My Westervelt Youth Hunt of 2009
William Dylan Puckett
It all started on a cool Friday afternoon in November. A few weeks earlier my daddy told me and my brother Cole we would be going on a Youth Deer Hunt at Westervelt Lodge! We were so excited we could hardly wait.
Daddy bought us a Remington Youth Model Seven in .260 Remington to hunt with. And now that it was sighted in, we were ready to put it into action. We flipped a coin to see who would take first shot. Cole won the coin toss. So he would take first shot. When we got to the lodge, we were sent to our rooms we would sleep in. Cole got to sleep with daddy, while I got a room all to myself. When we were settled in, we went to the shooting range and shot our rifles. When we got back, Cole and I went to one of the big screen tv's and turned on the Mouse's Channel.
After about an hour or so, a 15 year old girl named Sarah walked into the lodge with her dad. She was pretty. That afternoon, just as we were about to leave out to hunt, an 11 year old girl named Ashley who was also pretty, and a 7 year old boy named Cade walked in with their Dads. After everyone was settled in, we set out for our first hunt. When we got to our stand, we settled in and watched for some deer. Our shooting house was elevated and had room for chairs for the three of us. About an hour later we heard Ashley shoot. We really got real quiet and watched even more closely. We could kill a buck and a doe a day. After a while, a big doe came out about 100 yards away, when it got in the open and turned broadside Cole got the gun and got ready to shoot. Dad was watching the deer through his binoculars and was going to tell us when to shoot, he had taught us where to aim on the deer, but said he would tell us when to shoot. Cole held the gun steady on the deer and when dad said shoot he fired, and hit it. It took off running into the woods. After about 20 minutes, a buck came out on one of the shooting lanes beside the blind. It was my shot, so I picked up the gun, aimed and found it was harder to keep the gun steady on a real deer than on a paper or steel target. I missed the first time. I bolted the gun real fast and got another bullet in the chamber. Then I shot again, Dad, watching through his binoculars, said I hit him good because of the way he ran. It took off running into the clearcut. After awhile it getting too dark to see so we went to wait for Mr. Steven to come pick us up with Ashley and her dad. We decided to look for Cole's deer while we were waiting. We couldn't find it. When they drove up, we got into the truck and headed back to the lodge. When we got back, daddy said that he, Mr. Jeff and Mr. Jay were going to look for my and Cole's deer after supper. And after supper, they headed out to look for my buck and Cole's doe. Ashley and Sarah had both killed bucks. Sarah had killed a huge 9 point buck and Ashley killed an 8 point buck. After a while, Daddy, Mr. Jeff, and Mr. Jay had returned with our deer. Mine was a five point buck, and Cole's was a big doe. We went to bed around 11:00 p.m.
Mr. Jay woke us up at five the next morning. After we ate breakfast, we got dressed and headed out in the suburban with Sarah and her dad. When we got to our stand, we settled in and watched for deer. After about 45 minutes, a big doe came out. It was Cole's shot once again. He picked up the rifle, aimed, and fired. He hit it and it took off running like a deer that had been hit good. No other deer came out, so we went to look for Cole's deer. We couldn't find it. So we headed to the spot where we would wait for Mr. Jay to come pick us up. Dad said, "I'm going to look for that doe, you guys stay here.". "Yes sir" we said. After about 40 minutes, Dad hadn't come back yet but we could hear him walking and looking. Cole and I started to get worried. After about 15 more long minutes, we saw a man walking up the dirt road wearing an orange cap, a long sleeved black shirt, and camo overalls. "It's Daddy!" Cole said happily. I ran up to Daddy and gave him a big hug. "We were worried that you got lost." I said. "I'll never get lost in these woods, I know them too well," Dad said. Did I mention the fact that Daddy is a Turkey Hunting Guide at Westervelt? Mr. Jay drove up and we loaded up into the Westervelt Suburban that he was driving and went to get Sarah and her Dad. After we picked them up, Sarah said that they didn't see anything. Cole told Sarah about the doe that he shot. Sarah congratulated him. When we got back to the lodge, we ate chicken breast and banana pudding for lunch. Man was it good!
That afternoon, we went hunting again. When we got to our stand, we got settled in and started looking for deer. After about 30 minutes, a 3 point buck came out. Cole refused to shoot it because he wanted to kill a bigger buck. Next, a doe came out that I turned down. Then a six point buck came out. And since Cole hadn't gotten to kill a buck yet, he got to shoot this one, on my shot! So he picked up the gun and fired and the buck fell right in it's place. We went to go get the six point. Then, we waited for someone to come and get us with Sarah and her dad. When they saw Cole's buck, they all congratulated him. When we got back to the lodge, we watched the Alabama vs. Mississippi game. Alabama Won! Roll Tide! We went to bed after the game.
The next morning would be the last hunt of the Youth Hunt. We ate breakfast, then got dressed and headed out. When we got into the stand, 30 minutes after we were in, we saw two raccoons. After about 40 minutes, a ladybug tried to crawl into the gun barrel. Daddy flicked it off of the barrel and it didn't try to come up the gun again. After 5 more minutes, two does came out. I turned mine down and Cole shot his and killed it with a perfectly placed shot.
When we got back to the lodge, we packed up, said goodbye to everyone, and left. I still miss everyone that I met there, but I will see them all again at the Youth Hunt in 2010. The only bad thing about going to Westervelt is having to leave.
See ya next November!
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