First Deer

Foggy mornings are common in Upper Michigan in November and this is typical. When I was fourteen years old some of my friends rented a camp trailer and hauled it into the state forest land for deer season. Since I had a deer license and my older brothers 03-A3 Springfield they invited me along. We arrived the afternoon before season opened and got set up. We then scouted for a place to post the next morning. Opening day arrived and it was much like this picture, foggy and cold and I made my way to my post in the dark to wait for shooting time. I was a novice and had never shot a buck so I was very excited to say the least. As I listened to the strange morning sounds and watched the deer trail I sat next to I envisioned huge bucks with 12 point racks. Nothing happened for about an hour and the sun was getting up and I was cold and forlorn that nothing had come by. Then a the sound of crunching leaves and my adrenalin kicked into high! A small spike horn buck (legal, I was careful to check) came stepping along the trail seemingly oblivious to me sitting there in plain sight. I waited and trembled and slowly raised the Springfield and slipped the safety off, then, while trying not to shake, shot the buck! Wow, I don't know what ran through my mind other than the astonishment that the deer actually laid on the ground some twenty yards from me. I was in a kind of euphoric shock and didn't move for many minutes and then only slowly did I move to look at my trophy. I knew I had to field dress it but had never done it before and my friends were still hunting so I started to do what I thought was needed when I heard more crunching and noise coming down the trail. I soon saw a hunter all red and glowing in the morning sun walk up to me. He looked at me and my deer and chuckled a little and then offered to help me dress my deer. I gladly accepted his help and when we were done I thanked him and said goodbye. My friends soon arrived and helped me drag my buck back to camp and hang it next to our camp to show it off, I was so proud as mine was the only deer at our camp. I asked my friends how they knew I needed help and they said they had met a guy who told them he had helped a kid dress a little deer and that I was so proud and excited he knew it was my first one. He said they normally left the spikes grow to six or eight pointers but he hadn't had the heart to rain on my parade! Chris