November 15th 2019, opening day of Michigan’s gun deer season. My dad and I are sound asleep until the clock strikes 5 am. We are both awakened by the alarm clock’s loud obnoxious beep beep beep. That is when I knew it was time. I woke up and put on my long underwear and clothes I would wear under my heavy jacket and bibs so I did not get cold. After I ate breakfast we got dressed, I grabbed my rifle, and we headed out to make the trek through the swamp to our treestand.
     

    My dad and I sit together in the same stand. I climb up first leaving my rifle and bag at the bottom of the tree. Then when I was up on my stand and secured in with a safety harness, I pulled up my bag and rifle on a rope. That way is much safer than trying to climb with both of those hanging on your back. Then once I have my stuff and my dad’s bag up in our stand my dad then climbs up.

    Once we were settled into our seats, I loaded my rifle well being very quiet and not making too much noise. By this time it was still dark outside and the sun was barely starting to come up. Slowing the sky started to turn from black to a nice light grey color and everything around me started to come out of the darkness. The birds started singing and we could hear woodpeckers making noise on trees around us. It was a beautiful morning. Now we wait and hope for some deer to come by.

    It was about 8 am and all of a sudden the silence was broken by some crashing off in the distance. After figuring out where the noise came from, I got my gun up and ready. About 10 seconds later this doe comes running through our clearing and right behind her of course is a buck. I saw the nice rack hanging off his head. I yelled to stop him and he stopped perfectly broadside head up looking at me but before he could run, “Boom”. Off went my gun. I pulled my head back and saw him do the donkey kick with his hind legs which is usually a good sign that you hit them good. He ran about 50 yards and fell backwards.

    I was so excited. I was shaking so much after I shot the buck. I made sure to find the shell of the bullet I used to shoot him to keep as a little souvenir. After I calmed down a bit, we gathered our things and climbed down. I was so excited to go and find him and put my hands on his antlers. My first deer ever! It did not take long for us to find him because we watched him fall over from the treestand. My dad took some pictures of me and then we had to drag him back to the house. That was one of the best days of my life. I had been looking forward to being able to do that for so long, and now it is a yearly trip for me and my dad to go deer hunting together.