DeEr HuNt 2oo9

In preparation for the hunt, we went on a drive so Preston could get a game plan. When we stopped so Preston could look around, I snapped some pictures of the boys. They are just plain cute!


I don't know what they were doing for this picture.
He looks mad, but he was actually very happy to be out of his car seat.
What a cheeser!


Right off the freeway we saw HUNDREDS of deer in some fields. It was pretty cool.
Give him 8 more years, and he will be a hunting machine!
Opening morning. We left our house at 5:45 a.m. Just so ya know.
I look mighty happy in the picture above. We had just started. We were only a few hours into the hunt.
It may not look like a SUPER steep hill behind us, but believe you me, IT WAS. We had already been hiking (hiking as in climbing mountains, not walking on convenient man-made trails on a nature walk in Zions), this hill wanted me to die. AND I had the task of carrying the SNACK PACK. We are major snackers, so it was pretty darn heavy. Prestons pack may have been much heavier than mine, but that's not important.

But it sure was pretty up in them there hills!
We saw a whole bunch of doe, but no bucks. At one point, Preston was messing with a dumb cow, you know throwing rocks, yelling and such, when I heard some snorting to my left. So I said, "Preston, something is snorting over here." He swiftly grabbed his gun and took off. There was quite a ruckus as deer went crashing through the trees! Well, he didn't get anything. Or even see a buck for that matter.

We made our way back to the 4-wheeler after 8 hours. Preston dropped me off at home, then decided to ride the 4-wheeler out to another place. He didn't have very much time, because it was getting dark, but he got one. I was cleaning the church with my fam when Preston called my Dad to help him get the deer home.
He's HUGE according to Braxton. A 2-pointer. I was a little annoyed that I had been out with him ALL day with no luck, and he goes out for an hour and gets one. Just my luck, I wanted to see.

Preston is a super-hero in the eyes of Braxton. He thought that little deer was the coolest thing he has ever seen! He was absolutely fascinated by a dead deer lying on our grass. Brax went with the guys to hang it up, even though it was late and very cold. But he loved it! He told all his little friends in Church that his Daddy shot a big deer.

The first time Mason saw the deer. He wasn't going anywhere near that thing!