Christopher Hall is like many other young men who like to hunt and dream of harvesting that first buck. Most of them wish for a Christmas buck, but it’s much easier to wish for than to actually receive that sought after gift. Hall, a 10-year-old Lamar School 5th Grade student, has been going to the deer camp and woods with his father David Hall since he was 5 years old. He just started hunting for his first buck last year after his brother killed his first one. Things were going to be different this year as Christopher set his sights on that special buck.

“He hadn’t shot a rifle since last year, so we took Christopher to the shooting range first and he shot a .22 rifle,” said David Hall. “He actually hit a 50-yard gong target on 39 out of 40 shots so he was ready. I shot the Browning .308 youth model rifle after that, and then Christopher shot it and put 3 shots in a 1 ¼ inch group and was fired up.”

Hall was brimming with confidence and anticipation at the prospects of the afternoon hunt.

“Another member had spotted a good deer that we were going to try for, but the wind changed and was wrong for that stand, so at the last minute we went to another stand that hadn’t been hunted much this year,” David Hall said. “We ran a few deer out of the field on the way into the stand, but we got into the stand about 3:30 and got ready.”

Things heated up pretty fast with some more deer coming into the field and one or two does that looked hot. One particular hot doe came into the field and a nice buck was following her on a string.

“We saw a good buck come out trailing the doe, but I thought it was a 10-point that we had been watching on camera and we were going to let him walk this year, so I quit watching him,” said David Hall. “He kept hunting and then Christopher told me he wasn’t that 10-point, and they were about 125 yards and closing fast. By the time we realized what he was, the deer left the field. I told him not to worry about it as he might still come back, or a bigger one might come in.”

Sure enough, the doe came back into the field with the 9-point buck chasing her back and forth, but he never stopped long enough for the young hunter to get off a good shot.

Better to be sure than to wound or miss the buck.

“Suddenly another younger deer chased a doe across the field and then the other buck came back and charged towards him,” David Hall said. “He finally got turned broadside at about 85 yards and Christopher got ready.”

The younger Hall centered the crosshairs on the trophy buck just as he stopped dead in his tracks and slowly squeezed the trigger.

“‘Tic-Boom’ roared the .308 rifle as the bullet struck the buck’s engine room, and he never made it out of the plot. He collapsed in a heap before the roar of the rifle had subsided,” David Hall said.

“Christopher was ready to jump down and go to the deer, but we waited a few minutes to make sure that he was expired,” said David Hall. “Then we got down and Christopher ran to the deer with me trailing behind. Like most youngsters, he doesn’t like to stop and pose for pictures, but he couldn’t wait to get his picture taken with his first buck, a Christmas buck no less!”

“When the excitement died down and we were inspecting the buck, we could tell he’d been fighting recently as he had lots of fresh scars on his rump and shoulders,” David Hall said. “His left ear was cut pretty bad and filled with dried blood, and his left main beam had lots of blood on it too. There’s no doubt that the bucks have been fighting and that the rut is on.”

“It was just an awesome time, and Christopher was fired up and not ready to sleep in the next morning,” said David Hall. “He wanted to go shoot a pig or a doe, to help the deer population and have fun doing it.”

If you are looking for that trophy buck, then now is the time to get out and find a hot doe. Take it from Christopher Hall, you’ve got to get out there and hunt hard and you just might kill a Christmas buck of your very own! There’s nothing like making good memories with friends and family at the deer camp.

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comast.net.