HUNTING STORIES: The latest in our series of reader-submitted hunting tales comes from a resident of Alexandria, Va., who is now a congressional staffer. He grew up visiting relatives in Bradford at Thanksgiving and waiting impatiently for the time when he’d be old enough to go deer hunting with the adults on the Monday after the holiday.

He was well-steeped in hunter safety and learned years before how to competently handle a lever-action Marlin .30-.30. Finally, after years of waiting, he was old enough to skip school for Opening Day. 

He related the story in an email and a phone conversation while planning this year’s deer hunt.

He titled his story “First (missed) Buck.” 

The weather that day was bitterly cold with no snow and a biting wind. He and his hunting partner had set up a ground blind days before on a hillside that had easy access from a dirt road high above Interstate Parkway.

He and his partner creeped to their blind just after dawn and settled in, hoping other hunters below them would push deer toward their stand.

“After seeing only a few squirrels chase each other and a very noisy wild turkey, we walked to the top of the hill to drive out for lunch,” he wrote.

It had been frigid sitting in the blind, and he couldn’t hold out any longer before moving around and trying to warm up.

“We unloaded our rifles, packed the gear in the car, and chatted on the tailgate over hot chocolate,” the email read.

“Suddenly, two (legal) bucks blew past us 20 yards away (from the direction we had just come from) and over the other side of the hill. Predictably, two blasts rang out a minute later. I glared enviously as the lucky hunters dragged my buck over the crest of the hill.” 

We can attest to the accuracy of this story, because we had the privilege of being there on the tailgate to see the look of surprise on the young hunter’s face when those two deer streaked by.

On the way back to camp empty-handed, we had a conversation about the value of patience as it applied to hunting, and to other important things in life. 

Giving up too soon had cost the boy a shot at his first buck. But the lesson stuck as the boy grew up and went out on his own, we’re proud to say.

Welcome back, son, for another Opening Day.