Hunter: Bella Weaver
Points: 6 (3L, 3R)
County: Fayette
Season: 2020-2021
Hunt Story
We had this deer on our trail cams all summer in the backyard. My dad and brother had seen him a few times when they were taking care of the chickens. On Sunday, September 13th, my dad asked if I wanted to go hunting so I said yes. We got ready and headed down into the woods to our stand. It was so hot, we were sweating, and the wind was bad. A doe came walking out. She smelled us and started blowing, which wasn't a good sign. We saw several other deer but none of them were in shooting range. So we sat for a few hours then Dad and I decided to get down. The following Saturday morning, my dad went hunting and shot a doe. We took her to Blacks Deer Processing in Senoia and my dad told Mr. Johnny he had a feeling we'd be back in a few hours. Later that afternoon, we headed down to our stand. It was nice and cool, the wind was blowing perfectly. My dad played some games on his phone while I got comfy and fell asleep. I don't know how long I was asleep before I heard him say, "Wake up!" We heard his feeder go off across the creek and I knew it wasn't long before my feeder would go off and the deer would be coming in. We laughed while watching the squirrels and birds at the feeder. Then my dad said "Do you hear that? Those are the doves." I thought to myself, "What do doves have to do with this?" My dad said, "They probably got spooked by the deer on the other side of the creek. It won't be long and we'll probably see some deer." I watched the doves as they came and ate the corn. Then, I froze, because out of the corner of my eye, I saw a deer. My dad whispered, "What?" and I whispered back "There's a deer." We watched as the deer ate corn and he asked if I wanted to shoot it. I told him no, that I'd like to wait. A few minutes later, another deer we named Widey appeared. I told my dad, "Here comes another one. It's about to jump the fallen tree." He told me it was Clubs, the one we had been waiting for. My nerves kicked in when I saw him jump the fallen tree. We watched him move around until he got to a good spot where I could get a clear shot. Dad started coaching me to stay calm and breathe, but I knew he needed his advice more than me! I was shaking so bad, but I knew I had to stay calm. I slowly set up the crossbow where it needed to be. I took a few deep breaths and pulled the trigger. My dad whispered, "You got him!" I had so many emotions stirring up inside. My dad asked if I was okay and I said yes. He climbed down out of the stand. I gave him the crossbow and arrows. He told me to stay in the stand while he looked for blood. When he found some blood, he placed his hat beside it and called me down. We waited about 30 minutes before we set out to find my deer because he was too excited to wait any longer. I suggested we get our dog Odie (a dachshund/beagle mix) to help us trail my deer. He's helped trail many deer before. My dad took Odie across the creek and it wasn't long before he picked up the scent. We found a rock with blood on it so I picked it up and carried it with us. Odie led us about 800 yards or so when Dad called off the track because he was worried we'd bump the deer and not be able to find him. He made me put my rock down to mark where we left off. We left to go back to Blacks Deer Processing to pick up my dad's friend who was going to help track my deer. Before we left, Mr. Johnny Black stopped everything they were doing to pray that we'd find my deer. Then we came back to our house. Dad made us stay home while he and his friend took Odie back to the woods to pick up on the trail. I reminded him not to forget my rock! About an hour later we got word that my deer was found! Dad said they picked the trail up where we had left off. Odie went about 500 or 600 yards and went straight to my deer. Dad was over the moon with excitement! They loaded up my deer (and my rock) and came home to pick up me, my brother and my mom to go back to Mr. Johnny's... just like Dad had a feeling we would earlier that day. A big thanks to my dog Odie, my dad and his friend, Mr. CJ, for bringing my deer home to me. Thank you Lord! To God be the Glory!
