I have been hunting for as long as I remember. My grandfather, T Wayne Roberts, introduced me to hunting when he purchased me a pellet gun and let me hunt squirrels behind his house in Gray.

 I would spend hours chasing squirrels through the woods until one day I finally got one. The squirrel was on the ground when I first saw him. He spooked and shot up a white oak tree into a nest. I took aim and made a perfect shot. After that, I hunted squirrels mostly for the next few years. 

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Soon, I believe I will have the opportunity I have worked for, for almost half a decade and I hope to savor the feeling of accomplishing my goal once it finally happens.

— Tripp Roberts

Then, on Christmas Day in 2012, when I was 9 years old,  my Dad gave me a youth model Browning .308 caliber deer rifle. I hunted for a few weeks at my uncle’s hunting club in Thomaston, until I was invited to a friend’s property and harvested my first deer. My cousin went the same night and shot three does. 

Last year, I got a bow for Christmas. I took an interest in bow hunting since my cousin and I started hunting behind his grandfather’s house in the city limits of Thomaston. In city limits, it is illegal to hunt with a firearm, but it is legal to hunt with a bow. I got a bow and started hunting in the city limits. I killed one doe last year with my bow and now I am hooked on bow hunting white tailed deer. 

This year, I have hunted hard and spent most of the summer preparing for deer season. I spent hours clearing trails, hanging stands, and planting food plots in hopes of being able to kill one big buck.

I have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars buying trail cameras and deer corns hoping to get an idea of what deer are in the area and trying to pattern them so I can have a good opportunity to harvest a good, mature buck. I have been in and out of the deer stand many times since bow season opened in September.

I have had many opportunities to kill deer, a lot of does and even a couple of bucks. I have remained patient in hopes that the big one will walk out soon. The week of fall break I hunted every single day and on Wednesday I believe I had a shooter sized buck come out, but it was right after shooting light and I could not tell which buck it was exactly. 

One day, I had a stout, mature, old seven pointer come out just outside of bow range, at 67 yards. I watched the deer for an hour hoping it would present a shot but the shot never came. 

Soon, I believe I will have the opportunity I have worked for, for almost half a decade and I hope to savor the feeling of accomplishing my goal once it finally happens.