Sumter outdoors columnist Dan Geddings: Walter's hunt

It was late, and daylight was fading. In the last few minutes of light, four deer walked out and stopped in the opening near the stand. Wes knew he had to get Walter moved over to his side of the stand to get a shot. He urgently whispered instructions, and Walter got up and moved, so Wes could slide over. Then Walter took the seat at the window. He got his rifle up and found the deer in his scope, but before he could get the crosshairs settled on one, they stepped back into the darkening woods.

It didn't happen this time, but it was close. Fourteen-year-old Walter had not grown up in a family of hunters and had only been a few times with Wes. He was learning that it takes some work, patience and luck to have success in the woods. Walter's mother and Wes' wife were friends, and Wes had volunteered to take Walter hunting.

Wes had mentors like his uncle Bill Hall that had taken him and his brother Troy on hunting trips when they were youngsters, and he knew how much it meant. He vowed to do the same for other young people when he was older.

In a half dozen trips to the woods, they had seen flocks of turkeys and a few deer, but Walter hadn't gotten a shot. Now the season was winding down, and Wes decided to try a new spot that hadn't been hunted in a while. He put corn out there and noted that it was eaten in a few days, so he put out more. There was a Youth Day coming up a week after the regular season ended. They would hunt this new location on Youth Day.

The stand is on an old railroad bed that spans a section of swamp that flows through the high hills to the Wateree. An old timber road winds down a gentle hillside to the old right of way. A former member of the club had built the stand and hunted it for a few years, then donated it to the club when he left. In his honor, it is called the Guy Kirby stand.

Wes had noticed that someone had put corn out on the left side of the stand earlier in the season, so he put his corn there. When he and Walter went there to hunt, he put Walter on that side of the stand. They had not been in the stand very long when a big doe stepped out into the road on the right side of the stand. The deer was at ease and nibbled at some of the vegetation along the edge of the road. They had to shift seats again to get Walter where he could shoot.

Walter took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. At the shot, the doe hunched up and trotted into the woods. Wes asked Walter where he had aimed, and he told him "right behind the shoulder." They climbed down and went to check. The deer had only gone about 20 yards from the road and had not yet expired. Wes instructed Walter to get closer and take a head shot to put the doe down for good.

Now, Walter had his first deer and was elated.

All of us who hunt and love the outdoors need young people like Walter to keep the tradition and way of life going. Young people are the future, and not all of them have the opportunity to hunt and get outdoors. It takes mentors like Wes Murphy who will volunteer to take the time and effort to get them out there. Thank you, Wes.

Email Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.