By Zack Glover

Back in 1983 a movie titled A Christmas Story came out. It was about a bespectacled boy who desperately wrangles for a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. If you have never seen it, go rent it today.

Set in 1940s Indiana, the movie shows how young Ralphie Parker must overcome considerable odds to convince not only his parents, but also seemingly every adult, including Santa, that he won't "shoot his eye out" if he acquires the most-desired item on his Christmas list.

So what does that have to do with Alabama in this new century? Life, it seems, imitates art.

Twenty years after Ralphie's story first flashed across the silver screen to become an instant classic, young Kyle Thornton of Andalusia found himself lobbying for his heart's desire - his own deer rifle. Getting it was not the problem; he had already convinced his parents, Gary and Vickie, that he would not "shoot his eye out."

What Kyle did have to convince his parents of - if he wanted to take full advantage of the gift during the 2003 deer season - was to let him unwrap the gun well before Christmas.

After eight or nine years of tagging along with his dad, the last one ending with a fat doe for the young hunter, Kyle was tired of shooting dad's gun and chomping at the bit to hunt with his own. Not content to wait until Christmas Day, the 13-year-old convinced his parents to let him have and hunt with his brand-new rifle long before St. Nick's visit.

"Vickie kind of didn't want him to get it early at first," Gary said. "But his little sister, Lakin, really wanted an electric scooter - all of her friends had them - so we finally decided to let them both have their gifts early.

"Kyle knew what he was getting. He helped pick it out," Gary continued. "He just kept on asking for it, pointing out that he'd miss half the deer season if we waited until Christmas."

Never mind that the seventh-grader could've hunted with his dad's 20-gauge Remington 1100 - the shotgun with which he had taken his first deer the previous year. Knowing that a scoped .243 was there with his name on it was more than Kyle could bear.

Kyle Thornton poses with the mount of his Covington County buck that tipped the scales at 240 pounds. Photo courtesy of Gary Thornton

The Thorntons succumbed to their son's pleading on Nov. 30. A week later, Kyle got another early Christmas present in the form of his first buck!

Kyle and his dad watched the sunrise on Dec. 7 on 40 acres owned by Gary's parents. The property of the grandparents, Lewis and Jeanette Holcomb, lies near Red Level.

Father and son sat side by side, Kyle cradling the gift Savage .243. He had practiced shooting it with his Uncle Clint, since Gary's recent back surgery prevented him from shouldering the gun to help sight it in.

Shortly after 6 a.m., four does crossed a gap in the tree line about 90 yards distant. Then not one, but two 8-pointers filed along 15 to 20 feet behind them. Kyle was a bundle of raw nerves, but he was going to shoot one of those bucks until his dad nudged him.

"I bumped Kyle and told him not to shoot, to look to his right," Gary recounted.

At the time, Kyle must have thought his dad was crazy - an 8-pointer was in his sights!

When the freckle-faced youngster's bright blue eyes shifted to that new location, they grew as big as coasters.

"It was another buck, a huge one," Kyle said with a big grin. "It looked like a moose! It was real hard keeping my gun steady, and I didn't want to miss."

"I could tell he was nervous," Gary agreed. "I whispered to him, 'Make sure those crosshairs are where daddy told you to put them.' "

As soon as Kyle squeezed the trigger, the buck flinched and then disappeared into a thick block of woods. Yet, when the boy and his dad reached the spot where the deer had been standing, there was no sign whatsoever of a hit.

"I thought I'd missed it. I was scared when we couldn't find blood," Kyle admitted.

Following the path the fleeing whitetail had taken for about 40 yards, they eventually found some red drops. Separating after that, the pair tried to discern which way the wounded buck had run. It was Gary who spotted the downed deer about 20 yards farther into the search and yelled to Kyle.

The shot had been perfectly placed behind the shoulder, despite the trembling young arms in control of the unfamiliar rifle. The moment he saw the deer on the ground, Gary's own arms - and legs - grew every bit as wobbly as his son's had been.

"At first, we counted only 10 points. That's what I told mom I'd shot when I called her," Kyle said. "Not until we got it down to Granny's did we see there were 15 points. I called mom back!"

The buck was equally huge in body, too, especially for a Covington County animal.

"It weighed 240 pounds," Kyle gushed. "I only weigh 90 pounds! Me and Daddy together couldn't budge it, so I ran back to get Pawpaw. He has a four-wheeler."

Kyle commandeered the telephone once the chore of dressing the buck was done. He called all his friends to tell them about his buck, though few believed him until he actually took photographs to school.

The 15-pointer's rack grossed in the high 160s on the Boone and Crockett scoring system.

"Nobody's killed anything bigger in our family!" Kyle said, beaming.

That's not hard to believe, since only one hunter - Ricky Gibson of Red Level - has taken a bigger buck in all of Covington County.