receiving in his battle against prostate cancer. The cancer has spread, however, and he recently stopped treatment.
Warner, a lifelong hunter, wanted to spend the first day of hunting in the outdoors and with his family, as he has for decades.
Warner's sons, Brian and Scott, hoped their frail father could make it, but they weren't sure he could.
Les used a walker when he came home from the hospital, and his wife had to lift him into bed. But therapists gave him exercises -- moving his legs and arms -- to get ready for hunting. His strength improved.
Scott picked up his father last Sunday at his Dover Township home, and the two traveled to Brian's home in Huntingdon County, in central Pennsylvania. Brian owns a couple farms in the mountains, and the family gathers at the Big Pine Camp nearby.
The sons knew their father would need to be comfortable while hunting on the side of Broadtop Mountain. So Brian hauled a recliner to the top and put it in an 8-foot-by-10-foot hut the family had built as a shelter for Les years ago.
On the first day, the men woke up at 4 a.m. Brian drove Les in the truck to the top of the mountain. Scott hunted about 300 yards away, and Brian stayed with his father. They watched the sun rise and waited for a deer.
It didn't take long.
About 8 a.m., a buck ran out of the woods, into a clearing and stopped. Brian pointed it out to his father. Les told his son to shoot it, but Brian wanted his father to bag it. He told his dad to take his time.
Les aimed his son's 243 Winchester, squeezed the trigger and killed the 8-point buck with one shot.
Then the father looked up at his son and said: "Never give up."
"It was the biggest buck he ever shot," Brian said.
It was a good morning, Les said, and he thanked God.
The family took pictures of Les with his kill. Even the grandsons came over to get their pictures taken with Pa-Pa and the buck.
Brian Warner called his mother to report the news. Both cried.
"I know that for a while he forgot he had cancer, and that's the best part," Shirley Warner said.
Scott drove his father back home late last week and took the deer to a butcher shop. They'll get roasts, sweet bologna and other cuts of meat.
The antlers, which had an 18-inch spread, will be mounted. They'll go on display at the family's hunting cabin with other mounts from past hunts.
The family feels blessed that Les had another year to hunt with his loved ones -- and he got a big buck, too.
"It is a miracle," Shirley Warner said.
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