Thought I'd share this with you guys. It kinda brought a tear to my eye when I found it recently on my son's computer. The AR threads brought the memories back for me as things are likely to be different with my youngest son as my county is an AR county this year. I'm sure he'll be successfull at some point but it just won't be as quick as it was for his brother. The account he presents here was on the first hour, of the first morning, of his first opening day - it don't get much easier than that.

Don't worry, he had to work harder for his 8 pointer last year. The season was half over before he got that one.

He wrote this report 2 years ago in 7th grade after he had taken his first deer, a fork horn.

It is fun to read it now 2 years later looking at it from his perspective. A young first time hunter has a very different perspective than seasoned hunters. He was/is dang proud of that fork horn. Reading the letter you'd think it was a Muy Grande buck - because it was to him. Oh, and this old man had completely forgoten the sleeping part

Anyways here is his letter and a pic of him with that first deer 2 years ago. Sorry for any grammar or syntax - this is his letter from 2 years ago as a 7th grader:

January 7, 2008
English- 7th period Beemann
My First Deer

My dad and I had just finished loading the truck with our hunting equipment when he told me to get the deer corn. After I got the deer corn and putted in the back of the truck we started to leave to go deer hunting.

Although it might take about 3 hours to get to the motel I knew it would be worth it when I got that deer. My dad had started to put hunting cameras on the lees to see if there where any or at least a good deer to shoot. We had seen some pretty good bucks that would be good to get.

About half way there we stopped to get a bite to eat. While we where eating I started to ask questions about what we would do after I shot it. He just told me that he was going to clean it and we would take it to a processor to get all the meat cut and frozen for when it was time to come and get the meat.

It was the next morning and we had to get up really early so we could get cleaned, dressed, and at the lees in the blind before the suns up so we could se the deer in time. A while after the sun rose I saw a really good buck, I woke up my dad and showed him the buck. He told me to get ready. So I got up my rifle, took a deep breath, and started to aim. I pulled the trigger “BANG” the deer fell down. I thought it was dead but it tried to get up but it couldn’t because the bullet broke the spine and the left shoulder. My dad went to get the truck. When he came back with the truck we put the deer in the back of the truck and carried it to a spot hung it from a tree and cleaned then we took it to a processor to get the meat done and choose the mount I wanted for the head. It was opening day and it was my first deer.

thats a memory that will outlive you my friend, congrats

great stuff there! a proud father and an even more proud son, good for him!

Thanks for sharing, just glad to know their is still some children out there who truly appreciate this stuff!

ac

nice

That's pretty dang cool! Way to go Dad & Son!

Awesome!!! Memories forever!!! Brings back memories of when I hunted with my Dad!!!

Thats awesome!

perfect!!

Thats awesome dude! I got my first deer two years ago and now i'm hooked...good luck in the future.

nice shooting

Yeah I did something right with this one, now to hook his little brother.

This season though is liable to be interesting getting him into the field what with Scouts, ROTC duties at the football games, and now he's trying to get on the rifle team.

Shoot I was more than a bit surprised that high schools even have rifle teams anymore. Especially in the D/FW suburbs. It may only be air rifles but the principle and mechanics are the same. Hope he makes it onto the team.

Earl

I remember both of my sons 1st deer. That's a great story right there. The last deer my oldest got was 3 years ago. It was an 8 point. He hit em a little in the middle and just clipped a lung. We tracked that deer for about 2 hours and found him about a 1/4 of a mile from the shot through some pretty rough country in Mills County. I almost gave up on trying to find the deer after about 45 minutes then we would find some blood, then we would look some more and find another spot all the time marking each spot and finally we found him and we gave each other a high five. He said, "I knew we would find him dad, I knew I hit him". I said "We found him son, that's all that matters". I had that sick feeling in the stomach that the deer would not be found, and then we found him. What a relief!

its supposed to say...my dad woke me up...not i woke my dad up....LOL...my dad used to wake me up and tell me a deer was there....i can still here is voice...."ricky....theres a deer."...Man that brings it back...we still hunt on the same lease but not in the same stand...maybe I'll ask if I can sit with him once this year, for ol times sake, and catch a nap in the stand, or let him catch one....Thanks for sharing

A+ in my book!

Great story! Thanks for sharing.
I'm hoping to have something similar with with my son this season.

rstewlandman please read this.
"maybe I'll ask if I can sit with him once this year, for ol times sake, and catch a nap in the stand, or let him catch one"

From me, please take the time to do it this year. I'm now in the position of making those memories for my kids. It's not possible for me to make new ones with my dad, only relive old ones from reading this thread.
-Dave

Great story! Certainly a lasting memory for both you and him!

Yep,

You are never too late to hunt together. The last 10 years my Dad hunted we did so in the same blind. There were two blinds on the place, we didn't need to but we just liked it that way. Since I lived away it gave us time to just sit and chat. Those hunts are some of the best of my life.

He's still around, but no longer hunts due to Parkinsons. When he stopped, I stopped which is why my oldest was 13 when he took his first deer. It took me a few years to get my head out of my butt and realize I needed to start new memories and new traditions with my own sons.

Earl

Ive written a many a essays about deer hunting! Awesome story

You're creating memories that both of you will never forget. I'd rather my son shoot a deer than me, any day.

Great story! I've never hunted in the same stand with my dad, but I need to this year!!!

Awesome account of the days activities. You should put a copy of that with a picture of that boy away for your Grandchildren to share with them one day.