Sitting in a hunting blind in South Texas on a Saturday afternoon, with perfect weather (for November in South Texas, around 60 degrees). Can it get any better? In my case, it got a lot better! First of all, my guide is my son, Glen. That, in and of itself, is pretty special. His dad and I took him hunting for the first time when he had just barely turned 2 years old. I bundled him up and took him to the blind with me. We kept watch together until he got tired, then I laid him down on the floor of the blind, so he could take his afternoon nap.

When he got a little older, his dad would drop us off at a blind and we would quietly talk about all the things we would see. I never had to tell him to be quiet. He was always so good. All he wanted was to get a chance to shoot. It was always a special time for us. Little did I know then that he would end up turning the tables on me by taking me out to shoot a trophy buck.

Those hunts with him when he was younger were nothing like my first experience hunting. I was 15 the first time Glen’s dad, Buddy, asked me if I wanted to go. He and his family hunted in Harper, Texas. I told him, “Sure, I’d go.” Boy, was I naïve. I had no idea what was in store for me.

We went out to the pasture and set up a ground blind for me, just a tree stump for a seat, in the middle of some branches and bushes. Then, he left me out there for the afternoon hunt. Well, it started getting dark, and I really hadn’t seen anything much and was ready to go back to camp. I kept listening for the sound of the truck that was coming to pick me up. It got darker and darker, and still, no truck. Of course, I didn’t have a flashlight with me, and it got pitch-black. All I could hear was little rustling noises all around me. I just knew that something was going to jump on me, any second. I’m sure my shivering wasn’t all from the cold.

Finally, about an hour after dark, I could see the headlights of the truck coming to pick me up. It seemed they had a little vehicle trouble. And, they all thought it was just so funny that I was out there by myself in the dark. It wasn’t very funny to me. When Buddy dropped me off at my house that Sunday evening, I just told him, “You think hunting is fun?! You’re crazy!” But for some reason, I was packed up the next Friday, ready to go again. And, he hasn’t been able to get rid of me since.

Nowadays, Buddy’s usually the one to take everyone out to their blinds and sometimes I think he finds a good spot to park the truck and take a nap (which is just fine, by the way). I can recall a few times that I’ve dozed off myself, only to wake up and see the area full of deer. And Buddy always seems to get video of some of the best bucks on the place!

On this particular afternoon, however, neither Glen nor I was ready to take a nap. We were waiting for a 10-pointer that Glen said had been seen a couple of times in the area. I had never shot a 10-pointer before and couldn’t wait to see what he looked like. Glen guides on the Charco Marrano Ranch, (www.charcomarranoranch.com) owned by his wife’s family. Our two families have hunted together for years—long before our kids got married—and my husband and I are fortunate to have a wonderful place to hunt and have shot several management bucks from there.

On this afternoon, Glen and I had only been sitting in the blind about half an hour, when he told me to look at the buck coming down the hill to our left. I didn’t even need binoculars to see that he was a nice buck. There were a couple does out in front of us, and the buck just kept right on walking in our direction. He was gorgeous! You could tell he was an old guy, with his big belly and thick neck. Just beautiful.

We have hunted on this ranch for nine years now, and it’s truly rewarding to see the difference good management makes in the quality of the deer. Nine years ago, we would never have seen a buck like this. Our biologist, Jason Shipman, has taught us a lot about proper nutrition and culling practices, and it’s definitely paid off. There are plenty of times now that we don’t even take a gun out to the blinds with us. But we do take our binoculars and video cameras. After each hunt, everyone meets back up at the ranch house and we watch each other’s videos.

We watched this buck for a couple minutes, as he came closer and then started chasing the does back and forth through the brush. Once he came back out of the brush, he was only about 60 yards away from us. Glen asked me what I thought of the buck. Naturally, I said that he was incredible—huge bases, chocolate-brown horns, definitely an impressive trophy. Then he said, “Mom, that’s the buck we were waiting for.” Well, I hadn’t expected that, and my heart began to pound. I thought we were going to go after another cull buck, and the thought of taking this one was really exciting.

I put my gun up on the window and told myself to take a couple deep breaths and settle down, when two smaller bucks walked into my view. My buck took a couple steps toward them, and all he did was nod his head in their direction, and they took off. But that couple of steps put him behind a big bush. And then, he did something totally unexpected. He laid down!

Glen and I looked at each other, and then looked back at the buck. What was he thinking?  This was no time to take a nap! All we could see above the bush were the tips of his horns, turning back and forth as he was watching the other deer around him. He seemed perfectly content to stay there. I left my gun up in the window, trying to will him to stand back up.

After a few minutes, Glen said, “Get ready, he’s about to get up.” I moved forward in my chair, and looked through my scope. I had lost complete sight of the buck. Instead of standing up, he laid his head down on the ground. Now, I’ve seen bucks lay down before, but not lay their head completely down on the ground. We just sat back and looked at each other and laughed (quietly, of course).

All the while, the sun kept getting lower and lower. I knew we were running out of time to make a shot before sundown. All of a sudden, there was a rustle behind the bush, and he jumped up and walked off, following a doe into some thicker brush. We could just catch glimpses of him as he made his way through the brush, away from us, of course.

The next time I could see him clearly, he was about 120 yards away. I told my son that I might be able to get a shot at him out of the other window, so I put my gun out and looked through the scope. I couldn’t believe it. He had turned broadside! Glen told me to go for it if I felt comfortable. That was all I needed.

I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger, and he fell right there. I pulled the gun back inside the blind and realized that the hard breathing sounds weren’t coming from me, they were coming from my son. I gave him a big hug and thanked him for the awesome experience.

After a few minutes, we walked over to where the big buck had gone down. I couldn’t believe it. He was actually bigger close-up. Glen called on the radio and told everyone to come out and see the buck I had shot. After a few minutes, everyone was there: Buddy, my daughter-in-law, our granddaughter, our in-laws, the whole family, with some of our friends thrown in for good measure. And, then, of course, everyone had to take pictures and talk about the crazy way the buck had acted.

When we all got back to the ranch house, we weighed and measured him. He was at least 71⁄2 years old, weighed 200 pounds, and scored 151 Boone and Crockett. Definitely the best buck I have ever killed! Aside from all that, the whole experience was made that much more special, knowing that our families and loved ones were all part of it. How blessed we all are, to be able to share in the making of these precious memories.