Page 62 - OSCSCI 38th Annual Banquet

teacher/ coach of the school’s next deer season, I would be
Junior Division Boy
Grade: 9 Teacher: Travis Bradshaw
Age: 14 School: Elgin Public
Archery: What I like
about Archery in the
Schools and
Bowhunting :
Bowhunting is a skill not all
people can easily master. I
think Ron Laclair said it best
when he said, “Archery is like a
journey; it begins with a love for
shooting a bow and a passion
for watching our arrows fly.” I
couldn’t agree with him more.
In 2016, at the age of 7, I was
first introduced to the love of
archery. My mom was the
National Archery in the Schools
Program (NASP), and my two
older brothers were on the
team. I was compelled to attend
their practices, but after only a
couple of practices, I started to
join in as I thought it looked fun.
I quickly found out how much
fun shooting a bow could be.
Unfortunately, I was never able
to compete because we
changed schools, but I still used
the archery skills I learned.
Just two years
ago, I got
my first
com-
pound bow. I
still remember it
like it was yes-
terday. It was
Christmas morning,
and I thought that I had already
opened all my presents. Yet, I
did not know that my parents
had one more gift for me. They
said they had to go grab it, and
when I looked up and saw it. It
was my very own compound
bow, and I was filled with pure
joy. The Fred Bear Legit bow
was just the bow I wanted. It
even had my favorite camo pat-
tern on it, veil Whitetail Camo. I
quickly went to set up the bow
by putting the sight and acces-
sories on it, then ran outside to
shoot it. It took me several
practices to get good at shoot-
ing my bow, but I knew by the
ready to put it to use. That first
season, I had a few encounters
but unfortunately, I didn’t have
any shot opportunities.
However, this past summer, I
was determined to shoot a deer
in the upcoming hunting sea-
son. I bought some new arrows
and broadheads and set out on
a goal to harvest a deer. I didn’t
want another season to leave
me empty handed. I’ve prac-
ticed over and over, and shoot-
ing is becoming second nature.
With a lot of hard work and a
little bit of luck (luck being –
God on my side) opening day of
deer season didn’t leave me
disappointed. My dad dropped
me off, and I climbed a tree.
Shockingly, not even thirty
minutes later, a doe walked out
twenty yards from me. I drew
back my bow and let my arrow
fly. I hit her, that beautiful doe,
perfectly behind the shoulder
and watched as she ran forty
yards and fell. I was pumped
that I had just shot my very first
deer with that bow I had been
carrying around like a prized
possession.
…(To Be Continued) ….
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