Do you remember the good old days? When you went hunting with your dad? I sure recall the first time in fifth grade. I was so hasty back then. Rushing to be the first one at everything. In the end, it ended up biting me in the butt! I sure learned my lesson…

It was a Saturday night illuminated by beautiful moonlight. The light lit the trail ahead. Our equipment was cased, but at hand. As we trudged along, there was twigs breaking, leaves cracking, and wind blowing all under our steel – toed boots as we stomped through the fresh, wild air. Tracks of a deer were up ahead, following our boots’ steps. As we reached our stand, my dad, David, climbed up and unlatched the door. He entered and set up two chairs. I quickly scampered up after him, slipping and falling to the ground. My head buzzed with pain as I sluggishly got up, groaning. My dad scolded me for being clumsy and loud, “Quiet!” he ‘yell-whispered’.

I grunted in reply and climbed up the stand. When I took my backpack off, I shivered as the warmth left my body. I swiftly took out my dad’s 30-06. The 30-06 (Thirty -ot – six) was a beautiful gun, adorned with superb detail on the sides. With a scope, the 30-06 became lethal to anything within 500 yards. Once I loaded the gun with a Remington brand bullet and triggered the safety switch, I became ready.

Once I started waiting, seconds became minutes and minutes turned into an hour. I then became inpatient and looked for any sign of an animal. Suddenly, our feeder went off, calling all animals in need of food!

Soon enough, ten minutes later, I saw a little brown ear popping in and out of a bush. Perfect, a deer. “Dad! See that? It’s a deer! Can I shoot it Dad?” I asked desperately. I just couldn’t wait!

“I dunno son, it’s a pretty hard shot. You should wait for it to wander over here.”

“Please!?” I begged.

“I suppose so…” he replied hesitantly.

Seeing as everything was riding on this “Hard Shot”, I was determined to ‘bag it’. I placed the butt of the gun on my shoulder and took the safety switch off. Since all I could see was an ear, I figured the head had to be somewhere to the left, away from the body. Unfortunately, I had become nervous and started wavering. Soon after that, my entire body shook! Still, nothing could stop me from getting that deer!

I looked through the scope and …. Fired! BAKAAWWW! The gun let out a terrifying roar along with a plume of smoke! I quickly raced to where I had shot, only to find….nothing!? I couldn’t believe it! I missed! I felt horrible.

“Well son, there’s always next time,” my dad said sympathetically. “I told you to wait for more ideal conditions.”

“I know dad…next time I’ll do better!”

As you can see, if I had been more patient, I could have nailed that deer! Next time, I got one right through the head! Bull’s eye! Just remember this, patience is a virtue.