By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
A Tygart Creek kindergartener had his dreams come true when he got his big buck right at the outset of youth gun season this year.
Six-year-old Luke Stevens is obsessed with hunting, and hunting lifestyle television shows, his mother Haley Stevens explained.
She said that she and Luke’s father, Jonathon, are hunters, and enjoy spending time outdoors with their son. But he’s been going into the woods with his “Pox” (his grandpa) and his uncle T.J. “hunting” since he was two years old, she said. They’re the ones who really got him hooked, she said, and he had his first real hunt when he was four.
This year, however, he was intent on taking his first deer. His mother said he scouted and watched this deer’s patterns for months before the opening of youth gun season. A couple of nights before the opening day of season he even wrote a note for himself, “It is hunting season for Luke Stevens. I’m going to kill the biggest buck in my entire life.”
Then, as the sun sat on opening day, after a long wait in the cold woods, Luke’s dreams came true. He bagged his first buck – a respectable eight point that would make a seasoned hunter proud.
Luke said the experience was hard to explain.
“It was good. I was happy. I was nervous. I was really happy when I got that big buck,” he said. He continued, explaining how the hunt went, “How I got my buck, it came down the hill. And my mommy said, ‘Shoot it.’”
They’d spent the better part of the day waiting to catch a glimpse of the buck they knew was working their property.
“I had to sit in a blind for eight hours,” Luke said. “It was a good trip.”
His mother elaborated, explaining they’d started their day at 5:30 a.m. by setting up in a blind near a pond on the family farm. They waited all day, except for a three-hour break in the middle of the day for a nap, and he took the deer with his .243 just before sunset as it came off the hill.
Haley said that she and Jonathon couldn’t be more proud of their son, and of how all his work, scouting, planning, and perseverance paid off. It’s a valuable lesson about how much hard work goes into getting what you want, they said, and in understanding where the meat on our tables comes from.
Hunting is a fun, family activity. But ultimately it’s about the meat the animal provides, and that’s something Luke understands, his mom said.
“He is obsessed with the show MeatEater,” she explained. “He’s learned quite a bit about how important hunting is.”
He even knows what his favorite cut is.
“Backstrap,” his mom answered, without hesitation. Luke, after all, was in school through most of our interview and answering questions through his teacher.
Kindergarten, like deer hunting, is serious business after all.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
