By Kala Williamson

For The Vicksburg Post

My name is Kala Williamson. My husband, Craig, and I have a 6-year-old son, Josh, and a 4-year-old daughter, Kenley. Both of them take after their parents and love to go deer hunting.

This year is the first time we’ve let Josh take his own gun and be the “shooter.”

On his first hunt this year, on the opening evening of youth season, he was with his daddy in Warren County, and they decided to shoot the “first thing that walks out.” Soon enough, two does walked out.

Craig helped Josh get his gun out of the window and line up the shot when Josh promptly told him that he wanted to do it himself. Josh shot the first doe. The second doe didn’t run. He swiftly got her in the sights and squeezed off on her, too.

Doubles his very first time hunting!

Josh was all smiles. His second hunt, he was with his daddy and little sister. Kenley was the “spotter” this time, and together they harvested a doe.

Now on to the bucks. One chilly afternoon, hunting again with his daddy and sister, they decided to “shoot the first thing that walks out,” which seems to be Josh’s motto. This time, an 8-point buck walked into the food plot. After giving a sinister little laugh when he found the buck in his scope, he squeezed off a round and his first buck went down.

On this last hunt, he was with his grandfather, Bendel White. Josh had fallen asleep once in the stand, and he was going to let Josh get a little nap before the deer started walking. After a while, Papaw Bendel spotted a buck down the lane and immediately started waking Josh. A good couple of shakes and a swig of Sprite had Josh awake and ready to spot the deer. The deer played hide and seek, going in and out of trees, but ultimately stepped out long enough for Josh to get a clear shot. He and his .243 Ackley laid out another big buck — a 16 1/2-inch, 8-pointer. This time, I don’t know who was more proud — him or his papaw!

We still have a lot of time left in hunting season, but if Josh doesn’t kill another deer this year, his first year was definitely memorable.

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HUNTING STORIES WANTED

This is part of an occasional series of hunting stories told by or submitted from Vicksburg Post readers. If you’d like to submit a story or hunting photo, please send an email to sports@vicksburgpost.com. Include your name, the hunter’s name, details of the hunt such as time, date, size of the animal, weapon used and any interesting details. Also include a telephone number so we can contact you. If submitting a photo of children, please take the picture before they have been blooded. Any photos containing excess amounts of blood and gore will not be published.