It was 21 degrees when we headed into the woods. I just needed a deer to complete my grand slam. I had a doe tag and was eager to get into my stand. The leaves were crunchy with frost but the woods were calm.  I climbed into the Sky Condo and waited for the world to awaken.  Almost immediately, animals started moving.  I sat perfectly still, my breath hidden by my green fleece balaclava.  It was almost an hour before I could see well enough into the woods to know if I was hearing deer or squirrels (it was squirrels).

A deer blew from the end of the field.  Something must have spooked it.  The neighbor? I knew that if I was going to change seats, this would be the time.  Nothing had come into the field.  I grabbed my gear and walked as slowly as I could to the next stand.  It wasn’t far, but it was tucked into the woods enough that I might catch a deer crossing an old skidder trail.

Taking a deep breath, I sat down and sent Dad a quick text to let him know which stand I was in. He replied to keep an eye out for 4 does that he had jumped.  I had a doe tag.  I was ready and on alert.

The more you hunt, the better you get at instinctively knowing the sound of walking vs scurrying. Something was walking at me. I grabbed the gun and swung 90 degrees to my right. I rested my arm on the edge of the stand. The corner post prevented me from moving further to the right.  I searched for the cause of the noise. It startled me when I found it; the brown body of a deer. My movement had stopped it.  There was a tree blocking me from seeing it’s head, and blocking it from seeing me. I leaned back slowly, pulling the gun with me until the barrel was back inside the stand.  I pivoted slowly and lowered the gun out the back door of the stand.

I lifted the scope and found the arch of the deer’s shoulder.  I was at an angle that was not ideal.  I could hit the vitals but I could also hit guts.  I placed the crosshairs more forward than I would have liked and squeezed the trigger.  I watched him run into a bunch of thick saplings. The beach trees still held their light brown leaves and I struggled to see him.  Then, he appeared at the end of a shooting lane.  He was on his feet and his tail was flickering.  I reloaded my gun.  He staggered to his left and appeared to fall but I wasn’t sure.  I sat and listened. Leaves rustled.  I wanted things to be quiet.  More rustling.

I sent Dad a text ‘I think he is down but I’m not sure he is dead”

“Ok.  I’m on my way”

I stayed in my stand, watching and listening.  Suddenly, the woods seemed to erupt with action.  A deer ran by the end of another shooting lane.  Another deer was blowing and running away from me.  A gun shot rang out.  There would be two tags punched.

Dad appeared behind me.  I climbed down to meet him.  There was a deer blowing as it ran away from us.

We started walking from where I shot the deer to where I saw him run.  I found blood.  A steady path of blood.  “He’s right here” Dad said. With a smile, he gave me a big hug, “You did it!”

Dad left to get the four wheeler and I found his buck (it dropped where it had stood) and dragged it closer to where mine was.  I stood in the woods alone and tried to comprehend what I had accomplished.  In two months and three days, I had shot a deer, turkey, moose and bear.  I had completed my grand slam!