The Greastest Hunt of My Life

I have been pretty neglectful about the blog because I have been SO busy.... but I wanted to share a story that was written by Ian about killing his first deer. It was fantastically written and tells the story far greater than I ever could...

 The Greatest Hunt of My Life

By: Ian Burgess

Hunting is my biggest hobby. I started hunting with my Poppa Louie when I was three years old. After years of just watching and training, my Poppa said I was finally ready to try shooting a deer for myself. Even though I was ready, I knew killing a deer wasn't easy and takes a lot of patience. After weeks and weeks of sitting in a deer stand with no luck, September 7th, my time had finally come.

Picture credit: Cordray's

From the beginning, this hunt almost became a disaster. We woke up really early and were in our spot before the rooster even woke up. Our "tree stand" was actually three tomato bin boxes stacked on each other. When I tried to climb to the top, my boot kept banging into the side of the box making lots of noise. This is bad because you are supposed to be quiet. When I finally got settled, Poppa climbed up to sit in his chair at the top of the boxes. As soon as he sat down, "Flump!" The chair collapsed underneath him. Poppa was so upset he threw the chair down into the dirt road.

We finally settled in our spot as the sun came up. We began to watch a black coyote chase a rat. It would pounce up and down in the tall grass. Out of the corner of my Poppa's eye, he saw a nice 8 point buck walk across the clearing and into a canal. We thought be might come back so we waited for him. 

Picture Credit:  Cordray's

Suddenly, out of no where, this huge 9 point bucks begins barreling down the road straight for us. Poppa told me to slowly raise my rifle and get ready to shoot. As I did, I knocked my rifle on the side of the box. Hearing me, the deer slammed on brakes and stopped to look right at me. Poppa asked me if I could see his head. I shook my head yes. He told me to put the cross heirs on the deer's neck. "Can you.." and before Poppa could even tell me, I pulled the trigger. To both of our surprise, the buck dropped dead in it's tracks. I was so excited that I nearly fell off the box stand. Poppa and I traded high fives and then called my Hana and parents to tell them I killed my first deer. 

I shot the deer from 45 yards away. He was a nice 9 point buck that weighed 178 pounds and had a 19 inch spread. After taking lots of pictures, we took it to Cordray's processor so they can get meat for us to eat. They will also mount the head. My Mom said she is so proud of me that she will let me hang the mount on the living room wall. I also took part in the traditional blood ceremony where they wipe the deer blood all over my face. I got it twice. Once by Poppa. He was nice and just did my face. Then once by my Aunt Munkey. She wasn't as nice and poured the bucket over my entire head. It was very intense but I took it like a man. My Poppa and Aunt Munkey were excited to welcome me into the deer killer club.

Killing my first deer is probably the coolest thing I've ever done. I know I will remember it all of my life. And for me, because Poppa Louie is my best friend, it means even more that he was with me on this special day.