Rachel's First Buck
by Curt Lewis
I first met Rachel at a Kicking Bear event in the summer of 2008 where she had won a new Diamond Bow. Her enthusiasm for archery at 10 years of age was very contagious. Rachel and her family and I became friends and I stayed in contact with them. During that next fall hunting season, I learned that Rachel's Dad needed surgery, so I volunteered to take her hunting. My wife, Judy, and I have a really nice spot to hunt. The area we live in is considered “urban” even though we live a few miles from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. There are no corn or soy fields to attract deer so while there are many, many deer in the area destroying beautiful landscaped yards, we have to be creative in order to attract them to our stands. We have planted small food plots among our small tracts of hardwood. This particular spot has a buddy stand where I taught my wife to bow hunt and while there may not always be shots available, you often see deer and it’s a perfect setup for youth. When the season started this year I invited Rachel to hunt with me and Judy.
It was 3:00 P.M. when Rachel and I got up in the tree. It was a slow day and we had sat almost 2 hours without seeing anything except the usual chipmunks and birds. For only being 12 years old she has an amazing ability to sit quietly for long periods of time with only her big brown eyes moving as she looks out over her face mask. The light had started to fade and I was worried that we wouldn't be successful on our hunt. Suddenly, 80 yards away, I spotted a buck moving down the hill toward us. I grunted a few times hoping to bring him closer but lost sight of him as he moved away in the brush. Even though she is petite, Rachel has the uncanny ability to make not only herself but the very large tree and stand “shake” in excitement whenever a deer comes into view. This time was no different. After calming her down we sat for another 10 minutes and our patience paid off because the buck had circled around and was now 20 yards behind us. I knew the deer probably wouldn't come in any closer and was quartering away so I whispered and asked if she could see him and could she get a shot. She nodded, “Yes.” I told her to shoot whenever she was ready. While I quietly spoke to her, she aimed and released the arrow. The deer ran about 60 yards and fell. We let it lay for about an hour then went and found it. She made a perfect quartering away shot. Rachel had her first buck!
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