Ron Ruby has been hunting deer for 25 years, but this season was a little different — and a lot more memorable.

Ruby, 37, of Butler shot a 10-point buck Dec. 1 in Indiana County. It was the biggest buck he'd ever gotten.

But that's not what made the day so special. Ruby's 13-year-old son, Jordan, also bagged a 10-pointer, marking the first buck of his hunting career. Ed Ruby, 60, Jordan's grandfather, was in the woods with them and witnessed both events.

"My only regret is that my father didn't get the buck and I did,"Ron Ruby said. "I would have preferred it the other way around."

Ed Ruby has a license to hunt from a car. He last hunted 35 years ago, when a job change forced him to give it up.

Now he's dying of cancer and takes an oxygen tank with him wherever he goes.

"I've had my last chemo treatment,"he said. "I was diagnosed with cancer in 1997 and now I'm living day to day.

"Hopefully, I'll be around at this time next year. But you never know."

That's why the eldest Ruby decided to get a license and go hunting with his son and grandson this year.

"I'd never hunted with my father before,"Ron Ruby said. "My uncles used to take me when I was a kid. Just being out there with him this year meant a lot."

While Ed Ruby hunted until his mid-20s before taking a job as a truck driver, he had never bagged a deer.

"That's why Jordy and I are taking him back out Saturday," Ron Ruby said. "We want to give him every opportunity. Besides, even if he doesn't get one ... it's me, Jordy and him out in the woods together. That's priceless."

Jordan is getting his 10-point mounted while his father is getting the antlers of his put on a plaque.

The trio hunted on the property of one of Ron Ruby's co-worker's friends. Ron had hunted there before.

"You get to know the area and it's nice because the deer have nowhere to go,"Ron Ruby said. "There's a river on one side, a big cliff on the other and there's a roadway so we could bring my dad in."

Jordan got his buck first, at about 7:30 a.m. His father got his two hours later.

Both were spotted at the same time.

"We saw them, but weren't in position to get off a shot,"Jordan said. "Just a short while later, I saw one of them coming up the road. "It jumped over a log, I shot it and it fell over."

While they were dragging Jordan's buck back toward the road, the other buck reappeared.

"My dad got him with his last bullet,"Jordan said.

Ed Ruby nearly made it three-for-three on the day, as he spotted an 8-point while hunting from the car.

"I couldn't get a clear shot at him through the trees,"he said. "By the time I could, he was gone."

Jordan's family lives next door to his grandfather.

"I'm very close to him,"Jordan said. "I'm thrilled he got to be there when I got my first buck. I'll never forget that."

Neither will his grandfather.

"His face just lit up when he got that 10-point,"Ed Ruby said. "His first deer and it was a big one. That was a moment.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be around, but I was around to see that. That's something to be thankful for."