Friends, I am giving you this disclaimer right now…this post involves a photo of a dead deer. I have debated even writing this post, but I hunt. It’s how I was raised. It’s what I do. It’s such a part of who I am. We don’t hunt just to kill animals. We eat the meat. We use as much of the meat as possible. So, there…you have been warned. Feel free to close your browser now. If you keep reading and you get offended, I don’t want to hear about it. 


Moving on…


2 for 2. As my dad said…a one shot wonder. After hunting for nearly 12 years with my dad and never taking a shot, I took my first deer. What a rush. My heart was pounding more than I had ever felt before. I could hear my heart beating wildly and, to be honest, I was surprised the deer at the other side of the clear-cut unit couldn’t. I rested my gun on a branch of a dead tree, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. My dad shot 1 second after I did. The deer dropped. I had taken my first deer. That was in 2008.

In 2009 I bought an archery tag and hunted a total of 2 days. No luck.

This year, I bought a rifle tag again. My dad and sister had plans to go out and they invited me to come along. I hadn’t planned on it, but Andy encouraged me to go. After driving some roads and stopping to glass a few units and even hunting one, we had only seen a few doe. It was starting to get late in the day, so we figured only had one more shot for any sort of successful push. The plan was to head up to the orchard. The apples were dropping and there was sure to be a deer or two in there. Well, we never made it that far. On the way to the orchard we passed this clear cut unit. We stopped to glass it and saw this buck. Since dad was driving and Kristen was in the back seat I got out of the truck and chambered a round. As I pulled up to see the deer through my scope a doe came walking up behind it. So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. They weren’t in any hurry. I started to get antsy. Dad calmed me down telling me he didn’t seem to be going anywhere. As soon as the doe moved out of the way I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.

This time, it was all up to me. Dad was still in the truck. There was no back-up shot.

It was all me.

I looked up, the deer dropped.

2 for 2.

Celebration ensued. High 5’s all around.

And then the real work began…