The First Hunt

 It was 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I woke up to my dad nudging me to get up for the morning hunt. I usually have a hard time getting up in the morning, but today was my first day to have the gun in my hand. I quickly hopped out of bed. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee filled the house and the a fresh piece of golden brown toast stuck out of the toaster. I quickly hopped in the shower and ran down stairs to get my hunting clothes on. My heart was racing, I had never felt so excited in my life to do something at this time in the morning. After all the years of going out in the morning to sit with my dad and this morning, it was my turn!

Finally, it was time to leave and head out to my uncles where we were going to go hunt. Fred Bear was on the radio, as it is every morning during hunting season it seems. We arrived at my uncles and they were just as excited as I was. We began our walk back to the hunting shack. It was a crisp fall morning in November. The dew sparkled white from the moon that still was high in the sky. As we walked the leaves crunched and echoed through the woods. Not having any control over this, I was upset because I thought by the time we got there all the deer would be scared out of the woods. We finally arrived to the hunting shack which we called the "Brandy Shack." It was just big enough to fit four people but we had six jammed in tight all just as eager as I was to get my first deer.

The sun finally started to rise above the tree line, and the woods was coming alive. Birds sang their songs as my heart raced, and my breath carried its way out the shack window and disappeared over the food plot. It seemed as if the minutes took hours while I was waiting. I was usually pretty patient when I went out with my dad, but now that I had the gun it was a whole different world. Finally, some crunching from behind us came my heart began to race. My dad got me all set up just in case it was the deer we were going to take. My heart trembled and seemed to skip beats. My body was shaking uncontrollably and there the deer was. The deer was a big doe and she was a shooter. She came from the south and circled around to the bait in front. I held the gun up to my shoulder, looked down the long sleek black barrel to the golden bead on the end. My dad whisper to me all my last minute techniques that he didn't want me to forget in the mix of all my excitement. I finally squeezed off the trigger and watched the doe take off into the woods.

My heart was beating so fast I couldn't even talk. Then I heard the words I didn't want to hear, "you missed." My heart sank. I didn't know what to do, or how I could have missed! My uncle handed me the binoculars, and showed me the small sapling that I had shot down behind were the deer had been standing. A small tear ran down my cheek in disappointment. My dad and family pepped me up and said we will get it next time. We went out the following night, and had no luck. At this point my whole world had turned upside down and I thought I was never going to get a deer.

The next morning my dad and uncle couldn't go out hunting, but my cousin took me out instead. It was just me and him and my new red dot scope I woke up to on my gun. We once again took our hike out to the shack and was ready to give it another go around. The morning was slow, and we were just ready to pack up when I spotted a doe in the distance. My cousin took a guess at how far away she was and told me to take the shot. I was nervous. I had never shot this far in my life. I slowly pulled the gun up and remembered everything my dad had told me the morning before, but this time make sure I didn't miss. I pulled the trigger one more time thinking for sure if I missed this time I wasn't meant to be a hunter. I fired, my cousin said it was a clean hit, but I had my doubts. We let time pass and went back to the house and gave my uncle and dad a call to give them the news.

When my dad and uncle showed up a few hours later I was ready to find out the truth. We rode back on the four wheelers to where we thought the deer was at. Not twenty yards away was a white belly laying in the woods. This time the tear that ran down my face was of pure joy and disbelief. I had done it! My family was so happy for me, and now I felt as if I was one of them. I was finally a hunter!