Twelve-year-old Donovan Havard won youth category of the Fletcher’s Outdoors Big Buck Contest with the help of his grandfather, Andalusia native Paul Eberly.

Havard has been hunting for four years now and doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.

“We thought that this contest would be good experience for my grandson,” Eberly said. “I mean, it was a free contest, we didn’t have to pay any money for us to enter the deer.”

Eberly said that he sits with all of his grandchildren when they hunt, and enjoys getting them involved in the hunting life.

“I get a chance to pull them away from the video games,” Eberly said. “I have hunted all of my life and so I just wanted to pass down this tradition to all of my grandkids.”

The overall score of Havard’s deer was 134 6/8 and it was waiting for him in his grandfather’s food plot.

“We hunt to supply meat for the family,” Eberly said. “And this was a nice buck that I had seen regularly in one of my food plots. Since he was showing up regularly, I wanted one of the grandkids to have the opportunity to shoot him. Donovan was the first one with the opportunity and he took it.”

Eberly said that Havard was absolutely thrilled when he was announced the youth winner.

“It is really great that he won,” Eberly said. “I’m having the deer mounted for him. He is just thrilled to death that he won something and getting a prize.”

Havard’s grandfather didn’t think that he won, but was proud of his grandson when he did win.

“I saw some of the bucks that were entered and I honestly didn’t think he was going to win,” Eberly said. “Then my son told me that afternoon that he had won so I was very happy and surprised.”

Havard goes to school in Orange Beach, Ala.