How passing up a really big buck led a 12-year-old hunter to the whitetail of a lifetime.

By Dominique P. Girard 

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I was 12 years old, and it was my second year of hunting. My dad and I had driven up the night before with his friend to hunt the opening morning of the Kansas youth rifle season. Dad was going to sit with me. His buddy was going to dove hunt until we needed  him—if we needed him.  

We got up at about 5:30 a.m. and arrived at our stand an hour later. Still so new to hunting, all I knew was that we were hunting from a stand that my dad talked about constantly. A huge deer often passed our trail cam there during the day. All I could tell from the pictures was that he had nice antlers.

At about 7:45, Dad pointed out a red rack sticking high above the milo. As I got ready, we  watched the deer slowly work its way through the field and then drift off into the tree line. About  five minutes later, a spike popped out. We could still hear the big buck off in the woods, rubbing on  a tree. He was scraping the velvet off.  

When a nice 160-inch 10-point came out, I wanted to shoot. Thankfully, my dad was able to  convince me that a bigger buck was close by. Almost immediately after he said that, a giant stepped out. I brought the gun up and rested it on the opening of the makeshift blind we’d made out of an old grain bin. Boom! My .243 was loud inside the metal blind, but I didn’t hear it. My adrenaline was through the roof.  

As we followed the blood trail through the milo, Dad told me to peek over the edge of a 50-foot ravine while he stayed in the field. I looked down and immediately saw a white belly down in the bottom. The buck’s antlers were under his head after rolling down into the creek.  

As we rolled the deer over, Dad shouted, “That’s him. That’s the big one!” After we soaked in the moment, we called my dad’s friend.  

For my first deer with antlers, that’s not too shabby. Sometimes I wish I could have shot this deer when I was more experienced but had I not shot the buck when I did I might not have fallen in love with hunting.  

The Future of Fair Chase 

We know that the future of conservation rests squarely on the shoulders of tomorrow’s hunters. That’s why we’re celebrating the stories of our youth hunters in this section called The Future of Fair Chase. Many of these stories are plucked straight from the pages of our 32nd Big Game Awards Book. Other stories have been submitted by young hunters, who are rightfully proud of their achievement. If you are a young hunter or know a young hunter who might like to submit a story, please email it to [email protected].