Bang! As I closed the door of my log cabin in Northern Wisconsin, I embraced the hard, whipping wind, that took my breath and pulled it straight out of me. As I walked to the stand, with my bow slung over my back, I imagined what may happen. I saw me sitting on the ground holding up the head of a monster that had finally fallen.

When I got to my stand, I began the treacherous climb up 20 little pegs screwed into the oak. Climbing to the top wasn't easy—cold, ice and winds presented a challenge. But still, I stood on the platform hanging 25 feet above the ground. It was so dark outside that I turned to look at what should of been a corn field, but saw nothing but darkness and then placed my bow on a little hook screwed into the branch above me.

After sitting down in a tree stand early in the morning start to hear and see things that sometimes make you think. Whether it's the bare branches from the top of trees crashing into each other or the sound of golden rows of corn swaying back and forth constantly running into one another. As the sun rose that cold morning the wind died down and steadied itself, it was completely silent.  It was time for me to open my ears rather than my eyes. I start to hear the usual routine of ducks swimming in the pond getting ready for their journey south or the little squirrels running around on the ground through the leafs. Crunch………….Absolute silence. Crunch, the feeling of something's approaching grows and shrouds your body of adrenaline and excitement. Then I saw it. 5 rows into the corn were 13 antlers barely peeking over the top of the corn. I completely forgot where I was and what was happening in life. The golden antlers of a monster buck were creeping up closer and closer. After he finally cleared the tell rows of corn he grabbed my bow, did my measurements for range, snapped my release onto the string pulled back and released.

The wind picked up again after sitting in the stand for 15 minutes thinking about what I had just accomplished and couldn't wait to make the phone call back to the house to tell my grandpa that I had finally got the buck we called Iron Man. I looked up into the sky wear the colors of the sun fought with the colors of the light blue sky and knew that my dad was looking down on me and was proud of what his son had accomplished after what he had teached him and had left him 4 years prior.  After climbing down the tree stand I fell to one knee and said a prayer to God and to my dad who I knew would be proud of my achievement that day. After standing up I followed the trail of dark red blood through the corn and up into a pine forest.

I got to the very first tree and right there he was. While looking at this deer I realized something, I am very lucky to be able to hunt on such a beautiful piece of land and to also have the opportunities to shoot big deer that some kids can only dream of shooting.