Kyle had slept most of the way, so when it came 5:00 he was ready to go, even though Kevin was in no shape to hunt. I helped get Kyle dressed and ready for the big hunt. When we walked outside the snow was swirling by a twenty mile per hour wind. The wind chill put the temperature around 17 degrees, which was miserable, even for me. When daylight finally broke we had a couple of does in the food plot only yards away from the ground blind where we were set up for the morning hunt. We watched the does while they fed on the clover, often peaking in and out of the blind to try to stay as warm as possible. The does eventually moved off, back to the bedding area and it was getting to be more miserable with the snow now turning into sleet and leaking through the ground blind and freezing on impact with our skin. We decided that we would get warmed up and get some breakfast so that we could go out earlier in the afternoon and hopefully see one of the 125 inch deer that I had been seeing weeks prior to his arrival.
After eating a hearty breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and bacon we went back to the camp to catch a short nap and dream about what could happen on the afternoon hunt. After we rose, we decided to go back to the same ground blind since I had been seeing numerous bucks in this large patch of icy clover. It was around 1:15 when we finally got set up and settled in for the afternoon. Little to my surprise around 1:25 a buck stepped out at 45 yards and it was one of the bucks that we had been seeing. I was in the process of focusing the camera on the deer while Kevin was helping Kyle get the muzzleloader on the shooting sticks and ready for the shot. Kyle has been shooting guns since he was 5 years old so we were confident that he could make a precise shot. He was very patient, unlike me, and did not shoot the deer until he was at 95 yards and quartered away and it was three minutes and forty-eight seconds later according to the video camera. The footage was unbelievable and for a child to take that much time to make sure he did not wound the animal was a lesson that even some adults should learn from. He finally fired the shot! When the deer buckled up and ran over the crest of the hill, I knew it was hit solidly. We waited about 30 minutes before trailing the deer, but the most memorable time was the minutes after the shot. All of our emotions were going a mile a minute, but I will never forget the expression on Kyle’s face when he looked at me, got up, gave me a hug and thanked me for helping him kill his first deer. The experiences I have had with my family and friends in the outdoors are treasures that will never be forgotten, and make me look forward to many seasons ahead. God has created a great place for us to live, so please take care of it and leave it better than you found it for children and grandchildren’s sake
After eating a hearty breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and bacon we went back to the camp to catch a short nap and dream about what could happen on the afternoon hunt. After we rose, we decided to go back to the same ground blind since I had been seeing numerous bucks in this large patch of icy clover. It was around 1:15 when we finally got set up and settled in for the afternoon. Little to my surprise around 1:25 a buck stepped out at 45 yards and it was one of the bucks that we had been seeing. I was in the process of focusing the camera on the deer while Kevin was helping Kyle get the muzzleloader on the shooting sticks and ready for the shot. Kyle has been shooting guns since he was 5 years old so we were confident that he could make a precise shot. He was very patient, unlike me, and did not shoot the deer until he was at 95 yards and quartered away and it was three minutes and forty-eight seconds later according to the video camera. The footage was unbelievable and for a child to take that much time to make sure he did not wound the animal was a lesson that even some adults should learn from. He finally fired the shot! When the deer buckled up and ran over the crest of the hill, I knew it was hit solidly. We waited about 30 minutes before trailing the deer, but the most memorable time was the minutes after the shot. All of our emotions were going a mile a minute, but I will never forget the expression on Kyle’s face when he looked at me, got up, gave me a hug and thanked me for helping him kill his first deer. The experiences I have had with my family and friends in the outdoors are treasures that will never be forgotten, and make me look forward to many seasons ahead. God has created a great place for us to live, so please take care of it and leave it better than you found it for children and grandchildren’s sake
