Jason and I cleared off some leaf litter under an old pine that hid our outlines very well and waited for the morning sun to rise. My adage to him was if you get to your stand before the first birds of the day start to sing, you are on time, but if you hear them while you are walking, you are late.

We were on time and we saw the fleeting shadows of deer moving in our area, but it was still too dark to shoot. In fact, Jason had an unloaded rifle and was waiting for my guidance to get in a hunting mode.

As a few streaks of sunrise began to appear to our east, I told him it was time and we began the loading process just as we had practiced at the range many times over. We heard a buck snort and paw at the ground, telling us he was not happy with our intrusion. We would have been happy to give him a reply if he would have stepped into a clear spot.

We waited for the first shot and it took a while for us to detect one far off from us …nothing close by to our position. We stayed on stand and could see deer filtering through thick cover, but not allowing us a clear shot.

After a while, we connected up with some other family members and decided to drive to Casper’s Annandale Station up by Game Lands 95. This was an old joke as my brother took our neighbor boy on a special drive on a dreary day to lunch instead of a wicked drive through a thicket. Thus, driving Annandale Station was born for a lunch break and regroup for the day.

My brother-in-law, Mark, arrived with an 8-point buck that he had connected on at a farm that he hunts. We had reloaded his .300 short mag shells before the opener and were happy to see the positive results. I decided to take my charge and his father to a creek bottom area that always has been a good spot for locating traveling deer.

The cover was thick, but did have open spots that might afford you a clear shot. I let Jason pick out an area that he liked the looks of and once again we cleared off a bare patch that made no noise under our feet.

It did not take long for some shots to ring out up stream from us and in some nearby fields. I told Jason to be on the ready, pick the spot behind the shoulder and take the shot if he had one. We were in the deep woods and safety was on our side as far as background. Just watching for any hunters and orange was the order for the day. I sat down on an old iron chair that I had carried in years ago and watched Jason get ready. Pretty soon I saw some movement and deer were moving along the creek below us. They would appear and then they would disappear. They must be feeding on the grasses along the waterway, I thought.

Jason pulled up his rifle and was trying to pick out a target, he did this several times but couldn’t acquire the shot he wanted to take. He later explained that he was trying to follow the deer movement with his scope and it was difficult for him. I have been down that road in trying to spot a deer moving through cover.

I later explained to him to pick out an opening ahead of the deer and let it walk into his sights and then take the shot. We then heard a shot and the deer scattered around us. About that time, I saw a hunter approach and it was my old friend, the Professor, who had harvested a hefty doe from the group. He tipped us off that a nice buck was around and to stay in our spots as they were good ones.

It wasn’t too long when I saw another mature doe sneaking around the bend in the creek and not aware of me. The deer offered a clean shot as I waited for it to cross through an opening that I picked. Jason was surprised at the shot and I showed him the tagging and field dressing operations. He wasn’t as prepared as I thought he would be. Some basic needs and tools were missing and I needed to do some more work to make him better equipped.

My brother showed up with a deer carrier cart after we decided that the deer was way to heavy to drag on the bare forest floor. Recovery of that deer showed me that I needed to be much more aware of the areas that I would hunt and how I would bring a deer out of the woods safely.

Jason and his dad did the honors of a very long haul of a heavy deer. We ended up with three bucks and two does in our group, a successful hunt for any camp. Jason is still seeking his first deer, but overall is excited about hunting again next year. We will get him into a H-T-E class this year and still polish up his skills with our mentoring. It takes a long time to be a finished hunter and he is just beginning to learn.

Until we meet again, shoot straight and be safe!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle