It is a pretty neat feeling when a plan comes together just like you hope and that is exactly what happened this evening! After lots of practice in 4H BB gun class, practice in our basement shooting an air rifle with a scope, and then handling the excitement to bag her first turkey last spring, our daughter Grace was determined to make this the year she shot her first deer. Having praticed using shooting sticks and learning to "pick a spot" using lots of pictures in magazines, all of the work Grace did paid off on her very first deer hunt. One month before her 9th birthday and Grace's dream of taking her first deer is now a reality!

Both my wife and I are school teachers, so we didn't have a lot of time to hunt this evening, but having hunted this place several years we have a pretty good idea of what the deer usually do. I got out to the field early enough to set up the pop-up blind and leave their stuff in it, then headed back out to the road to meet them. My wife served as Grace's "turkey guide" last spring and was anxious to be her "deer guide" tonight while I took our younger son around and hunted 1/2 mile away. With about 15 minutes of shooting light left, I finally heard a single shot from their direction...





For those of you who like details, Grace made a perfect shot at about 50 yards with the deer quartering slightly away. She was shooting a Rem. Model 7 in 7mm-08 using reduced loads I worked up using 120 gr. Hornady soft points. It isn't a very fast load, but worked just as hoped as the deer piled up less than 50 yards away. The bullet didn't exit, but both lungs were destroyed, so pleased with that result. Grace is small enough (only 51 pounds) that I was concerned about too much recoil, but using the shooting sticks she did just fine. Now she has an antlerless tag to fill, so we will be headed back out again this weekend.

Such a cool story. You are very lucky to get to share all of that with your family. Nice job Grace!! Awesome buck.

Congratulations to the young huntress on a job VERY well done!

Her first deer is nearly identical to mine but I was 14 years old.

She should be VERY proud of her accomplishment.

Awesome, congrats to your daughter on her first deer. A memory you will always cherish. Remembering my son's first deer still brings a smile to my face 17+ years later.

A family that hunts together......awesome. Congratulations to the young lady. Beats the heck out of time in front of the TV...our family spent years of camping together.

That's awesome- way to go Grace!

The smile says it all! Thankfully, she hasn't learned the "game face" yet!

Good job Grace! Congrats also to Mom and Dad for making it happen. My boys got their first deer at 8 and 9 years of age and I will never forget their smiles either..

That's some cool pics and a cool story. I love to see Mom involved as well.

Good job Grace! Hats off to Mom and Dad for getting her out there! Beats the heck out of my first deer.

Thanks for all of the compliments and kind words. I will be sure to pass your congratulations along to Grace!

that's great! good job!

Proud Dad: The images suggest you have a very rich life there. Envious indeed. Way to go Grace, and keep bringing home the groceries.

Thank you, Paul and 1minute. I am blessed to be able to enjoy these hunts with family. Had to laugh today as our daughter took treats to school to celebrate her birthday...cupcakes and deer jerky!

Great job done.Congrats.

Congrats Grace!!