Featured Photo: John Hafner
Despite his 780 credit score, Michigan native George McDufferson was denied a loan for the purchase of a 2018 flagship bow setup.
“I thought for sure my loan officer would let me take out a second mortgage on my home to buy the bow of my dreams,” McDufferson said. “I’ve been with my bank for nearly 30 years, and I have decades of stable work history. In fact, my loan officer told me over the phone that a second mortgage shouldn’t be a problem at all. But once I got in there and told him how much I needed to cover the purchase price, he said he just wasn’t able to approve me for that amount.”
This tragedy is reportedly being played out all over the country.
“We’re seeing more and more guys not able to cover even the down payment on a flagship bow,” one pro shop owner, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “One of our customers sold his Tesla to be able to pay for the latest speed bow and high-end accessories he’d been eyeing, but he still came up a bit short.”
But McDufferson’s story, at least, has a happy ending. He was able to scrape together what he needed by selling a kidney.
“You only need one kidney, so it wasn’t much of a dilemma for me,” he explained from his hospital bed, his bow lovingly cradled in one arm. “Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked, indicating the bow. “It gets almost 7 feet per second more than my old rig did. And look at how the accessories match! I went with volcano-red accents, so it will really stand out once I have enough money to get some range time.”
McDufferson plans on taking his bow afield in 2019 or 2020, which is when he hopes to be able to afford to hunt again.
“And did you know you can’t skin a deer with less than six different knives? I read about it. One’s gotta have a gut hook and one’s gotta have a nonslip handle and of course one needs to be shorter for caping. And you need a saw, obviously, to cut through bone. So I started buying knives, and then I read about these special sleds they make to help you get a deer out of the woods, so I bought one of those. But that really sounds like a lot of work, now that I think about it, so I’m in the market for an ATV.”
Though he has not yet set foot in the woods, Jones is optimistic that it’ll happen soon. In the meantime, his hobbies include dressing up in his camo and posting selfies on Instagram (#hunter4life), watching the Outdoor Channel, doling out free hunting advice on message boards, and practicing different face paint patterns in front of the mirror.
While he has not actually hunted yet, Jones estimates he only needs a few more things in his collection before he’ll feel prepared to go out in the woods.
“I just saw this video on Facebook about survival gear,” he says. “Space blankets and emergency beacons and fire starters, that sorta stuff. I mean, I’d probably only hunt a quarter mile from the house, but still. You can’t be too careful. I definitely don’t want to hit the woods unprepared.”
