As we headed to our hunting land in Brady, Texas; we had no idea what events were to unfold.

It was Christmas night, and the plans were made to head to Brady, and try to chase some late season whitetails. Good friends Andrew and Kendra Reneau were going to make the trip with me. We would meet up with my father, brother Steven and good friends Steven, Luke, and Angel Marksberry.

We loaded up and left early the next morning, and headed for the beautiful Texas hill country. After a quick stop at Wal-Mart for some groceries and a few “tools of the trade,” we arrived at the ranch. We arrived, and sat around camp waiting for the time to head to the blind.

At about 3 a.m., we headed to the blind. Andrew and I headed to the “Blind on the Hill” and got settled in. Not 15 minutes after we got there, I noticed movement to the left of the blind. It was a doe, and she was limping very badly.

After studying her with my binoculars, for several minutes, we decided we needed to take her. The beautiful doe stepped out in the road, and Andrew took her with a single shot from the trusty .243.

After a couple of minutes, we went and recovered the doe, and decided to climb back into the blind. We ended the evening seeing a couple more does and a beautiful eight-point buck. We exited the blind just before dark, and after a short photo session, headed to camp.

Upon arriving, we told everyone about Andrew’s doe, and headed out to load her up, and take more photos. We stayed up reminiscing about the hunt, and were pumped for the morning hunt. We awoke to unseasonably warm temperatures. It was 77 degrees and very humid.

We headed back to the same blind and got settled in. Just before daylight, we could see several deer in the road, but it was still too dark to judge them. Just as daylight was poking through, high winds and cold temperatures blew in. The winds were gusting to 50 MPH, and the temperatures were now in the low 40s.

Due to the wind, only a couple of young does were seen. We made the walk back to camp, and noticed everyone looking in the back of the Marksberry’s truck. We walked over and were elated at what we saw. Luke had harvested a true hill country monster. The buck was 21 inches wide, had 10 points and scored around 140 inches. A true trophy. We all took several photos, and celebrated his success.

We headed to town to take the buck in and have breakfast at our favorite hangout, “El Flamingo” restaurant. We then headed back and prepared for the evening hunt. Again, Andrew and I headed to the “Blind on the Hill” and got settled in. We saw several young bucks and does. Just before dark, a mature doe stepped out, and I decided to take her. With my trusty “amateur” cameraman Andrew filming, I took the doe with a single shot from the .243. We headed back to camp, picked up the other hunters and everyone came along to recover the doe. We took several photos, and enjoyed another successful hunt.

As the weekend came to an end, I thought about how lucky we were to be able to share these wonderful moments together, and thanked the Almighty for the opportunity to hunt. I also thanked Him for the three things that I cherish every day: big memories, best friends and bruiser bucks.