My brother, Josh, has been hunting for 8 years. He has harvested many deer and turkeys in his time of hunting. He has killed numerous button bucks and does, but has not gotten successful to take a mature buck. But little did he know his luck was about to change…..

Josh decided to go hunting behind our grandparents house. He packed his gear and got in the truck. He decided to sit next to a thicket and a creek, not far from where I shot my first buck in 2005. He settled into his climbing tree stand around 2:30 and waited patiently. Little did he know, he wouldn’t have to wait long.

Off in the distance  he heard leaves crunching. Out of the thicket appeared a deer. As the deer  got closer, he realized that it was a buck . He began to get BUCK FEVER!!! His breathing picked up and his heart felt like it was going to come out his chest!! He tried to calm down as he watched the buck through the scope. The buck, while eating acorns, quartered away from Josh, giving him a good shot angle. He took aim and squeezed the trigger, and white smoke filled the air. As the smoke cleared, he watched him walk about 20 yards and laid down, within seconds, (as Ted Nugent would say) “ He was back straps in the freezer, LONG LIVE THE BEAST!!! THE BEAST IS DEAD”!!!!

He called Mom from his cell phone, to tell her the great news, but he was breathing so hard and talking so fast that she thought something was wrong. It took a minute to calm him down so she could understand him. Then she heard him say “ I did it, I did it!! I got a buck!!” So mom hurried to grandmas to get the camera and the deer cart and she went to help him get the deer out of the woods!! He called Dad at work to tell him too.

I was in the movies when my cellphone vibrated and saw that it was my mom.  As soon as I got out the movies, I called my mom back and found out the good news. I was very happy for him, because he has been waiting a long time, and 8 YEARS is a long, long time.

Congratulations Josh, Nice Buck

Taylor Rather