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The story of a girl, her family, and her dad...

Chapter one: The Does!

This year, our daughter Addy is 7. She has always been interested in the outdoors but here lately she has really taken on a strong appreciation for the matter. This Spring, the company I work for sold so as it was time to apply for the hunts, my future was up in the air. We came really close to becoming Texan's but it was important to me that I lined a few hunts up that I could really try to involve Addy with. I originally put her mother and I in for points as we were moving to Texas and as soon as I learned that we would be staying in Colorado, I filled out the paper work to correct our applications and got us in on the drawing for buck tags. We both drew out.

We knew we were going to be adding a new addition to our family the middle of September so we knew Kristen would 't be in much shape for the hunt in October but we decided we would try to give it our best go. I didn't know how the buck hunt would go so I found a doe tag in South Central Utah that is close to a lake my dad likes to fish so we made plans to just make an adventure of the doe hunt and planned on Grandpa being there with his boat and with any luck we would have Surf n Turf!

The doe hunt went as depredation doe hunts go. It's nothing exciting for internet forums but it was sure fun for a dad, his daughter and his dad.

It didn't take long to find the deer. Addy and I hiked a ridge on a very cold opening morning and waited for other hunters to push us some deer and I was able to single out a dry doe and put the hurts to her with my Remington 700 BDL 30-06 shooting 165 grain Hornady BTSP.

[Linked Image]

Now I'm a custom knife maker in between being and oil field worker and a father and I do it in my spare time which there isn't very much of. I hadn't had time to make myself a hunting knife prior to this hunt so it was my old faithful Case XX pocket knife that had the honors this hunt.

[Linked Image]

We got to spend plenty of time on the water with Grandpa and put a few nice fish in the boat. It was a great trip and Addy was beside herself with fun and adventure.

[Linked Image]

It was a very fun time and with two weeks left until the buck hunt we had fun scouting and finding were the majority of the bucks were hanging out. I'm going to throw in here that there is a town buck that has spent a very large portion of his time in my yard, eating my garden and napping in the jungle I call my back yard. it has been fun watching him grow the last few years and I'm proud I was able to make friends with this fella. It hard staring at a buck like this all summer and fall as it kinda makes you set your expectations a little high for reality.

I call him "little man" It's only a matter of time before the douchbags around try to do something stupid to kill this guy. I wish I could lock him in my shop for the next few weeks as he is only 4.5 years old and he is too much of a tame pet.

[Linked Image]

That is my lawn mower shed he likes to bed by.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

Lots more to come and thanks for following along.

Todd

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Chapter 2: The buck that broke the toe....

Before I knew it, those two weeks were gone and it was the night before the opening day of the buck hunt. I still hadn't found all the time I needed to make myself a knife so I was up until 11:00 PM finishing one. I went with my #7 profile with a clip point, lined cherry canvas micarta scales in a left hand sheath. I prefer to carry my knife on my left side as to not have it rub on my rifle as I walk with it slung on my shoulder.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

As mentioned earlier, we just added a new baby girl to our family and my wife still isn't fully recovered from it. She is a killer shot but she wasn't able to practice while she was pregnant so she opted to carry a light recoiling .243 shooting 100 gr. Nosler Partitions.

Opening morning we hunted a burn I had scouted and found a few bucks in. Grandpa and Grandma came up so my wife could break away for opening morning. Grandma watched our 4 year old and new born, and Kristen, Grandpa, myself and Addy all went buck hunting.

As we pulled out on a point to glass the burn a nice 3x4 buck jumped out of the ditch and started walking away from us. Kristen immediately chambered a round and took a knee.

He was about 110 yards walking directly away from us. We were on a point and he was down a steep hill. I said, "He's going to stop and look back at us. Can you hit him in the neck?"

"Yep" she responded very confidently... As soon as he stopped, she slipped one perfectly in his throat patch. It was a perfect shot. She has killed a couple doe, both antelope and deer and a cow elk but this was her first buck. I'm super proud of her and the best part was Addy was right there behind her and got to watch the whole thing!

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

I grabbed the game cart out of the truck before we headed to the buck. We loaded the buck on the cart and while carrying the buck out, the cart got away from me and ran over my pinky toe. I knew immediately and directly that the result of that little miss hap was going to be no fun at all. I tried to walk it off as we packed the buck but as time went on the pain got worse and worse and I could feel the toe changing shape in my Danner boot...

We got a buck loaded in the truck, found a good hanging tree to skin him out, wrapped him in a bag and now have him in the cooler. It was an awesome start to the hunt minus my foot being rendered more and more useless as the day wore on.

[Linked Image]

Still more to come!

Todd



Last edited by Justahunter; 10/22/17.
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Chapter 3: The Broken Toe Buck!

We got home to the newborn about 1:00 PM on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised that my toe was still indeed attached though it had grown quite a bit and took on a nasty purple color... A fella doesn't realize how much he uses that little guy until he can't anymore. Especially in the rocky mountains...

[Linked Image]

Anyhow, I wasn't about to waste a good evening hunt on opening day so after an ice bath and a few hundred mg of Ibuprofen it was back out to another burn I had found some more bucks in and with 20 minutes of good shooting light and while glassing the basin a nice wide 4x4 came into view 220 yards away. Grandpa was with me as well as the blood boiling Addy. I let her find him in the Meopta's and asked if I should shoot him. Her response would have been the same would it have been a yearling forkie but it was an excited yes in a loud whisper. I decided I was going to shoot him since I had my dad for help and I still didn't have any clue how crippled this little toe situation is going hamper my hunt. Plus, he is just a dang nice buck and I knew he was a nice opening day buck even under the best of situations. After all, our business that day was to kill nice bucks and business was good.

I leveled my Ruger American Predator 6.5 Creedmoor on the shooting sticks and sent the 129 Nosler LRAB. The bullet hit hard, right on its mark and it was over for the old boy in a few wobbly steps.

I love Addy's "trying to be awesome" pose but please excuse the bloody tongue pick. My dad is old school and isn't programmed to notice things like that and I never did either while we were taking picutres!

[Linked Image]

We got him home and hung in the shop and skinned out. A few gory pics of the terminal damage. I do believe I'm going to find a little stronger bullet. This bullet hit like a hammer and exited from a slight quartering too shoulder shot, plus it shoots little bitty groups from my rifle so it preformed good but it looks like I stuffed a grenade in this guys chest cavity and pulled the pin. Too much damage and bloodshot for my liking. The bullet leaves the muzzle at 2925 FPS with my load.

The entry side. I see why some people call them Accubombs... Bloodshot from the brisket to the top of the back and softball size entry. . I've never experienced this with regular Accubonds so I'm going to try some of them.

[Linked Image]

The exit side. The bullet did leave a quarter size exit. Please note that I do not consider this bullet failure at all. It worked great just way too much damage for my liking. Especially out of a moderate Creed... There is pretty much a 360 degree bloodshot ring clear around a mature muley buck.

[Linked Image]

Anyhow, Thanks again for following along. I still have a couple of elk tags in my pocket and 7 full days of work free hunting, I just hope my toe allows for some hiking that is going to be necessary to find some elk.

Good luck to you all and thanks again for tuning in!

Todd

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Great story of the family. Great buck, too. He's is indeed a youngish buck, and another 2-3 years could potentially be a fantastic set of antlers. I grew up with "pets" like those hanging out in our alfalfa fields and sleeping under my bedroom window..........


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Looks like a great time for everyone. Very nice to see families together. Nice deer. Ed k

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Nice work and sorry about the toe. The yard buck I wouldn't do this but would sure think about shooting the horns off. Hope he makes it.


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Great work. Love seeing the wife kids and extended family involved as well.


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Looks like a lot of fun hunting with the family, congrats to all.


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You guys had a busy weekend not to mention you killed some great bucks.

Congratulations


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Awesome photos and story....

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Good job, good post. Nice deer. Your little cutie is a keeper.

In 8 weeks, the toe will only be a little sore, judging by my broken big toe from a couple months back. PM Tylenol is the ticket going to bed. Hope you don't insist on sleeping on your back.

Meanwhile, try not to have a close griz encounter...... doesn't do the healing a bit of good. smile

Last edited by las; 10/23/17.

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Originally Posted by Justahunter


The doe hunt went as depredation doe hunts go. It's nothing exciting for internet forums but it was sure fun for a dad, his daughter and his dad.



I'd take a fun time hunting with the family over "Internet story cool" any time. You did, though, manage to turn it into Internet story cool as well. So, congratulations to you and your family on all counts!

P.S. I hope your toe heals well quickly.

Last edited by Cheyenne; 10/24/17.

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Love reading stories like this! You have a house full of beautiful females and a pack of capable hunters. You're a lucky man!


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Well done and well told!

Thanks for sharing this with us. It is wonderful to see a family like yours out hunting and fishing.

Good on you and your lovely bride for the job you're doing of raising Abby to value nature and all it has to offer!

Ed


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Thanks all! Means a lot! This toe is really putting a hamper on the elk hunt but it's still awesome being in creation! I've made a couple 2 mile hikes and I can feel every step! I'm gonna keep trying though! Definitely won't get one if I stay home!

Thanks again!

Todd

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Good job all the way around! I broke my big toe when I was a senior in high school during homecoming week. Even though it hurt, I wrapped it up good with the toe next to it and played the game that Friday night. Here's the good part about it, for the next several years I could tell when a change in the weather was coming. So, you will know when the best times to be out there to hunt and fish will be...lol.

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Great Job


I've always been different with one foot over the line.....
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Great story and pictures! Thanks for sharing!

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Nothing like hunting with the family. Good story!

Dad will be 95 on 11/7 and our gun deer season opens on 11/11. He wants to kill a buck at 95 because not many 95 yos do that. I told him "not many people make it 95 either". I had to go put the thumb drive in his TV so we could review what bucks we have on the place. Hopefully I'll get to post pics of him with a nice buck soon.


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Thanks for sharing the great story. Sounds like a good weekend was had by all. I hope your toe get's better. Things happen.


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