My first hunting trip happened on Thanksgiving morning. The idea and preparation for this event started last year. I knew from Stacey that her dad goes hunting every year. One of the days he goes out hunting is Thanksgiving morning. I knew he went with Tim, his other son-in-law. I didn't know some of his friends go every year too.

My first step was to take a firearms safety course because without taken that course I couldn't go out hunting with Paul, my father-in-law. This is also the first step in getting a Connecticut hunting license, which I also needed to go out hunting legally. A person can't get a license without passing this course. I was happy to find out the course is free through the state. So last March, I took the three day course which I passed with flying colors

My second step was to get my hunting license which was then followed by getting a license to hunt on private land. I am very happy Paul owns enough land to hunt on. I wish I had the right amount of land to do that. Yes, I enjoyed hunting. I have been twice now.

The night before my first trip out, I was nervous and anxious. I have never been alone with Paul or anyone in Stacey's family by myself any longer than 10 minutes. Stacey has always been there. She is the outgoing one. I am happy to stand back and blend into the background. It was hard to sleep. I had dreams about the trip. I was scared I would get hurt or worse that I would hurt someone else. I had images going through my mind of me shooting someone or myself by mistake. I was also worried Paul was going to ask me gun safety questions. I did pass my hunting safety course, but that was over 7 months ago, a long time for the knowledge to evaporate from the brain.

Thanksgiving morning I arrived at Paul's house by 6 a.m. I got there before Paul was even up. I wasn't sure what to do. All I did was wait in the car listening to the radio until I saw a light go on in an upstairs window. I joined Paul in the kitchen where I found out three of Paul's friends would be joining us. Tim, Paul's other son-in-law wouldn't be joining us since he wasn't feeling well.

We all went out to individual tree stands. Well, Paul had to show me where to go since it was my first time out in the woods on his property. The others have been hunting before on Paul's land. Once I got to my tree stand, I climbed up and waited for some prey. Hunting is a sport of patience. I was in the tree for hours. I got bored a number of times. At one point, I climbed down and walked up a path. Eventually, I got back up in my stand. I did see a doe. Never got a shot off though, it did revitalize me. It gave me this new energy and my patience was restored. I was hoping to see the doe again or even another deer and hopefully get a shot at the next one. I never did see another one though. After spending over four hours in the woods, we all came in. Paul came out in an ATV to pick me up. I wish he hadn't because sitting on the back of it as he was driving to the house killed my ass.

Once back at the house, I found out I was the only one who saw a deer that day. I was hoping to shot one on my first trip out. It would have been a great thing to be able to bag a deer on my first hunting trip. Hopefully, I will be able to kill one before the end of deer season with a rifle or shotgun on December 8.