Hunter: Kevin Yarbrough
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Coweta
Season: 2015-2016
Hunt Story
I have spent the last three years introducing my children to hunting, and it has certainly been time well spent. We have already made memories that will last us a lifetime. God has blessed me with the experiences of being with my 15-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son when they took their first deer, and my 6-year-old is already asking to go as well. This was one of the few times that I have hunted without them since then, and the first time I have pulled the trigger in years. After getting in the woods later than I wanted to, I didn't want to risk spooking any deer that may have already be in the area of my stand. I decided to just walk very slowly to a new area where I had placed my trail camera on a rub line, but never hunted. I had planned to just pull the trail camera out of the area and bring it home because I knew it was about time to replace the batteries. A fog was starting to settle in, and a slight wind was blowing out of the east. As I was walking slowly, something caught my eye approximately 100 yards down the logging road. All of a sudden, I saw this buck cross the logging road and enter the woods on the side where my trail camera was located, approximately 100 yards from where I was standing. This area is a mixture of mature pines and hardwoods and visibility is pretty good. I immediately stepped off of the logging road and into the woods, and I sat down on an old fallen pine log. It was then that I started thinking about what I had just seen, and I began visualizing the buck's rack, and was pretty sure that he would be a shooter. The wind was blowing exactly the way I needed it to for this situation to work out, but as seconds turned to minutes my hopes of seeing him again became doubtful. After a few minutes had passed, I was just about to stand up and continue on to my trail camera. It was at that moment that movement caught my eye, about 80 yards in front of me through the pines. After the deer took a few more steps I could see the left side of his rack. I dialed my scope up and shouldered my 308. Once I viewed him in my scope, there was no doubt this was the same buck. The buck took a few more steps and stopped, as I centered the crosshairs just behind the left front shoulder and squeezed the trigger. After a short 20-30 yard dash, he was down. Upon walking over to him, he was even better than I originally thought. After checking all of my trail cameras, this buck was not on any of them. My kids were super excited that I got this deer and couldn't wait to see it in person. As much as I would have loved seeing one of my kids take this deer, I am very thankful to God for the opportunity. I hope this story will inspire other hunters to invest their time in children and get them outdoors.
