My son Shayne has been hunting with me for 4 years now and he shot his first buck at 7 years old with a 243. He had since shot 3 more bucks while hunting beside me and we have been practicing all year for him to hunt by hisself this year. On opening day afternoon we got him harnessed into the tree that he picked out a month ago and I climbed my climber about 70 yards away so I could keep an eye on him throughout his hunt. At 6:50 he had 2 does come out and then at 7:00 exactly I could see a bigger deer start coming through the meadow. I could feel his excitement as the buck got closer to the corn that we put out at 20 yards so he knew what pin to use confidently. I watched him raise his bow when the buck got to the corn and was facing the other way and he let that rage broadhead put the smack down on him. He made a beautiful shot that didn’t even require a tracking job. I was so blessed to be able to watch the entire thing unfold as he did absolutely perfect from all the practice. I got down from my climber quicker than I ever have and made sure his buck was dead and started to help him out of his stand. When we got over to his full velvet buck you could see and feel the total overwhelming adrenaline and happiness that boy had. We immediately FaceTimed his wonderful mama and showed her what her boy has done. I couldn’t be more proud of him, and honestly he’s proud of hisself. It’s a memory him and I will never forget.
Hunter’s name: Austin Trull
Midland NC
Cabarrus county NC
9-13-25
8-point buck