Brenden Blanchard, 11, plays pool in the lodge Friday night. Blanchard is a sixth grader from Memphis, Tennessee. He likes gymnastics, putting puzzles together and the outdoors. He's out with his grandfather this weekend in the hopes of getting his first kill. His grandfather is having him wear a GoPro head strap around the lodge so he gets used to the feeling of having the camera on his head before they go hunting.
David Dornacker and Andy Garrett play washers in between hunts on Saturday. Most deer hunting takes place in the early morning or evening, so that leaves the entire afternoon in between to eat lunch, nap, drink a beer or play washers.
Blanchard sits behind the crossbow and listens intently to Garrett's instructions on how to operate it on Saturday afternoon. Garrett is letting Blanchard borrow his crossbow for tonight's hunt because it has less kick than a gun.
Jerry Workman, Blanchard's grandfather, learns how to cock Garrett's crossbow so he can do it for Blanchard when they go out for the evening. Workman had to memorize every step in the process because if done wrong, the mistake could lead to a "catastrophic failure" of the crossbow, according to Garrett.
Blanchard looks down the scope of Garrett's crossbow. Garrett tells Blanchard to focus on the little green lights in the scope to aim. It didn't take Blanchard long to get the hang of the crossbow, and after a few consistent near-bullseye shots, Garrett proclaims, "Doesn't get any better than that."
Garrett sets up his crossbow in the blind for Blanchard on Saturday afternoon. When finished, he put dried corn on the ground to attract deer for Blanchard to shoot.
With the GoPro mounted on his head, Blanchard looks down at the newly set up crossbow he is to shoot. Blanchard said he couldn't wait to see that one perfect deer walk into his sights.
Blood smeared on his face, Blanchard looks up at his prize while two of the adults at the ranch clean it on Saturday night. Blanchard's 95-pound doe weighs more than he does. "I was in the zone and so ready to taste my first taste of deer meat," Blanchard said. "Also, I was disgusted by the smell of the blood!" He said his favorite part of hunting was the adrenaline rush he got when he was about to pull the trigger.
The two zebras on the ranch stop to let me take pictures Sunday morning.