For review, last week I told you about my return down river to the Rush Creek area. I went muzzleloader hunting in the spot where I shot at my first archery deer. That hunt was a long time ago and it didn’t end well so I was hoping that this would be my redemption hunt.

I could drag this story out, but the quick version is that a small buck came in and I took the shot. I was pretty confident that I had made a good hit so I climbed out of the stand and headed to my truck to get some help. I know that announcing the outcome makes this a little anti-climatic but bagging the deer wasn’t the best part of the hunt, not even close. The best part was the tracking and specifically the tracking crew.

I had been hunting on my nephew Brandon’s land so I called him first. Between the two of us we were able to put together the best crew that pizza could buy. Brandon, his 10-year-old daughter Ivy, his 8-year-old son Ronnie, and his 6-year-old son Skip were all bundled up, equipped with flashlights, and ready to pick up the trail. My brother Whammer was asked to join us because his specialty is dragging.

The crew found the impact spot and started off on the tracking trail. The kids took the lead walking at a steady pace and the adults followed behind, listening and laughing. The flashlights and spotlights were moving in all directions. I am sure that from a distance the woods looked like a Jedi warrior light saber fight. The night air was filled with the laughter and banter of kids hot on the blood trail of a buck yelling “here’s some” over and over.

As we followed the trail to the edge of the woods I couldn’t tell who was having more fun, the kids or the adults watching the kids. I was actually a little disappointed when someone yelled: “There he is!”  

We all piled in around the buck for a photo that could be placed next to the word FUN in the dictionary because that’s what comes to mind no matter how many times I look at it. The smiles and the laughter continued with the dragging and the hauling of the buck back to Brandon’s house. It wasn’t the biggest buck I’ve ever bagged, but for sure it was the most fun.

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