Landon Kay, 13, shot his first deer, a rare piebald 8-point 157-pound buck, at 7 a.m. on the first day of youth hunting season in Moro Plantation, Aroostook County.
He was walking through the woods with his uncle, Dustin Cyr, when he spotted the deer about 80 yards away on an open path. Using shooting sticks Cyr had made from pool sticks, Landon steadied his rifle and took the shot.
His mother, Dani Beth Cummings, said it was so foggy that Landon didn’t see the antlers and thought he was shooting at a doe. He was over the moon when he found out he shot a buck.
Jacob Cummings, 11, with his first deer and his uncle Sam Cyr in Moro Plantation.
Landon Kay, with his uncles Dustin and Sam Cyr beside his first deer.
Cyr said he had captured the buck on hundreds of game camera photos and recognized it immediately. His brother, Sam, guided Landon’s 11-year-old brother, Jacob, who also harvested his first deer later that afternoon, a fawn doe.
The youth hunters also learned lessons beyond the harvest, including how to use a compass and navigate the woods, identify vital spots on a deer, practice gun safety, plan for spotting game and most importantly how to celebrate his brother’s and other hunters’ success.