Another first for Ayrton

Ayrton moments after harvesting his first deer. (By Jon Swaby)

Another deer firearms season has come and gone. I never harvested a deer this season, but that's fine, my primary goal was to put Ayrton on his first deer. I can proudly say "Mission accomplished!"

As always deer season started with my buddies showing up at my cabin throughout the afternoon and evening of the Friday before opening day. It was good to see old friends that are only able to make the trip down once a year. Sitting around a campfire, we shared stories and caught up on each others life events.

Most years, deer camp has been a rather raucous crowd. I don't know if it's old age or something else, but we were a pretty mild crew this year. In fact, of the nine years of deer camp, opening morning was likely the best rested and freshest I have been.

Opening morning: Ayrton had been pretty excited to hunt deer this year and I hoped that firearms season would give him the opportunity that he didn't get during the youth season in September.

When I go in his room to get him up for the hunt I can tell it's going to be a struggle. A combination of staying up too late the night before and a chill in the air had worked against his desire to go. Try as I might, he would not be convinced that he should go and simply said "I'll go with you this afternoon."

I was disappointed to say the least, however I try not to force him to go, because if he is out there with me I want it to be because that's what he wants.

So off I went, with only an antlerless tag, mind you. I had assumed that most of my season would be spent hunting with Ayrton and should a buck happen by it would obviously be his to shoot. Wrong!

Shortly after daylight a large buck steps out into the field 120 yards from my stand. Watching him through my binoculars helped pass the time as I waited for a doe. The buck milled around the field for a few minutes then disappeared back into the ditch row it had come from. Ten minutes go by with no additional action. Then the buck reemerges 80 yards from my stand, only this time followed by a another buck equally as large.

As the two bucks walk in my direction all I can do is watch as the show plays out. They pass by me at sixty yards and would have presented a great shot opportunity for Ayrton. The bucks moved on across the field, and I was left there wishing I had a buck tag.

That afternoon I was back at the house to get Ayrton for the evening hunt. When I asked if he was ready to go he replied "I'll just go with you in the morning." Dad had all he could take at that point and I told him if he wanted to get a deer he had to pull himself away from video games for a few hours. That was all the persuasion he needed. He got up and made himself ready for the hunt.

We proceeded to a woodlot that has produced a lot of deer over the years. Sitting on a dry pond levee we settled in and waited for our quarry. After we had been set up for about an hour, I hear a distinctive "crunch" coming from behind us. I slowly turned my head to look as I whispered to Ayrton to "get ready." Moments later a large fox squirrel appeared carrying a corn cob through the thicket.

It truly amazes me how much noise a little squirrel can make moving through a woods.

At this point our nerves were on edge from the excitement. Twenty minutes later I heard more crunching coming our way from the opposite direction. Having been tricked once, I wasn't so fast to get worked up. Well, I should have. I looked past Ayrton and saw a buck heading directly towards us. I told Ayrton there was a buck coming and to his credit he didn't immediately jerk his head up to look.

Cautiously we waited as the buck came closer. Ayrton had his youth 20 gauge leaning up against the tree behind his shoulder and it was impossible for him to get it without the buck seeing. So I slid my gun onto his lap, fortunate for him I had carried his brother's identical shotgun. The buck stepped out into the dry pond not 15 yards from us and I told Ayrton it was time to shoot.

The buck hit the ground and the rest was history. Certainly a proud moment for Ayrton and I as we stood over his buck and snapped pictures and sent out texts. Large deer or small it didn't matter. All that mattered, in that moment, was the bond we shared and the appreciation for the creature that lay before us.

Now all I hope for is some cold weather to bring down some geese, and hopefully get to see him accomplish another first.

Jon is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 21. He can also be reached via email at jonpswaby@gmail.com.