Page 24 - September/October Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine

PROVIDED is my deer.” Weston chuckled when Walker
made the very honest comment that he
would most likely shoot the first deer that
came in, regardless of what they were seeing
on game cameras.
Walker had taken part in preparing the blind
and the area they were hunting. The morning
was just starting to come alive as they got into
the blind. Walker was fully prepared to take a
feral hog or a deer, whichever showed up first.
A young forked buck showed up first, and
Walker wanted to take a shot. But his dad
encouraged him to wait and see what else
might come through; after all, this was only the
first 10 minutes of the season. Walker had been
true to his words the day before and wanted to
take the first deer to arrive, but Weston told
him to hold out for a bigger buck.
Shortly, six does came in. Two smallish bucks
were dogging them in the distance, but they
didn’t get close enough for Walker to shoot.
Walker was focused on the biggest doe of the
group, and when it presented a good shot, the
rifle roared and that big doe hit the ground
after a short run into the woods.
Excited, Walker and Weston walked to the
mature doe, and Weston stood out of kick-
ing distance and pushed on the doe with a
long stick.
The doe was dead!
Walker helped his dad get the deer loaded,
and he wanted to take it by his Pa’s house to
show it to him! His grandfather Gerald Lovell is
also one of my mentors, and I consider him an
uncle even though there is no DNA that con-
nects us. The photo of Walker and his Pa says
it all!
This story could end here: a conservation
kill of a mature doe by a young hunter. But it
doesn’t end here. It continues into that evening.
Walker suggested they hunt his blind
behind the house and try to take a nice eight
point they had been seeing on the game
camera. Weston agreed, even though the
wind wasn’t ideal. It was Walker’s blind and
Walker Lovell, 7, with the big doe he took shortly after youth deer season opened in
2021. It was just the start of a remarkable day. his hunt.

22 OUTDOOR OKLAHOMA