Tyler Gibbs – Mansfield, TX

We had a full Saturday and arrived to hunt with only an hour and a half or so of hunting time. Tyler’s alergies were kicking in hard and he wanted to move but I talked him into staying. Within the next five minutes, a mature doe had appeared and was followed closely by the biggest buck I had ever seen. It took me a long time to get my adrenaline to subside enough to load the gun for Tyler. The buck was totally focused on the doe.

He finally turned to give Tyler a good shot and I eased the hammer back on the Rossi single-shot .223 as Tyler held it steady. After a few seconds of getting the massive buck in his crosshairs, Tyler fired. The buck stood motionless for a few seconds and then walked slowly into the brush where the doe had moved. It was a clean miss! I thought we had seen the last of the monster and no one would ever believe what we had been through. Within a few minutes, the doe was back in view and the big deer was still hanging close. It took almost 20 minutes before he came out into the open to give Tyler another chance. I can’t tell you all the thoughts and emotions I experienced in that brief span of time. My first thought was to wait until next weekend when I could take the shot but soon I would know why we were there and what hunting is all about. With the biggest deer I have ever seen in my 30+ years of hunting moving into position, I eased the hammer back again on the tiny gun and looked up to God to say a fervent prayer. It seemed like another eternity before the gun went off again. The concussion subsided and the deer was still standing. Another clean miss this time, I thought, and the big animal would be gone forever. He took two slow steps and fell over. Tyler had hit him perfectly through the heart, a clean kill. Tyler’s first deer was taken within a few hundred yards of where I killed my first almost thirty years ago. I will hunt for the rest of my life but I will never have a more memorable trip or be more proud of my oldest son.

Thanks for creating a place where we could share our story. My wife, Erica, and I have three boys Tyler 11, Trey 9, and Tanner 6 and we live in Mansfield, Texas.

Sincerely,
Joe Gibbs