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Hayden's not what one would call a "morning person", but when I go into his room, shake him a little, and say, "Do you still want to go hunting today?" He sits up like he's just been brought back from the dead. "Now don't fall back to sleep", I tell him. This will not be a problem today. He's dressed and ready to go a solid 20 minutes before me. After we've gone through the dressing routine and grab the binoculars we're off! The first thing that junior needs to know is that you'll never last a full day hunting without a good solid breakfast. Denny's should do just fine. Man can that boy eat! Pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, I'm surprised he could walk out of the place. The plan is to go to Ravena and borrow my dad's quad for the hunt ( Mom didn't know this until later ). At about first light we head out to one of my favorite spots. I figure we'll see at least a doe here. After the complete lecture on being quiet in the woods, of which only half of it seemed to "take", we set up on my hill. A couple of hours go by and some kid on a quad drives right through the middle of my valley. This is not good. We decide to head to dad's "homemade" tree stand. Let me tell you, our branch of the Fahrenkopf tree must be down near the trunk, because we don't care for heights. However, dad must have gone for some hypnotism or something because this stand is pretty high. We climb up and after about 5 minutes, Hayden decides he's had enough. Down he goes to sit on the quad. Knowing that he'll get bored quick, I only spend another 10 minutes up there myself. Now we're going to just kind of ride the quad trails and look for deer. Nothing! The quad seems to be a big hit so we ride it all the way to the Sportsman's Club in New Baltimore. Nobody there saw anything either. Larry's got the breakfast going and the rest of the crew is coming back from their boat trip to the island ( Gilligan, Skipper, The Misser ) trust me there's no professor. Couple sodas, quick leak, and we're back off into the woods. We take it slow all the way back to dad's. This is where the quiet thing broke down. We hit a couple decent size bumps to which Hayden yells at the top of his lungs, "Yah-Hoo!". I tell him he has to be quiet, but after I think about it, I can't get the smile off my face. For God's sake he's 9 man! We get back to the truck and form plan B. We will head to Schodack, less the quad, and walk Brian's property. Noon. Short siesta. Head out again. It's a warm day so I'll travel as light as possible. We make our way to the Berkshire Spur and work through the hardwoods. The plan is to look down into the swamp and then if need be, go into the swamp. Well ........... need be. Down we go. It's not so much wet as it is just some of the thickest, hat stealing, skin piercing terrain that one can hunt. We're about 50 yards in, walking along the creek and on the other side there are 5 deer walking toward us. They were coming at a pretty good clip so I could only get the scope on the last one. Bang! she's hit! I've go got 2 doe tags, Bang! That one is down too! This is too good to be true. Hayden is very excited. There's no way to cross this creek, so we'll have to go all the way back to the truck and go in from the other side. We call dad on the cell ( I never wanted a cell, but I've finally found a purpose ). He's coming with the quad to haul them out. The hill over there is a least 100 feet. Can you say heart attack? Dad arrives about 10 minutes after we get to the truck. We head to the other side and down the hill. There's the first one, now where's the second. I find the spots where I placed my shots and find blood in both areas. Imagine my surprise when both trails merge and lead to the deer I have down. I shot the same one twice!! Both good shots though so no meat ruined. Hayden doesn't want to see the dressing of the deer so he takes a little walk. I roll the deer over and guess what "she" has? Yup, a button buck. You know what though, I don't care! Not today anyway. The ride/haul out is uneventful and we're lucky enough because Brian let's us hang him in his garage to butcher the next day. Hayden has basketball at 4 this afternoon, but I don't see that happening. We get him out of it with mom's consent and decide to watch the upper fields from the pavilion. Hayden naps in the truck for awhile, the sun sets, a few beers/stories are had/told, and we head home. Now I can reflect on the day. When each of my boys turned four I bought them a lifetime sporting license from DEC. I don't know if they'll grow up to hunt, although I'll try my best to teach them the right way if they do. Hayden, I know, is still on the fence at best. Did today help or hurt? Time will tell I'm sure. Right now that doesn't matter. He's been up since 5 and save for a couple of "Yah-Hoo's", he's been a real trooper. I explain to him that God wanted us to get a deer today and that's why we did. Although I know he's thankful, what he tells me next floors me. "Dad we had a great day no matter what. We got to go hunting today. The deer was just an added bonus!" I couldn't be more proud of him. He's a lot more mature than I ever was at that age. Some close friends may say that he's more mature than I am now! When we get home we call Grandpa and thank him for the help. Then we call Brian and thank him for letting us hunt his land. We're both dead on our feet, but I can't sleep for hours. Hayden's out like a light, but I just need more time to reflect on my "best day ever". Take someone hunting or fishing, or even hiking who's never been the reward is well worth the price of admission!