In honor of 
Today, I was randomly scrolling through some old pictures and I stumbled upon my last deer hunt in the states back in 2016.
I thought cool double bonus #whereonwednesday and I can test out my new “legendary” status in the Hive community The Pew. Thank you for that honor 
Feels like yesterday, but also another life back in Uncle Sugar.
So, before you laugh, yes I am well aware that buck is a baby but we have a high population back in SE Wisconsin, USA and on our land we have an “If it’s brown put it down” policy. We hunt purely for the meat and a trophy buck is only an added bonus.
It was opening day and my brother, my step dad, and I got out to the deer stand before sunrise and we had the luck of a fresh coat of snow on the ground. On the way in (with my flashlight) I saw fresh prints in front of my deer stand and knew there was something close by.
The year before I had got a nice buck and saw a few more since then, so I was really expecting to get another one.
As soon as the sun came up I heard some wrestling branches behind my stand. I stood up, turned around, and saw the brown fur against the white snow. One shot directly to the heart, with my Sister’s 12 gauge, put that boy to rest.
That season was the first time in Wisconsin where they banned rifles in our township. Never owned a shotgun in my life.
In my excitement, I thought it was a large doe, but nope a baby buck. Well, I wasn’t too mad because what we shoot you have to haul out and it’s about 1.5 miles 1 mile to the truck and it’s a lot of work pulling a dead deer through the thick woods all that way.
We decided to stay out for a few more hours to see if we could get anything else, but that was it.
From my deer stand I could see my brother about 200 yards away and when I decided to call it quits I climbed down to go and check on him and there he was, sound asleep.
When I woke my brother up he had no idea we had been out there for hours. He didn’t seem to mind as he woke up freezing and wanted to head in for a coffee.
I don’t know if that was our last hunting trip together, I sure hope not, but I will never forget it!
I passed up a hunting trip with my best friend from college to go with my brother and step dad and this was his trophy. I can honestly say the memory of hunting with my brother, tracking the blood in the snow, and catching him asleep in the stand is far greater than any mount on the wall.
My only regret is shooting the thing in the heart as it is our tradition (and the tastiest part) to eat the heart with fried onions after the hunt.
Fond memories!
@balticbadger