 |
| Bill Kinney Photography |
Finally, after all that time, I'd finally been able to take my hunter's safety course! I was thirteen or fourteen, had been shooting bow since I could hold one, and wanted nothing more than to get out on my first hunt and show up all the boys. This had been an aggravating wait, not only did I often accompany my parents on hunts and help them with everything from packing out to processing, I had to sit through that hunter's safety course! I mean really, What were they gonna teach me that I didn't already know about hunting? I was ready to go!
And go I finally did. The opening day of hunting season my mom took me out with her and we were on a mission. We were gonna get a big buck! My mom already had a spot in mind after already having done her preseason scouting and early that morning we headed out. She'd picked a spot that was perfect for me. I was small (the Benelli we were packing was twice my size it seemed) and couldn't easily hold the gun so she'd found a spot where a tree had fallen perfectly so we could sit on the trunk and I could rest my gun on the branches. It was situated at the edge of the woods looking out over the field full of deer sign..perfect. The plan was to try calling in some deer and wait for those guys that had been frequenting the area to cross my path. So the wait began......
In what seemed to me hours, though in reality it was only half an hour, my mom frantically whispered to me,"Do you hear that?" she said as she not so stealthily turned around, she was a little excited. I perked up my ears, and I did hear something, but from the wrong direction. From behind us came the sound of rustling leaves and our hearts began to race. My mom was taller than me and she spotted him, a buck was behind us and unaware he was in danger, There was only one problem, the gun. My mom whispered,"Hes right behind us! You think you can turn around?" Ha ha this gun was literally probably a third my weight, but that didn't matter.....it was a buck! As quietly as I could I lifted the gun and faced backwards and there he was! I don't remember shooting the gun, all I know is the safety got turned off and my deer had run away. It wasn't what I'd thought though, because that sound of breaking brush stopped not too far away, and then everything was silent. My mom went crazy,"Come on let's go get it!" Thirty yards away we found him. A big fat buck lay face down in the brush, dead. His ten points weren't the thickest, but it was still ten of them! I'd split his heart in two, he must have run those few yards as pure reflex because he was a goner. I got him, off hand and within thirty minutes of sitting out their waiting I'd gotten my first deer. Yeah, I remember that hunt, it will never be forgotten,