"Dad," I asked, "What is the temperature this morning?"
"It's 10 degrees, why?" He answered.
"I hope I don't get cold sitting in the deer stand." I said.
Hopefully I get a deer today, I thought. Last deer season, and so far this deer season, I haven't got anything! I decided that I would hunt in Mike's deer stand since there were three people who shot deer in it this year. Mike is my dad's best friend.
Dad and I got all of our hunting gear on and walked out to the deer stand. The grass sparkled with the reflection of the frost it was covered in. We both got in the stand and turned on Mike's propane heater. I pulled up a chair and sat right in front of it. I looked and looked, but nothing stirred. I was very surprised that I was not cold. It kept getting warmer and warmer. In fact, it got so cozy that my eyes started to close. I decided just to rest them for a little while, then I would look around again. So I closed my eyes....
"Wake up," my dad whispered. "I heard a lot of movement in the woods. I think it might be a deer!"
I stood up cautiously and grabbed my gun. My dad and I listened and looked, but we did not see or hear anything. Then all of a sudden, a nice-sized doe walked into the clearing. The whole time that she stood there, she kept looking behind her, and my dad guessed that she was about 100 yards away.
"Dad, I think I am going to shoot her," I whispered.
"Are you sure?" my dad said. "Since she keeps looking behind her, it is likely that a buck is following her. You should probably wait and see what else comes out, because you might want to shoot that deer instead."
"I can't take any chances," I replied. "If I don't get her, then I might not get any deer at all this year."
So I sighted my gun on the doe. Unfortunately, there were no rests on the stand, so I had to shoulder my gun. I made sure it was lined up in the right place. I put my finger on the trigger, held my breath and I squeezed very slightly at first, and then harder and harder and BOOM! She dropped to the ground immediately. Then all of a sudden, she acted like she was trying to get up and run.
"Dad, I think I shot her in the spine," I said.
"You probably did. I hate to watch her suffer," he answered.
We got down from the stand and carefully walked toward her. My dad took my gun and finished her off. We got the tractor and took her to our shed and field-dressed her. I was so delighted that I finally got another deer. My first deer kind of spoiled me because I got him on the opening day of youth season in 2011. Now I know what it's like to sit and wait and not even see anything. The only thing that is good about waiting so long is that you feel more accomplished when you get something than if you got it very quickly. It is just like the saying, "good things come to those who wait."
--Megan Wollgast
