Early Saturday morning, a select group of parents likely had little trouble waking their sons and daughters, even hours before sunrise.

It was Youth Deer Day, a day that rivals only Christmas morning in terms of anticipation for many of the youngsters who head into the woods for their own special outing with mom, dad or a trusted adult.

Each year I receive plenty of photos and accounts of those hunts. Each of those e-mails or letters is the same in a couple of important ways: The kids are smiling in every picture. And the adults who pass along the newly formed hunting memories are as excited as if they’d pulled the trigger.

I make no secret of the fact that I’m still deer-less in my short hunting career, heading into this, my seventh season as a Maine deer hunter.

And I make no secret of the fact that if I can’t get a deer, it’s pretty cool that I get to live vicariously through the stories that are passed along to me.

Because of that, one of my favorite parts of the post-Youth Deer Day mail storm is hearing progress reports from the young hunters whose hunts I’ve written about in past years.

Kids like Josh Baker of Glenburn, who had a brief but successful hunt a year ago.

On Monday morning, a message in my e-mail inbox was waiting. Dave Baker had another story to tell about his son.

Here’s some of what Dave Baker had to say.

“Last year I wrote you about my son, Josh Baker of Glenburn, who you mentioned in your column after he shot his first deer, a sweet five-point buck, only 20 minutes after sunrise,” Dave Baker wrote.

A year ago, I recalled, Dave Baker was concerned that he’d have to have a pretty good hunting season or he’d endure a year of teasing from his son. And that’s exactly the way it turned out.

“As the 2007 season played out I was not as fortunate,” he wrote. “I passed on a few opportunities with my bow and then the early snow changed the feeding habits of the deer I had been scouting all fall. I saw 11 deer on the final day, but not one within bow range. If I’d only taken out my muzzleloader?

” I have since had to live with the ego of a 12-, now 13-year-old kid who put 122 pounds of venison in the freezer last fall and a nice mount on the wall.”

Which brings us to this year. Surely this year’s Youth Deer Day hunt couldn’t be as simple as the last … or could it?

“With a full 20 minutes of deer hunting experience and a huge ego under his belt we set up in a spot I hadn’t hunted in years, but with the landowner’s blessing we had 90 acres all to ourselves,” Dave Baker wrote. “As we sat in the dark waiting for the sun to rise we whispered and reminisced about last year’s buck and how some people go many years between shooting deer.

“In the course of the previous year I have mentioned many times that he would not likely bag his second deer as easily as the first. Fast forward to around 7 a.m. … 27 minutes after daylight and the first signs of a deer were approaching. Two to three minutes later and at a distance of no more than 40 yards a big doe popped her head out of the thick cover and stepped slowly onto the edge of the meadow.”

Josh took advantage of his opportunity.

“With the click of the hammer on his .30-30 she focused her attention directly at our hunting blind but her moment of hesitation was all it took for Josh to get her in the scope and pull the trigger,” Dave Baker wrote. “Pure adrenaline was all that carried her the short 50 yards dash she made before dropping in a pile.

“Just like that, with less than one hour total of time spent sitting in a hunting blind over the past two years, Josh recorded his second deer kill, which dressed out to be a 145-pound doe,” he wrote.

All of which means that Dave Baker’s got his work cut out for him this season … again.

He says he’ll be ready.

“You can be sure I won’t make the mistake of bringing my bow to a muzzleloader fight two years in a row,” he wrote. “I don’t think I can take another year of his bragging rights.”

Thanks for sharing the tale, Dave. And congratulations to all the successful Youth Deer Day hunters.

Still more hunter’s breakfasts

I began asking for hunter’s breakfast information, and on Saturday gave you an exhaustive rundown of the meals that are available.

Exhaustive, yes. Complete … well, no.

As happens every year, the actual publication of our hunter’s breakfast list has prompted other civic organizations to send in their information.

In fairness, at least one organizer tried to notify the BDN earlier, but we later learned their breakfast had been gobbled up in cyberspace before it reached my desk.

Either way, a hunter’s got to eat … and I’m here to help make sure none of you go hungry. Here then, are a few more options:

. In Milo, the Penquis Valley High School sophomore class is holding the school’s 41st annual breakfast from 4-8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $4 in advance or $5 at the door.

. In Hartland, the Hartland-St. Albans Lions Club will sponsor a breakfast on Saturday at the Grace Lynn Methodist Church. The meal runs from 4-8 a.m. and $5 gets you in the door.

. In Monson, the Monson United church of Christ will hold a breakfast on Saturday from 5-9 a.m. Everyone pays just $5.

. In Stockholm, the Stockholm American Legion Post will hold a breakfast on Saturday from 4:30-8 a.m.

. In Glenburn, hunters will gather at the town office from 4:30-8 a.m. on Saturday for a feed sponsored by the Glenburn Lakeside Riders Snowmobile Club. The cost of breakfast is $5.

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

990-8214