Recently I had the fond pleasure of making a lifelong wish complete for two professional public servants.
Two identical twin brothers put together a deer hunt in Texas, one of many on their bucket list.
Nurse Practitioner Chris Blackwell and Master Sgt. David Blackwell of the Mississippi Highway Patrol got it done with both scoring on management bucks in northeast Texas back in mid-December 2021.
Dr. Chris Blackwell of Blackwell’s Family Clinic Tylertown is our family practitioner, and Officer David Blackwell is a close friend as well as I have represented him as his Troop M chaplain since 2016.
Both reside in Walthall County.
I joked with both by telling them if I was their dad, I would have nicknamed them Pete and Repeat, they look so much alike!
Dr. Chris helps keep me healthy and Trooper David helps me arrive safely wherever I drive. I was so glad to be able to put the icing on the cake by doing a skull mount of their bucks.
Being identical twins, they have so much in common, including a love for the great outdoors, especially deer hunting.
With their stressful, demanding careers, they have had little opportunity to make this one on their bucket list a reality. But a family friend, Andy Davidson, arranged the hunt with Wildcat Creek Ranch near Detroit, Texas.
The ranch consisting of 1,000 acres is known for its quail and pheasant hunts but also offers whitetail deer hunts as well.
Officer Blackwell summed up the unique trip like this:
"It's been a bucket list hunt of ours for a long time to hunt deer in the state of Texas, and to do it during our 40th birthday week together made it awesome. We don't get to hunt much other than an annual trip to Illinois every year. The rigors of life keep both of us pretty busy during the year, so this was super special."
Dr. Blackwell was able to harvest two eight-point bucks, his first in 15 years, and Officer Blackwell took a nice nine-point.
What a thrill to be allowed to mount all three kills on a Texas state cypress wood plaque skull mount for two special professionals in our area.
Both held onto their spent shell casings and I was able to embed them in the exact spot on the state plaque where they hunted.
A tip of the hat today to two fine brothers serving our community on their bucket list bucks!
God bless you and God bless America.
