As fall begins, the upcoming hunting seasons are something members of the Spectrum community look forward to, many of which have been hunting for a long time.

Chris Hyde, a Social Studies teacher, says that he has been hunting ever since he was in high school. Ellie Fox, a senior, has been hunting with her dad since she was young.

Hunting brings many good memories that people can look back upon fondly, many of those memories include spending time with people they hold dear.

“My uncle, he drew an antelope tag for me, Will Ambrose, a senior, said. “He’d been applying to me in this area for about four or five years, and I finally drew one this year. So we went out to North Dakota and I shot an antelope out there.”

“Taking my daughter hunting for the first time,” Hyde said. “She pulled the trigger and knocked him down and it was a 10 point buck. Her first deer.”

Along with the great memories, come great stories. Part of being a hunter means that at some point the hunter will get a result they’ve been looking forward to for a long time.

“When I shot my first buck, which ended up being a twelve point buck,” Ellie Fox said. “What had happened is it did a full circle and when it came around this side, it ended up coming about 30 yards [ahead of me]. I shot it and it just completely dropped. It’s really special to me because it was my first buck and it ended up being the best buck I’ll ever shoot in my life.”

Hunting locations bring success, but are also something that means something special to hunters.

“That’s [the hunting location] where my grandmas house is, Sydney Taylor, a junior, said. “We call it the cabin, and there’s a lot of public land out there so we just go [hunt] on the public land.”

Hunting is not only a fun activity for people to do during the colder months, but is also an opportunity to bond with loved friends and family. Hunters of many ages have been creating and strengthening these bonds ever since they were very young and were just starting out. It gives something to look back upon and be thankful for. As much as hunting is a sport, it is more about the relationships that it results in.