Hunting has taught me to be patient, and to have trust in myself. If you don’t believe in yourself, it could hurt you. I learned to have trust in myself when I was about 8 years old and I was practicing my shot with my bow with a turkey decoy, it was a soft plastic material, not made for shooting at, but my dad let me. I went out at least 20 yards, and aimed for the head. I took a deep breath and let the arrow go, I felt like the arrow was in the air for a long time. I opened my eyes and I saw the arrow in the head of the decoy.

“Bullseye!” I yelled as loud as I could.

My dad saw what had happened, he had a smile on his face. Ever since then, I had confidence in myself which everyone should have. Having trust helps you have confidence in yourself and your shooting ability. You can use trust not for just hunting but life in general. How can you live without trust? The more you go out hunting, the more you will know. Hunting has been in my family for generations. Hunting has helped me. I remember the one time I didn't believe in myself, I missed the shot because of that.Hunting has made me confident in myself.  I went hunting in my backyard with my dad one night after school, after about 1 hour or so, a doe came from the woods. The doe had light brown fur, it looked like it was about 4 years old or so, it was about 30 yards away from me. As soon as I pulled the crossbow up I knew I would miss.

When I slowly squeezed the trigger I thought “I'm gonna miss”.

A chunk of fur flew off the back of the doe. It was like the arrow was  an eagle swarming down, but the eagle missed the prey. I saw the broadhead of the arrow which is sharp as a razor skim the doe.

“At least you didn’t hurt it”. My dad told me after we left the blind.

Last year, I went up to Gladwin for rifle season.. My dads truck had gotten stuck, so my dad's friend met us up there and helped us pull it out. I had only shot a 22 caliber before. I had believed in my shot. I shot my muzzleloader before, so this was not different. I also shot an AR-15, with a 30 round magazine loaded and was ready to fire, I put the AR to semi-automatic so the gun would not fall out of my hands, and I pulled the trigger BLAT!BLAT!BLAT!BLAT! The gun went. This made me change the mindset on life, never doubt yourself. I realized hunting helps you learn your skills and weaknesses. Hunting is also very rewarding at the end. Even if you don't get something, you bond with your parent which is important.