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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 330
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OP
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 330 |
This year was my sons 5th deer season and it has been fun watching him progress in his gun handling and become more independent, less dependent on me, to tell him what to do and how to do it. Walking in to the field the first afternoon. We were going to get in a shooting house on a field that has produced at least one buck for us per year over the last several years. We always walk slow and glass the field before we get there and have walked up on several deer in the past. As we got closer to the field, still about 30-40 yards from it, there was a buck standing on the opposite side of the field in edge of the wood/brush line. He already had the bipod deployed because he said he wanted to be ready in case we saw a deer walking in. I knelt down as he laid down behind the bipod. I told him to shoot when he was ready and heard a loud click a second later. He whispered "What just happened", I told him to just be still as I operated the bolt and loaded the rifle for him and told him to try it again. In a second the .243 barked, I blinked, and the deer was just gone, I mean nowhere to be seen. I asked the usual questions about where was he holding, was he steady, etc. "Yes, I know what I'm doing", he said. So we made the 100 yards or so across the field to where the buck was standing and found him. He dropped straight down into the tall grass. And posing for the hero shot. The 95 grain fusion bullet hit high shoulder and worked for us again. It made a mess of the shoulder/spine area when we dressed him, bullet didn't exit on this one.
This year the youth hunt was on one of the coldest weekends that we have had in Alabama for the first of November. I carried a small propane heater so he wouldn't get cold and this particular afternoon had made a thermos of hot chocolate and brought plenty of snacks for the afternoon. Killing his buck before we even got to the stand like he did, we had to drink the hot chocolate on the way back to the camp.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 330
Campfire Member
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OP
Campfire Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 330 |
The next day we hunted in the morning seeing only a small spike. And went to another location to try and kill a doe that afternoon. We had been in the shooting house about 45 minutes before the first doe entered the field. Patience is not his best quality and he wanted to shoot her right then, but I made him wait. After about 10 minutes she started looking back in the wood where she came from and Harrison said "she's spooked, I need to shoot her now" I tried to get him to wait for more deer to come out, but could tell he was getting amped up and a little bit of doe fever. She was exactly 100 yards according to my LRF 800, so I told him get ready and take the shot when he was comfortable. A slightly quartering away shot behind the near shoulder with the exit through the off shoulder and she dropped on the spot. Just an all around nice weekend and fun hunt with my 9 year old. Bob.
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,858
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,858 |
nice story and pics...that young'un is gonna be a pro deer hunter thanks to you and a good early start....
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 41,761
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 41,761 |
AWESOME, congratulations to you both !
Paul.
"Kids who grow up hunting, fishing & trapping, do not mug little old Ladies"
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,686
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,686 |
A young man who can shoot like that, AND drink his hot chocolate from a 'Bama cup is alright by me.
RTR!
"The number one problem with America is, a whole lot of people need shot, and nobody is shooting them." -Master Chief Hershel Davis
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 27,692
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 27,692 |
Member: Clan of the Turdlike People.
Courage is Fear that has said its Prayers
�If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.� Ronald Reagan.
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Posts: 6,972
Campfire Tracker
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 13,622
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 13,622 |
Well done!! I saw first hand the effects of "doe fever" on my son this year.
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,553
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,553 |
RTR2...Reminds me a little of my son at around 13 or so. He'd already taken several deer but on the day in queston we were in a tree with his new to him Ruger 77R in 7x57; his Christmas present that year. He was on the seat of a ladder stand and I'd hung a chain-on alongside but a little behind to his right (withing reach of the rifle). We were looking down a cut in some mixed timber and and had already seen a couple of deer meandering along barely visible. Then a couple of does started easing toward the cut about 60 or 70 yards out. First one got in the cut and stopped. I leaned over and whispered "You want to shoot a doe or wait for a BAAMM!!!. Patience is not a virtue of most juvenile males. And the doe tasted great.
“When Tyranny becomes Law, Rebellion becomes Duty”
Colossians 3:17 (New King James Version) "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 330
Campfire Member
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OP
Campfire Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 330 |
Most years my son shoots 2 deer. He doesn't get as nervous on the first one, but that second deer, he gets jacked up. His second year hunting he killed a nice 8 point the first day. The second afternoon he killed a doe. While we were walking back to the truck he was talking 90 miles an hour and he told me, "I just can't stop talking."
On the doe in the pictures above, he was ready to go to her as soon as she hit the ground. "I'm going to check her." I made him wait until we had our stuff gathered up and I thought he was going to come unglued in the 5 minutes before we walked up to her.
Bob.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 330
Campfire Member
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,688
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,688 |
Good deal! I got to take my niece on her first hunt this year. I told her we could hunt an area where she could shoot a buck or a doe for her first deer, or we could go where we only shoot trophy bucks. She wanted a buck. I told her on the way in that the size of the rack didn't matter for her first deer. If she saw something she liked, she could shoot it. A pretty decent 6 pt. came out and she never even flinched. I started getting nervous. I asked her if she was going to shoot. She simply said no, he's not big enough. I about fell over! She didn't get a deer this year, but it was by far my best hunt. Roll Tide!
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,954
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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Posts: 1,954 |
Well, I have to counter with a loud WAR EAGLE!
Congratulations to the young man on a job well done. Looks like you are raising him right.
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