Those of you who read my blog regularly know that hunting is something I am still relatively new at. I didn’t grow up doing it, never shot a gun until I was 25 years old, just never really had anything to do with it. Dan is an avid hunter and LOVES everything about it. It’s hard not to get sucked into it with him around.

Anyway, this was my second deer season with a tag. Last year, I had an antlerless tag, and by some miracle managed to actually shoot a deer – it was nice to redeem myself after shooting at and missing a turkey during THAT season! 😉 Anyway, this year, Dan and I both had “any deer” tags, so I was really hoping to get a buck this time.

We went out right away opening weekend, saw some deer, but nothing close enough to shoot at. I remember thinking, “no big deal.” We still had two weeks to try. During the long Thanksgiving weekend, we went out almost every day to try again, but still no luck. Every spot we went to, we either had other hunters show up and scare off the deer, the deer were too far away to shoot, or they were on private land. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we did get a doe to come up pretty close, and if we had been willing to settle for a doe at that point, we probably could have shot at her. But, we had a week left, and dang it, I wanted a buck!!

Well, flash forward to the last weekend of deer season, and we were at the point of settling for anything that would get close enough to shoot. Dan told me I should accept that fact that I probably wouldn’t get a buck this year, and we should be happy if we get anything. The last evening of the season, we saw five does that came pretty close to where we were at. I managed to get my gun on one of them, was ready to shoot, but I hesitated a moment too long and she took off before I could pull the trigger. It was a disappointing end to a rough season, but it got my heart racing that’s for sure!

For the most part, it was still really fun to get out there and spend some time with Dan. I know I’m not as seasoned as he is, and I don’t always know what to do – especially when he whisper yells at me to get on the gun AND hold still at the same time haha. But he’s patient with me. I probably slowed him down because I’m not used to trekking long distances with all that gear on, and he got used to bringing snacks with us because I would always forget and I get kind of cranky when I’m hungry. He even got me brand new winter gloves and a heated vest as an early Christmas present, so he either still wants me to go hunting with him in the future, or he got really sick of me complaining about being cold. It’s probably a combination of the two, but it was very sweet regardless. 🙂

Anyway, I’m glad I’m able to get in on his passion for hunting, and even though I have a long way to go, I’ve learned a lot from him. We’re trying to get tags for turkey season again – fingers crossed I don’t miss this time! And if we are able to get tags again next deer season, fingers crossed it’ll go better. I’m just happy to make these memories together.

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger