I awake on a crisp, dark, Sunday morning
Ready to go on my next hunt
I put on my orange vest
zip it up
and put on my hat while
my dad is making eggs for me and my brother
We are about to leave
until my mom reminds us
to be back for church.

We brush that off
and head for the woods.
I weave through trees
as I walk to my stand.
I sit listening to the swift wind
and accidentally
take a quick nap.

I wake up to the vibrating
of my phone in my pocket
and to the bright morning sunshine
The message reads
we have to go to church soon
from my mother
I look at the clock
and noticed that my nap
was much longer than I expected.

SPLASH!
I hear something
by the creek behind me
I try not to make
too sudden of movements 
and tilt my head
around the thick tree
to see a decent sized doe.

For the first time in my life
I am thankful my mom
reminded me of church
I grab my  gun very slowly
put it to my shoulder
and pull the trigger
BOOM!

The delicious doe lays on the fresh forest floor
I’ve done it, my first deer
My phone starts to buzz again
Who was that?
Did you get him?
I reply yes, an average doe
I climb down the ladder
and start my trek  to the deer

As I get closer and closer
I begin to realize that the deer
is no monster at all
It was nice from up above
when I shot and now
it seems to have shrunk
to the size of a dog with
little bumps on the top of his head
His little antlers too small to poke out
of his bright brown head

My Dad walks over and tells me
to pass on one like that next time.
I felt embarrassed
I felt very ashamed that I murdered that baby buck
I felt sorry for the little guy.
I felt like I killed a child
I felt like Hitler, killing an innocent boy
But even though he was young,
I still felt accomplished.

We cleaned the young buck
and ate him a week later
for dinner.

Then I waited for the leaves to change
the next year so I can
bring back a bigger buck.