“Gobble, obble, obble!” thundered an old gobbler from high atop a North Dakota mountain. After a 30-minute ascent up the mountain, I set up on top and sent out few sweet come-hither notes in my best sexy hen imitation and aimed my gun at the crest of ridge to my north. As the gobbler screamed, another gobble from just over the rise the moment of truth came fast.

“Tic-Boom!” roared my Remington 12-gauge shotgun as it struck down my first North Dakota Merriam! Sonny Rush wasn’t with me that day, but his spirit was, and I thought of him instantly as his passion and skillful surgical skills had made the hunt possible, as I had just finished knee rehab.

I’ll never forget the moment, a few years prior, when things changed suddenly for me. I had caught and released several Neshoba County Lake monster bass when I went to get out of the truck after pulling the boat out. As I swung my legs to the side, my right knee locked up, and severe pain shot through me and made me nauseous. It took a few minutes to gain my composure after the pain subsided.

I’d endured a lot of pain thanks to a passion for football, baseball and hunting in the woods and on the waters of this great land. My excursions and passion for the wild compelled me to climb mountains looking for deer, elk and turkeys while wading streams and beaver sloughs, and I subsequently stepped into more stump holes than I care to remember. I wasn’t about to stop at the first sign of trouble.

A wonderful fall hunting trip to Nebraska started off with a bang as I harvested yet another good buck and later called up hundreds of turkeys with my natural voice, killing a trophy Merriam. But after hunting in the southwest Nebraska mountains, I could not keep up my normal pace as the wear and tear on my knee finally slowed me down.

When I got back home, I knew that I needed to let a physician look at it, and everybody pointed me to Dr. Sonny Rush, so there was nothing to do but pay him a visit. Dr. Sonny quickly made me feel at home, like we’d been friends forever. He’d read about some of my excursions in the woods and on the waters over the years and talked to me about some of those things.

“Mike, you’ve fractured you kneecap in the past, and you’ve got about 50% wear in that knee,” Dr. Rush said. “We’ll need to clean it out and move that kneecap back in place and then just rehab it.”

I didn’t relish the thought of surgery, but I was confident Dr. Sonny knew what he was doing, and we had a rapport that I’m sure many had with this talented man, something I’d not experienced with people in the medical profession prior to that. He always took the time to talk and ask about my latest adventure.

The surgery went well, and a couple of years later he completed another surgery on my other knee with similar great results.

Two knee surgeries in three years got my attention, and I started thinking about how to approach those gobblers and deer from the easiest routes instead of trudging straight up and down the hills and mountains. It only took a short while before I was back to my normal stalk hunting across swamps and up hills and ridges.

Easing up a Mississippi River bluff overlooking a thick creek bottom, I took a seat on a knoll that afforded me a great view of the canyon below. Thirty minutes later, I saw a stalk of switch cane move and suddenly saw a massive buck with wide antlers turn his head about 150 yards down below.

“Crack-Pow!” roared my .270 as the trophy buck crumpled in an instant, dead before he ever hit the ground. I thanked God for the opportunity to hunt such a magnificent animal. The 210-pound 8-point buck sported a wide 21-inch rack and was a trophy indeed. It took both me and a young 30-year-old athlete about an hour to get the deer up the canyon to the ATV.

I couldn’t help but think of Dr. Sonny for getting me back in the game so that I could pursue my passion.

Since I crossed paths with Dr. Sonny Rush, I’ve experienced many triumphs on the playing fields of the woods, waters and mountains of America. Thanks to him, I’ve also been able to spread my passion by speaking to others around the country about our great outdoors traditions and Christian heritage.

I thank God for men like Dr. Sonny Rush and the positive influence he had on my life and the lives of so many others. Each time I feel the thrill of catching another trophy bass or harvesting another trophy gobbler or buck, I’ll remember Dr. Sonny and his passion for life and love for others!

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comcast.net.