MINOT – My husband, Glen Asselin, and his family have been hunters for many years. Glen just could not wait until our son, Parker, was old enough to go hunting. I had always insisted that he would have to wait until he was 15 because I was afraid he would get hurt. But Glen was able to convince me to let Parker hunt this year, even though he is only 10 years old!

So a couple of weeks ago my husband bought my son his own gun and took him target shooting. He shot it six times and almost hit the bulls-eye every time. Needless to say, we were pretty impressed.

Saturday, Oct. 21, was youth hunting day, so it was the first chance my son would get to hunt. So Glen and Parker left Friday night to stay at a friend’s “huntin’ camp” in Minot. There were a few other fathers there with their sons to go hunting on Saturday, too.

They all got up early on Saturday morning and went to their respective spots to sit. At 8:30 a.m., Glen spotted two deer running through the woods so he pointed them out to Parker. Parker got ready so that he could shoot if he got the opportunity. The deer stopped and looked right at them. Glen told Parker that if he was going to shoot, he’d better do it now before they took off. So Parker shot one time and hit the larger deer perfectly.

The deer ended up being a 162-pound, 8-point buck! Our family will be eating deer meat for months to come. One of the other boys there also shot his first deer, a 70-pound doe.

I’m told that my husband was like an expectant father… he was shaking and couldn’t think straight he was so happy and proud. I only wish that I could have been in the woods with them that morning so that I could have shared in their excitement.

The best part is that Parker had to rush from hunting camp as soon as he could to go to his final football game in Sabattus. He plays for the fifth- and sixth-grade Oak Hill football team. They ended up winning and finishing the season undefeated. What a glorious day!