When I was younger, my dad would bring me out hunting all the time. He was a big bow hunter, so we had a longer season which meant more time out in the woods. We spent so much time out there that it was almost like another home, but the best part was spending time with my dad. We would just sit out there playing little games. I think that's why I came to love hunting. When I was still just watching my dad hunt, I thought hunting was this super simple thing. I thought all it would take is some patience but it would be easy. Since I had only been hunting with my dad at the time. Who is an outstanding hunter and also a very lucky one. So when I was finally old enough to hunt, my dad took me hunting for the first time. My first year sure was a weird one.

My first year started out rough. We began hunting with my bow in September. I was only 11 at the time, so I couldn’t pull back much weight on it. I had to put in hours practicing to get to the point I could pull back enough weight. I finally got there, so my dad started bringing me out hunting. We sat out in a deer stand every day we could. My dad would even pull me out of class early to get to the deer stand. He really wanted me to get a deer my first year. After countless hours in deer stands, I still hadn’t gotten one. We had very few opportunities at deer. Even when we did do everything right we just wouldn’t see anything. Weeks flew by and by the time gun season came I was thinking “This is harder than it's supposed to be.” When I sat out with my dad, he had gotten a deer every year. It felt unfair that he got one so fast every year and I couldn’t get one. It all changed in a matter of days. 

After many frustrating weeks with no luck, my dad suggested we try gun hunting. I was frustrated at this point of the season. I had just put in all that time practicing as well as in the stand and wasn’t able to get one. My dad could tell I was frustrated, that's probably why he suggested gun hunting. It is a whole lot easier than my bow which I was only pulling the minimum legal limit. So I thought gun hunting was worth a shot, not like I could get less deer than I already was. Soon, we already had more chances at deer than all-season bow hunting. It was just a few more days until I finally got my first deer. My dad was more excited than I was. He knew how bad I wanted to get one so it was a very exciting moment for both of us, but I still had one more tag I could use, so we kept hunting.

After finally getting a deer we were going to be a little pickier about this one. I wanted to go after a buck for the antlers. So that's what we did. We were only interested in bucks from that point on. Lucky for us the rut was just starting. When the rut starts the deer lose all their patterns and just run anywhere and everywhere. So we both thought getting a buck would be a lot easier because now wherever we sit they might pass. I guess we were both wrong about that. About three days after getting my first deer we picked a random spot to sit. It had been good in the past so we went there. To my luck, a nice little 7-point walked out. He was about 300 yards away but working his way towards us. After about 30 minutes of sitting and just watching him, he got in range. I had just gotten my second deer in a matter of four days. I couldn’t be more excited and all I was thinking was this isn’t that hard. After an easy season with a gun, I switched back to bow hunting.

That was 3 years ago now. I made the decision that I wanted the next deer I get to be with my bow. Every year since that one I have gone out bow hunting and spent countless hours in a deer stand. I still haven’t gotten one. In the early seasons when I was still hunting with my dad I had a few chances, but I still wasn’t able to get one. Now one part is that I guess I just suck at hunting. The other is that I have gotten pickier. I don’t shoot really small ones. I’m not the hunter that goes out there to just shoot something. The last few years have put in perspective how hard this sport truly is. It takes a lot of patience and dedication to get a decent deer. Now it is simple but requires way more patience than I ever thought.