Living vicariously

I spent the entire day hiking a hillside of juniper trees (that I am allergic to) locating over 50 deer in the effort. I am very selective so I didn't shoot any of them. I did however want to shoot the hunter that was in full camaflouge during the rifle hunt (hunter orange, duh). A friends 14 year old boy was along. His first hunt. His dads ankle gave out so I finished the hunt with his boy. We hiked 2 miles over 3 hours and it finally paid off. He had shot at 5 other deer during the day with no success. In fairness, his excitement caused him jitters and he was using open sites on a 30-30. Simply put, anyone would need skill to hit a target further than 100 yards with such a gun let alone a 14 year old boy on his first hunt. Just as we were heading to the truck we spotted 12 deer on the edge of a field at the bottom of a MOUNTAIN we were 90% done climbing. So, we did what any avid hunter would and turned around and headed down. My feet were really aching. We watched them enter a strip of junipers surrounded by fields. So, we entered the lower section of it and slowly worked our way in. We found his prize after 10 minutes and with a great shot he bagged his first deer. The excitement was easily detected. That boy will not forget this day and I feel fortunate to have been part of it. I don't think I will forget it either. He was very grateful. I was very impressed.