On Thursday, November 15, 2012 in the afternoon I was sitting out in the woods while my Dad, William J Finkler and Uncle Dennis Finkler, were pushing to me. I got a call from my Grandma Lucille Finkler saying there was a big buck out in my Uncle’s cow pasture so I went running out there and that is when I saw him about 100 yards out with a doe. I was using my dads 12 gauge for the first time that day. I started to creep on up on him and the doe jumped the fence. At this time I was 75 yards away from the buck and he started running and jumped over a fence. That is when I took my first shot at him. I ran up there as fast as I could and started to look into the woods and I saw him 75 yards away standing there looking at me in the brush. I took a step back and shot 4 more times. I then struggled to find my last bullet to put in the gun and I tried to jump the fence but fell on the ground. At this point I started to walk towards him and could see his tracks but there wasn’t any blood so I thought I missed him. I went running through the woods to try to cut him off and I found him laying 25 yards to my left.

It was one of the most exciting moments in my life.

-William Finkler