The Buck Stops Here

Nature looks different from the inside of a hunting blind. Instead of observing it from the outside, you become a part of it–experiencing the golden stillness of a sunrise, hearing a deer foraging in the nearby brush. When the shot is finally chosen, it’s with an understood respect, one that resounds through the woods as the trigger is released.

Rocky Lindley’s passion for nature was matched only by his love for family. He and his dad Randy were especially connected. “Pops” was the first to hold him when he was born, and their bond was unbreakable from that moment on. Side by side, they enjoyed hunting and fishing, baseball, beer and crawfish boils. His mom Claudia honored their exceptional friendship; even the secrets Randy still faithfully keeps. “They were the best of friends,” she said. A friend later remarked that every son wishes to have that kind of relationship with his dad.

Rocky was named after a fighting champion, which he lived up to in his own way. One of the most outstanding qualities about him was the way he treated everyone the same. He had friends from all ages and walks of life; it didn’t matter who you were. He was a true friend, inspiring one friend to write a song in remembrance, “I’ll be okay…I’m stronger, better, wiser.” In high school, he would sit with a special needs student during lunch so that nobody would pick on her. “That was Rocky,” Claudia shared.

Rocky began suffering from seizures when only seventeen years old, and although doctors couldn’t explain or cure his sometimes debilitating condition, for the next seven years he continued living with an unstoppable courage. His parents naturally worried when he went offshore fishing with friends, but Rocky insisted, “I am going to live.” One of his buddies took an underwater “thumbs up” picture of him on one of their Gulf adventures; that photo says it all.

His final day was lived in the rugged beauty of a favorite Texas hunting lease. Rocky called his dad to say, “I love you, Pops,” as he did everyday. Three dove in his pocket, he was doing what he loved most when he stepped into the next life, where the great outdoors is forever greater, and through the view of a scope, a majestic buck stops just beyond the distant trees.