My first-ever pronghorn hunt started on the first day of October 2006. My grandpa, my dad and I drove up onto a north-facing ridge to glass for a huge buck that my grandpa had previously spotted and after we found the buck, we started our stalk up a ravine for approximately 1 mile.

A few minutes into our stalk, my grandpa froze, ducked and signaled for me to come forward. We then crawled to where my grandpa wanted us to be and laid there until I got a look at the buck. And as I laid there looking at the buck through my scope, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest! The buck was looking right at us and after a few seconds, he finally turned broadside. I quickly got myself together and clicked the safety off of my Mohawk .243 Win., but just as I was about to shoot, the buck turned away from us! I switched the gun’s safety back on and crawled back down to start another stalk so we could get ahead of the buck before he winded us.

We crawled up another ridge and then there he was again, standing on a knob approximately 200 yards away! We laid back down and he quickly turned broadside for a perfect shot. I waited for a little bit to make sure he wouldn’t turn away from me again, and luckily he didn’t and pretty soon, I heard my grandpa say, “Now!” I  took the safety back off of my rifle, let my breath out and squeezed off a shot. The buck dropped like a sack of potatoes! I screamed in excitement after the shot and we all ran as quickly as we could to the buck.

When we got to my buck, the first thing my dad said was, “Oh my gosh, he’s huge!” My dad then told me that never in his life has he shot a prong­horn as big as mine, and this was my first one ever!

I was 12 years old when I shot my monster pronghorn, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my grandpa for giving me this awesome opportunity and for the many hours we spent practicing for this hunt. I’d also like to thank the landowner for allowing us to hunt on his ranch. And finally, I’d like to thank my dad for supporting me in my hunting adventures!

My buck has horns measuring approximately 141/2 inches, and I’ve come to name him, “Big Bruiser!” This was a hunt I’ll never forget.