Brandy’s Buck

By Brandy Sanders

My husband Nathan loves hunting. In 2015, he wanted me to go hunting with him, but with a broken foot, I could not go.

As soon as the 2015 deer hunting season ended, my sweet husband started getting ready for the next hunting season. He worked hard building a two-person blind where we could hunt together.

As this hunting season approached, he set up an account for the hunter-education online class. I finished it on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, the day before we left for our hunting trip. So I got my very first hunting license and hunting class certificate. Nathan was excited. I was so happy and nervous. I just did not want to embarrass him. I kept telling myself, “There is no crying at deer camp!”

We headed down to Jones County to the hunting camp with Nathan’s dad on Nov. 4. We got set up at camp and then headed out to the other side of the property. Nathan and I sat in a two-man ground blind. We saw three deer on the other side of the creekbed, but I couldn’t get a shot on any of them. It was exciting for my first day.

The next morning, Nathan and I went to the blind he built. As we got in the blind, I was getting excited what the Lord was going to do that day. I had been praying to kill my first deer. As I prayed, I told the Lord if I killed a deer, I would keep it, but the next deer I killed, I would give the meat to my sister and brother-in-law.

That morning, we did not see anything, but Nathan’s dad got one. That was really neat, until we took it to the processer, and I saw what happened with those red loppers…

We returned for the evening hunt. As the sun was about to set, a small deer ran just past our shooting lane.

“Get your gun ready,” Nathan whispered.

As I got my gun up, the deer was in some brush. Nathan was able to use a call to get it to come back into the shooting lane. As I put the crosshairs on it, Nathan said it was OK to shoot when it turned broadside. I was breathing hard but trying to stay calm. It slowly walked toward us and finally turned broadside. Nathan told me to shoot. When I did, the deer flipped up in the air and fell down. I was so excited!

My first deer, and it was a button buck. I thanked the Lord first and then my husband because without them, it would not have happened.

We went down to get it, and I got upset thinking about them cutting his legs off with those red loppers. But I told myself, “No crying at deer camp.” We got back to deer camp, and everyone came over and congratulated me for my first deer.

We were in the deer blind the next morning trying to kill another one. At about 9:00, a small deer came out right in front of us. Nathan said, “Wait, here comes its mother,” or as I like to think, “Its friend.”

I picked up my gun, and of course, I was not quiet. The gun scraped against the tent blind and made that zipper sound. The small deer started staring and bobbing its head at us. Nathan told me not to move. The bigger deer started to walk downwind and was smelling in the air. Nathan told me that when her head got behind a bush, I could pull up the rifle and shoot. When I did, I shot the doe, and she dropped.

I was so excited. As we walked over, my excitement grew even more. The doe was much bigger than we thought, and I squealed with excitement, thanking God for blessing me with a deer for my sister.

We went back to camp, and all those guys were very excited and very impressed. After  lunch, we rested and headed out to the ground blind again. I was still so excited about my two kills.

With only an hour of daylight left, Nathan said a lot could happen in that hour. Just about that time, we saw a buck. I told Nathan to shoot, but he wanted me to. I pulled my gun up, and this time I was quiet. I’m right handed, so I switched my gun so I could shoot left-handed. The deer was eating acorns, and I kept waiting for a clear shot.

When it finally got into an opening, Nathan bleated at it to stop it, and I shot. He dropped dead like a sack of potatoes. I started to squeal and was so excited. Nathan yelled with excitement, too. We were hugging each other. Then I started texting everyone: “I killed a buck!” We quickly packed up our stuff because it would be dark soon, and the deer was on the other side of a deep and wide creekbed.

Nathan and I jumped on the 4-wheeler and had to drive almost 1 mile around to the other side. The only way down to that side was through a massive briar patch. I was still so excited about the buck but not happy about the downhill massive briar patch. The briars were pulling my hair and my clothes. I thought they were going to pull me off the 4-wheeler, and if you remember, I’m not very quiet, so I  was yelling all the way down.

As soon as we got to the bottom and located the deer, it was dark. When I saw the buck, I started squealing and screaming because it was so much bigger than we thought. It was a mature 8-point buck. All my squealing and yelling got the coyotes all roused up. Nathan said they were far way, but it sounded like they were around the corner.

We got the buck up on the 4-wheeler. There was no room for two people and a big buck on the ATV. I told Nathan I would walk up the hill, so he handed me a machete. I started to freak out and asked, “Are the coyotes that close?” He laughed and said no.

We got back to the truck, and his dad was waiting there for us. He was laughing because he was hunting about 500 yards away and could hear my excitement while he was hunting. I told Mr. Steve the Lord blessed me with a big 8-point buck after giving that big doe to my sister. Mr. Steve said I taught him a valuable lesson. I thanked the Lord all the way back to hunting camp

This was a very exciting weekend for my very first deer hunting experience. Now I have deer fever! The Lord blessed me in so many ways I would have never dreamed of. The moral to my story is to do unto others first, and then the Lord will take care of you and bless you way more than you could ever imagine.