It was our deer hunting crew's 11th year in the hills surrounding Dunkard Creek in Monongalia County, W.Va. It never ceases to amaze me just how rural the areas around Morgantown can be nearly as soon as you leave the city proper.

Whitetail deer flourish in the area and we found that deer hunting 15 miles out of the city can be an incredible experience. For years, we have waited for our hunting lodge to be completed but it appears to be at a standstill, so we had to book rooms at the hotels in the West Virginia University area.

The wake-up call was for 4 a.m. and the short drive to our hunting area made things easier on our party as we eagerly wanted to leave the city lights behind and get to some hunting and solitude. The yearly hunt started as an annual reunion of sorts but has grown to nearly 20 hunters making the trek annually.

When I arrived at our parking area, our host, Robbie Gilbert of Outdoor Insights, met me with the news that he wanted me to agree to have my first-day hunt taped for his television show.

I'm not big on having a guy follow me around all day making small talk and recording my every move, especially on the first day of buck season. I agreed that it would be permitted as long as cameraman Nate wouldn't interfere with the hunt.

Rural areas take their hunting seriously and Nate assured me that he was a hunter and would be as quiet as a church mouse. I wasn't as worried about him as I was worried about what I might do and end up on some kind of "Bloopers in the Wilds" program.

I'd have to take the chance that it would go well and I would represent all of us guys in a fitting manner. We caught a ride up the steep hillside country and were deposited at a trail head. We would walk in from there and follow some trail markers to a double tree stand overlooking the hardwood hollows below us.

Darkness melted into dawn and the first birds started to move and twitter around us. The winter flock birds are among my favorites to watch and it helped to pass the time. Nate hunts many states and he showed me some pictures on his phone of monster Midwest deer. I didn't expect a buck like that would appear today, but it was stimulating my views on the promise of this day's deer hunt.

At about 8 a.m., the birds began to raise a ruckus and Nate indicated that a deer was coming our way. He asked me if I was going to take the shot and I replied emphatically with a no. After looking over the world-class bucks, he tainted me for the small buck that appeared.

We watched as he lounged beneath our stand unaware of the potential danger from above. He moved along and the next deer that came along were several does on the run from an unseen disturbance. Nate was able to get some great film footage and we forgot about the buck hunting momentarily.

At 9, I commented that the bucks didn't seem to be cooperating when I looked over to my right and there came a respectable buck. He was headed directly for our spot and I drew up my rifle to take a bead on the buck when I heard a voice behind me saying, "Wait, I don't have it in my view yet."

Any buck hunter knows that you only get so many good shots and you need to take them when they present themselves — and this was my time!

When I got the "all right, you can fire" confirmation, the buck was behind a tree and closer than I would have liked. I had to lean way out of the ladder stand to make a shot and was incredibly off balance.

Then the unthinkable happened: I hurried my shot and missed! I also missed the standing deer a second time while on camera.

About this time I was ready to dive out of the tree with hopes for better success when the buck decided enough was enough and headed for one of those steep slopes to get over the other side of the mountain.

I yelled back to Nate, "Look out! I'm going to have to bear down!" The third shot was clearer to me and it proved to be true. The buck was going to a friend who had asked me for the venison if I got lucky.

Here's hoping that you have lots of luck Monday if you're going deer hunting — hopefully without a cameraman there.

Jay E. Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.