5-Year-Old Harvests First Deer

5-Year-Old Harvests First Deer
September 18, 2022
Harnett County
Fuquay Varina, NC

Cole Smith of Harnett County, NC harvested his first deer at 6:49AM on Sunday, September 18, 2022. He used a Wicked Ridge M-370 crossbow and shot his first deer at 25 yards, unassisted from Dad.

The spike horn appeared at first light, but it was too dark to make the shot, so Cole sat patiently waiting for more daylight to make its way through the woods. After about 5 minutes it was light enough to pickup the deer in the scope. Cole excitingly whispers to me, “Daddy, its nubby”. That was the name Cole had given the spike horns we’ve seen on the game camera in the season’s past. After a brief pause, Cole calmly took the 25-yard shot. We heard the bolt hit the deer and tracked the red lumenock as it passed through the deer and stuck in the ground. The deer jumped straight up into the air like a Halloween cat, as Cole’s grandpa “Papa Al” would say. The deer then ran off into the woods and we heard some crashing, then a pause, then more crashing, a good sign for sure.

Cole was so excited after taking the shot and wanted to go find the deer, but Dad quickly reminded him we must wait 2 hours before we can go track him. Every five minutes for the next two hours Cole asked if it had been long enough yet. We remained in the stand until 8:30AM and quietly made our way down to go recover the arrow. We then walked to the house to allow more time to pass before going to recover the deer. At about 9:00AM the entire family (Mom, Dad, and brother Jace) went back to begin tracking the deer. We quickly picked up a light blood trail and after about 40 yards, Cole located his first deer, and it was a buck! Cole was so excited and proud of himself. Cole’s goal was to harvest his first deer before his 6th birthday and he did it, with 9 days to spare. This was one of those special days that we will remember for a lifetime!