Editor’s note: The following is part of a series of journal entries, drawings, and poetry created by Escanaba students as they navigate the pandemic. Today’s piece is by sixth-grader Brayden Boyce.

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By Brayden Boyce

Boom and success is mine! It was finally here, the day I had been waiting for, the hunt was on.

My dad and I walk through the woods thick with brush. It’s raining and cold. Trees have fallen since the last time we were here. My dad is with me because I am not old enough to hunt by myself. He is just as excited as me. The birds are flying up as we make our way to the blind and settle in. I can smell the cedar branches that we used to cover the blind. I like the smell of cedar branches. There have been nice bucks on my trail-cam, so I am super excited.

Sitting still and being quiet is hard, every noise and branch breaking has my heart beating like drums I can hear in my ears. I just know that monster buck is out there.

The sun is starting to go down and I see movement to the left. My heart starts pounding as I look to my left and there’s a buck to my left. I asked for my gun. As I look through the scope, it’s cold on my eye. I looked closer and I thought it was a small buck, but I was wrong, it was a nine pointer. I looked and followed his movement as he slowly was coming closer. Then he steps into the clearing, I put the cross-hairs on him, hold my breath, my finger on the cold trigger and BOOM my nine-point buck.

My dad said it was better than anything he had ever shot. He was so proud. He took my buck’s head to get mounted and on the way stopped to show my papa Bill (his dad) who was in the nursing home and had COVID-19. Papa Bill was proud, too. I am happy he got to see my buck because he died a few days later. Seeing my nine-point buck made him smile.