My First Deer Stand

Hunting with my brother this past weekend on my old home turf, I saw something I thought was long gone.

You see, last year, the property we've hunted for 30 years was logged and I thought that all of the viable trees were removed from the place. I was surprised when the sun rose on Thanksgiving morning and I saw my old tree stand.

Before we knew any better, me my dad, and my brother built this wooden platform and ladder back in 1986 in an old oak tree. A year later, I shot my very first buck from this tree.

It seems that the loggers skipped this tree and with it now in the wide-open, it was easy to spot. Therefore, I ventured back to the spot and photographed the tree that started my deer hunting career.

As I stood there in the dark waiting on the five minute exposure, memories of that hunt and hunts past flooded my mind.

After I shot my deer from this stand, my dad helped my track and find the buck and drag him out of a tangle of greenbriar and Chittamwood. Almost 24-hours later, my dad took and almost identical deer from the same stand. Therefore, this concoction of wood, wire, and nails is special to me.