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David's first buck There are days in every young mans life that stick with him forever. Sunday was one of those days for David Sobiek . This being the last weekend of the 2005/2006 deer season he was in the woods. Notice I said in the woods, not on a Playstation, XBox or sitting on the couch watching the television. The boy was out in the fresh air bonding with Mother Nature.
My alarm went off at a very early 4:30A M Sunday morning. At 5:15 AM David and his dad arrived. When I stepped outside to meet them the cold 26-degree air bit sharply at my nose. While watching him get his fanny pack and other things together I couldn't help but wonder how long this young man would be able to stay in the stand. I mean it was COLD! Like a trooper he headed for the ladder stand. As I sat in the living room watching the Outdoor Channel and drinking coffee, I fully expected him to walk in because of the cold. He never did but I was sure his father was freezing to death. I continued to mill around the house and finally the phone rang. "I think I got one" was all I heard. I smoked up the 4X4 and drove to the stand to help them out. He said it was a doe but the excitement in his voice told me it didn't matter. The boy was happy to just have seen a deer. We went to where the deer was standing and found no hair, no blood, no nothing. We looked and looked and determined that it was a clean miss. David looked pitiful and not even my twisted sense of humor could find anything witty to say at that moment. We told him it happens to everyone sooner or later but it didn't help the situation at all. Since it was now too late for them to make it to church David wanted to try another spot close to his house. We agreed he was going to be back at my place that evening for one last chance. At about noon my phone rang and caller ID showed it to be David's dad Butch. The voice on the other end of the line was David's and he was severely in adrenaline overload as he had just shot a six-point buck. I jumped in the truck and headed over the take a look. What a fine deer it was, a solid six point buck. We did the ceremonial picture session and got the deer dressed and headed out for the check in station. You know it's like a right of passage in a hunter's life to get to check in your first buck and it showed in his grinning face. Once all that was done the first thing he asked was could he still come hunt at my farm that night. I couldn't have said no if my life depended on it. Now every day I see kids who's idea of adventure is playing war games on the dreaded video system. I see parents whose kids are out of control or taking enough drugs to knock an elephant down in the name of attention deficit syndrome. To see a young man who has developed a love of the outdoors is reason to celebrate. Kids like him are not this way on accident, they have had that love of the woods handed down to them from their parents. David's parents are no exception, they both hunt and fish and make sure their boys are afforded the opportunity to do the same. Now, I have known David long enough to be comfortable giving him a extra helping of trash talk on nearly every chance I get but today all I can say is "you done good". *Troy Basso is a freelance writer and instructor for the National Bowhunter Education Program. |
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This hunt actually started Saturday after lunch. David
and his father Butch Sobiek arrived at the house. The plan was to put
David in a highly productive stand and hope he got to harvest a deer,
preferably a buck since he had yet to tag one. At 2:30 we got to the
stand, made sure his safety harness was on correctly and reminded him
about being safe no matter what. I returned to the house, about 200
yards away, and waited for something to happen. The sun went down and I
waited in hopes of hearing the .300 Winchester bark, but tonight was not
the night. At dark I met them and he had seen nothing but a rabbit and
some songbirds. It was almost painful to see the disappointment in his
face. Well, we made the best of a not so productive night and decided to
cook trout and doves on the grill. David decided he would try it again
on Sunday morning.
