It was a chilly, foggy morning when Dan and Andrew went out to sit in old faithful: the pine tree stand. It was early November 2013, and the night before, Dan had asked Andrew if he wanted to come out to sit with him the next morning. Andrew had been after a deer with his bow for quite a while and was itching to get one before rifle season.

They rode the four-wheeler quite a ways back into the cut by the Crow's Nest and parked it there, then walked the rest of the way into the woods. They could hardly see 15 yards in front of them, due to the heavy fog that morning. Their breath was steaming on the frosty air as they huffed and puffed their way to the stand.

It wasn't long and they were standing underneath the pine tree stand, Dan with his extra stand he had brought, and Andrew with his bow. Dan went up first, and set up his stand on the West side of the tree, so he could help Andrew watch for deer coming from that direction. Andrew followed shortly after, once Dan was all ready with his stand set up. Hand over hand, Andrew pulled up his bow, so they could be ready for when a deer happened to walk by. In they settled for a morning of enjoying God's beautiful creation.

A bit later (only about 5 minutes) Andrew said in a hushed whisper, "Dad, I think I just heard a branch snap or something over there!" At that time they could still only see about 20 yards because of the dense fog that morning. About 10 minutes later, they saw 4 does emerge from the fog, just like they were ghosts. They didn't make a sound, but Dan and Andrew were poised on the edge of their seats with deer that close this early in the morning. They watched the does for a while, about 10 minutes and suddenly they heard a grunt. At this point, their hearts really started pumping. Buck fever was setting in.

The buck was on the opposite side of the tree as Dan and running toward the does. All of the sudden, all the does scattered and went a bunch of different directions. The buck followed one and went away to the Northeast where he couldn't be seen anymore. Andrew was crestfallen, because he didn't think he'd get another chance at the only buck he'd had close enough to shoot all year. Dan had faith that he would come back in. He then spotted the buck coming back not more than 10 minutes later.

Dan and Andrew were both standing as the buck was closing the gap. He appeared to the guys to be just a 6 pointer, but they couldn't get a great look at him, because it was still early. Every step brought him closer and closer. Andrew could feel his heart beating faster the closer he came. Soon, when he saw his son not sure of what to do at what time, Dan started coaching Andrew to know when to draw and to be ready for that right moment.

For a brief second, the buck's head was behind a tree and, at Dan's quiet word, Andrew drew his bow back. Holding the tension of the bow felt like a toy for Andrew as his adrenaline was pumping through his veins. He didn't have to hold it for long however. Soon the buck stopped in his tracks and as Andrew's sight came into focus right over the deer's vitals, he let his arrow fly.

Dan and Andrew both were able to see the arrow fly and hit the buck through both lungs, as the buck took off running. He didn't slow down until he died, around 200 yards from where Andrew had shot him. Andrew was jumping around for joy in the stand, it was good he had his harness on. Dan settled him down and told him to watch where the buck ran, so they could track it later.

Once they had waited a couple minutes, they climbed down to go after the buck. They walked over to where Andrew had shot him and immediately saw blood on both sides of the deer. They continued to track him for 200 yards until, finally, they came upon their bounty. The buck had crashed between a few trees as he died.

After a successful hunt, both Andrew and Dan were overjoyed. Andrew because he had gotten his first buck with a bow with his Dad along, and Dan, because he could be there to see it all and help out. In the end, it turned out to be another chilly morning that led to warm hearts.

by Andrew