Time passed and it was now 5:10 p.m., and Don texted me to let me know he just let a small buck pass on by, but there was no sign of the big one. I immediately responded, "There's nothing but squirrels here." He responded, jokingly, "That's what you think." Just a few minutes later, I heard the crunching of leaves off in the distance and what sounded like a deer coming down off the hill behind me.

I turned to my left to see what was coming and waited patiently. That's when I saw him. It was the big one, the trophy buck! From the moment I saw this buck, I knew it was the big one that Don had seen and had pictures of. All I could think was, Oh my God, this is him! He came down the hill slowly behind me. For a moment, I thought to myself, I can't shoot this deer, it's the one Don is after.

My advice to other women: Get out and enjoy the outdoors with the guys! It opened up a completely new and exciting world for me . . .

Slowly the big buck moved closer to my first shooting lane. I hesitated again on reaching for my bow. Although I knew it was the big buck Don was after, I knew I couldn't pass this big one up. I soon reached for my bow and started to draw as the buck neared my second shooting lane. Then, once again, I hesitated. I was deciding whether I should shoot the buck or not shoot it. I decided to draw back and took my time.

This deer was in no hurry to move through the area. It was as if he were posing for me, nibbling around on the ground and all the while standing in my lane. I took a deep breath, took careful aim and slowly pulled the release. The buck instantly bolted out of there as fast as he could. I felt like it was a good hit, but everything happened so quickly I wasn't sure.

After watching Don shoot his bow for the last several years, I thought it would be fun to learn to shoot one myself. I kept telling him how much I wanted to shoot a bow, but he never really took me seriously.

My heart was racing so fast at this point and I was shaking like a leaf. I tried to calm down long enough to send a text message to Don. I told him I had just shot that big 8. He said back, "Yeah, right." I responded, "No really, I shot the big one!" Not knowing where the deer had gone, I sat in my stand for a while so I could calm down.

While sitting there taking in all that had just happened, I glanced down the field and thought I saw another deer. I drew up my binoculars to take a closer look. All of the sudden I was in shock all over again! My heart practically stopped! To my amazement, what I saw was the big buck I had just shot standing in the stubble corn field about 100 yards away. I could visibly see the spot where I had hit him and I knew it was my buck that was standing there. It seemed so close but so far! Would it become my buck of a lifetime so early in my hunting career?