Well Saturday was opening day of rifle season here is Georgia and all in all it was a pretty good day. Too hot, but that's about par for the course around here. I have been really hoping to give my 11 year old daughter Aubrie a chance at her first deer this year. Courtesy of a donation by a very nice gentlemen (QuarterBoreDave) here on the Fire I had some 6.5mm 100 gr. Nosler Partitions to load as reduced loads for her to shoot in my 260 Rem Ruger. I put together these Partitions over a reduced charge of H4895 for about 2500 fps. Plenty for the ranges I intend for her to shoot (under 100 yds, preferably around 50 yds).
In the morning we hunted in my intended spot which is a small food plot deep in the woods about 30 yds wide x 100 yds long. I have had a feeder and some apple corn in this field for about a month. We had a doe come in the field early and Aubrie put the rifle on her, but wasn't sure of herself due to the low light. She decided (wisely) to wait for a better chance. The first doe didn't stay long and moved on. About 30 mins later another doe slips in and feeds in the field for 20-25 mins. My daughter put the rifle up and watched her for a while but decided she was pretty small so let her walk on too. It was quiet after that and we didn't see anything else.
In the afternoon we head back out, signed in at the club board, pinned the map as usual, and headed to the same stand as the morning. The stand is a pretty good hike in and the mosquitos were rough. We get to within about 60 yds of the stand and much to my dismay, another guy is sitting in my stand. Club rules allow this, but the jerk hadn�t pinned his name on the board so I would have known he was there. Now we had to walk all the way back out, go back to the board and move our pin to another stand and then hike to it. We have 1500 acres of heavily wooded land in our lease. When we got back to board, I noticed that the club�s largest tower stand (we call it the Cadillac stand) was open on the power lines. Since we had wasted a lot of time already and we could get there easily, we decided to head there. At least on the power lines I hoped she could see for longer into the evening.
So we get to the tower stand and get settled in. about 30 mins go by and a flock of turkeys (6 in this group) come into the food plot. They mill around and then head off to our left. About 10 mins later, another group of turkeys (9 in this group) comes into the far right side of the food plot. Aubrie is getting to see all of them really good and is excited. They stay for 40 mins or so feeding in the food plot before moving on. No more action for a while.
As the sun begins to set about 6:20, I see a doe slipping through the tall (about 4 ft high) brush off to our left she had gotten � of the way across the power line cut before I saw her. She passed in front of one of the steel girders for the power lines about 220 yds away. Aubrie got to see her for a few seconds before she entered the woods. I had raised the rifle to look at her because I knew Aubrie wasn�t going to shoot that far. Just as the does enter the tree line to our far left (I�m watching her through the scope) Aubrie says �I see movement back over there, I think it�s another one.� I look up from the scope and back across the power line cut and see its for sue another deer. I swing the rifle around for a look and the deer disappeared into the tall brush. We kept watching and occasionally the head would pop up. At one point I caught a glimpse through the scope of an antler so we knew it was a buck. Likely trailing the doe we had just seen. He would have been maybe 120 yds behind her and directly on her trail. Since I hadn�t seen him in the clear I wasn�t sure how big he was.
Then it hit me. If he is big buck, Aubrie isn�t prepared to shoot this kind of distance, because she has been practicing at 50 and 100 yds. Plus, the rifle is loaded with reduced loads for the short plot we were supposed to be hunting at. I�m not sure how the reduced load will kill or even if it will shoot low at 200+ yds since we only planned for 100 yds max. I�m kicking myself over not bringing 1-2 rounds of full power handloads just in case. I had tested and knew for sure that the reduced load (100 gr. Partition over H4895 and within 1� of where my full power load (129 Interlock of H4350) hits at 100 yds.
At this point Mr. Buck changes direction in the brush and starts heading back to the treeline he came from instead of continuing to pursue the doe. I knew he would have to cross a 10 yd wide dirt strip of clearing between the tall brush and the treeline so if he was worth shooting, that would be the only clear shot. By now Aubrie has buck fever worse than I do (didn�t think that was pssible) and keeps saying �Are you going to shoot him daddy?� over and over.
Finally the buck is nearing the end of tall brush and comes to a dead halt. At that point was pretty sure I could see 4 tines on the side closest to us, so I decided he was probably worth taking (keep in mind, the deer here are generally pretty small in the body). I was waiting for him to step in the clear, rifle ready, I trying to control my breathing when he takes of in a trot. Presumably to get across the clearing faster because he�s not stupid. I swing the rifle to get back on him and aim a little high just in case my reduced load has more drop to it, and squeeze. The deer bolts and disappears in about 2 seconds. I turn to Aubrie and say, �I may have missed him�.
We wait about 15 mins and then get down and start walking to the last place we saw him. As we walk up, I can see where is dug up the ground as he bolted and just at the tree line we find a thin blood trail. Its getting dark fast, but I didn�t want to walk in on him too soon. I call my brother to come help me (he is on another part of the same property and he has my youngest daughter (observing) with him. My brother shows up and we started in with the flashlights. The brush is extremely dense where the deer went it and we end up having to crawl under some stuff on our knees. The blood trail is thin, a spec here and a spec there, but we find him about 50 yds in expired. A decent 7-pt for this part of Georgia.
I hit him higher than I thought and farther back than I meant to, but he was quartering away. The exit was a slightly lower than the entrance and high just behind his left front shoulder. The Partition had wrecked his lungs. I wish Aubrie had been able to get this one, but she is excited and we are going back soon. It was day of firsts for her. First time seeing deer and turkey in the wild while hunting. First time aiming rifle at deer. First time seeing a kill and first time seeing the full cleaning process. Now she needs that first kill���..stay tuned!
If you are having difficulty in getting her a first deer feel free to PM me over here in Lee county. I have some stands that we use to get kids their first deer (close in shots' etc) and would be glad to help.
Otherwise, best of luck this fall.
You only live once, but...if you do it right, once is enough.
Nahhhhh. Why bother. Good story and the doubles give us sumpthin' to pick on ya about ![[Linked Image]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y222/EvilTwinMar/Sabretooth-1.jpg)
