For my english class, we took a field trip to the Nemeth Art Museum in Park Rapids. Our assignment was to write a paper about a picture. I struggled to find a picture to write about. I probably walked around the museum twenty times before coming across the picture I wanted to write about. The picture by Anthony Marchetti reminded me of Minnesota. It showed a winterland with snow-covered trees and a frozen over pond. The pond had logs sticking out of the ice, frozen in motion. The sky was white just like the snow on the ground. The picture reminded me of many of my experiences in the woods.

When I see this image, I think of deer hunting season and sitting in the deer stand in the middle of the woods. While I’m sipping on the tasty, warm hot chocolate in my cup, I’m listening to every sound there is, hoping for that big buck to come through. In my mind, the trees sway, leaves fall like rain, all around me, and squirrels play in the fallen leaves making a rustling sound. That sound makes me tense up because I think a deer is coming through. The trees crack because they are swaying so much and it sounds like a stick breaking on the ground. Every year there is a woodpecker that sits in my tree just pecking away. I always hear an animal drinking in the pond behind me and it also has a beaver dam. While I’m hunting, I am always wondering if any other of my family members have seen anything. I wonder what they hear, what they see, and what they smell.

The image reminds me of northern Minnesota and is similar to the land where I deer hunt. I want to know where this is and what time of day this is taking place. The fallen down logs are creatures when it’s dark out and I can’t see very well. When it is dark, I am always on my toes a little more because looks are deceiving and I can’t see what things exactly are. When I see movement I get really tensed up and the adrenaline starts pumping like crazy.

My worst fear is missing the shot and the rest of my family making fun of me. The first time I shot a deer, I was so nervous because when I shot, it didn’t drop. It took off and I immediately thought I missed it. I went over to where it was when I shot at it and there was no blood. I was so disappointed. But then I kept looking and there was fur on the ground. I must have hit something right? I went about twenty feet to the left and the deer popped up and ran off. It scared the living soul out of me. The deer had laid down about twenty to thirty feet away from where I shot at it. Where it was laying, there was a puddle of blood. I was so happy, but then I realized I still had to catch it!

I called my uncle, my grandpa, and my dad and we all followed the blood trail. The farther we went, the more blood we saw. Eventually, there was pieces of intestines and other organs lying on the ground. That meant that I must have gut shot it. I forgot to lead the deer when I shot at it. I aimed for the heart, but I forgot to take into account that it was moving. My shot ended up being a little behind the heart and the lungs and went into the lower rib cage area. A gut shot means that the bullet entered through the ribs and ricocheted off the ribs numerous times which tore up the guts inside. It makes a huge mess. But at least when we finally caught up to the deer, it was down and basically already gutted. It was a heck of a thrill ride for my first kill.

The deer ended up running a long ways away from our vehicles. Since it was my deer, I had to drag it all the way back. It was some workout. I was so out of breath and wanted to quit so many times. In between where my stand is and my dad’s stand is, there is a pond. It’s the one with the beaver dam on it. There is a log in the middle of the pond where my dad crosses to get to his stand. The frozen water and the downed log in the picture make me think of that. I had to drag my deer over that log and I was nervous because I didn’t want to drag the deer through the water and I especially didn’t want the deer to take me in the freezing cold water with it. Every time I cross the pond now, I get nervous about slipping and falling into the cold, brisk water. I also worry about my dad crossing it every day because he’s older than me and less agile. Especially when he’s carrying his heater and his rifle.

Putting it all together, that image with the snow-covered woods and the frozen over pond with the downed log, make me think about my first deer. That is the first thought that came into my head. It also makes me think of just deer hunting in general. Those are just the things that came into my head right away and that’s why I picked to write about this particular art piece. It is very pretty and looks just like northern Minnesota in the winter time. Thinking about the piece and this essay I am writing now, makes me excited for deer hunting season to get back out there with my family and have a great time and another successful year.