Personal Narrative Essay: Deer Hunting

Mid evening on that October night. It was a chilly night, low forties maybe, and a little breezy. My dad and I set off for my grandfather’s property in Marshall at three in the afternoon. We were getting ready to hunt.

My grandpa’s property is around 135 acres of land around his house. This is mostly woods, but has a field at the closest portion of the land to his house. Fingers of the woods stick out that are perfect for hiding deer stands, as deer don’t have good vision at all, the stands blend right in to the leaves and trees. My stand is set off to the northeast of his home, facing west across the field. Deer trails come up on either side and out of a finger of the woods forty yards in front of the stand. This is where my horrible mistake happens.

I was very excited to go on this hunt, as it was my first bow hunt. My dad and I arrive at my grandpa’s and drive past his house down a gravel road to an open grass pasture that my brother and I have an old swing attached to a tree. We unloaded our hunting clothes from the truck and got everything we wanted sorted
I was becoming one with nature. It had rained the day before so my boots were sloshing around in the mud. I was a little bit worried that, some how, every animal in the forest would hear the human making all this noise; it was a crazy thought, I know. I finish walking the 250 yards to my stand and notice that my feet are about three pounds heavier than they were before. Ten minutes later, after finally scraping all the mud off my boots, are start to climb up the ladder into the stand. With the bow slung over my shoulder, I started up the ladder. The stand is a standard ten foot ladder stand, with a seat about one and a half feet wide, and the most uncomfortable cushion that I have ever had the displeasure of sitting on. It is anchored to a tree in a group of three or four. Hooks to put my bow on stick out of a tree to my