The first morning of deer season, John is up early and finishes his chores quickly so he can get out into the woods. His grandfather tells John to leave some of the work for him, and John debates whether he should leave chores for his grandfather to do, but ultimately decides that “it would have been wrong to take the work away from his grandfather” (40). John’s grandmother seems less bothered this day, and as John eats a hardy breakfast, he feels good for the first time in a while. After breakfast, John goes into the woods, where he loads his rifle and prepares for the hunt.

John silently searches for a while until he comes across a deer bed—a place where a deer recently hunkered down to rest. Though the tracks indicate the deer is now far away from the bed, decreasing the likelihood of being caught, John still decides to follow them. He thinks that he might get lucky and then can go home to do chores “so his grandfather wouldn’t have to” (50).