A tale of two bullets. The left one from a whitetail doe, the right one from a black buck antelope.




Alabama youth season for my soon to be 9 year old went well. We were invited to hunt on a private ranch (high fenced 3K+ acres) for black buck antelope.

Conditions were rainy and muddy, but we went round to a field tucked into the treeline bordered by an area of knee high grass approximately 150 to 200 acres in size. The plan was to park the truck about 5-600 yards from the field and walk to a tower stand. As it turned out I went one hill too far and there was black buck and a doe standing rt in the road. Luckily they ran away from the field and stood about 400 yards away on top of the next hill to watch us. As soon as I stepped out of the truck we saw the last of them.
We hugged the tree line up to the field to take a peek and there were two more black bucks in the field, a young one and a pretty nice one, along with about 20 whitetail deer scattered in an adjacent soybean field. I deployed the bipod, or kickstand as my son calls it, and we crawled up to where we could see in the field for a shot. The buck had fed over the rise from us, so that started a series of leapfrogging attempts to get in position for a shot without getting busted by the deer but each time the black buck would have fed just over the rise from us.

You can just make out the back of a whitetail buck at the base of those cedars. The black buck was to the left, still over the rise.



On the 4th attempt, we were out of cover and running out of light. we crawled through the legs of the tower stand as he banged the gun barrel on one of the legs. Then we belly crawled ( he calls it army style ) about 60-70 yards straight toward the buck until we got to the crest of the hill and could see the buck. I explained where to aim and was worried if he could see well enough in the failing light, to which he replied, "I got this!"



I was watching through my binoculars at the shot and saw the buck hunker down and take off at full speed. I heard the WOP of the bullet echo back from the far treeline as I watched the buck go weak legged and crash just shy of the near woodline. A 50 yard dash in about 2 seconds. I watched him a minute to make sure he was down, then back to get the truck.



I presented him with the hunting knife my dad gave me when I was about 10 or 11 years old. Nothing fancy, a Buck Lite that has been used a little over the past 33 years though.



.243. Win, 95 Grain Fusion at about 60 yards.



Did I say it was rainy and muddy?, When I stuck my hand in my pocket for the truck key, it was full of mud. When I bought the Rem Youth rifle I sprayed the whole thing with Krylon clear coat to guard against rust. Must have forgotten to do the bolt!

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Bob.

Outstanding!

excellent, and congratulations

That is really a nice blackbuck! You're getting him started right. Congratulations to both of you!

The second part of the story and 3rd time I've typed this. Computer keeps messing up.

The next day on different property, low fence, we climbed in the shooting house before daylight. After a couple of hours of nothing, we get down and sneak up to the next field. We watch a couple of button bucks while we sit on the ground for a few minutes and call it a morning.

That afternoon, we go back to the same place at 2 o'clock. As we walk to the field we start glassing and find 3 deer already in the patch. We got down in the road and set up for a shot if they came down far enough to get a good look. A swirling wind tipped them off and we climbed into the shooting house.




I told him he should take a nap at lunch!



Woke him up at 4pm and after about 20 minutes he was restless. Wanted to go walking again. I could not convince him to stay put, so we grabbed the gun and binoculars and made our way to the upper field. No movement there and after about 10 minutes eased back down to the lower field. We stopped about 30 yards back up the road from the field and started glassing. There were three deer in the field and 2 larger does standing just inside the wood line. I put the rifle down on the bipod and he slowly got behind the gun. I knelt down and waited for the doe to step out. She had us pegged but still took the last few steps we needed for a shot although she was quartering to us. I asked if he could see her and if he was steady. He said yes and I told him aim for the point of the should and he shoot when he was ready.

As I watched through the bins, I jumped at the shot ( 20 inch barreled .243's are LOUD )and got back on the deer to see her in mid flip and run right back in the woods. I was still watching through the binoculars as heard the bolt working and felt him tap me on the leg to hand be the empty casing. I checked the gun and he already had it on safe. Good job.

But now to find the deer before it gets too dark. I fixed the spot she had been standing in my mind and we went straight there. We found the skid marks where she turned inside out, and since it was too dark for me to see blood, we cut a loop looking for a dead deer. We were about halfway through our first loop when I saw a white belly ahead. I told Harrison to look that way and I'd look another way. He yelled " I found her" with a big smile on his face.

Where we found her.



What happens if I don't wear reading glasses when I take a picture. You get stuff in the way and can't see it on the camera screen.



The entry on the near shoulder and the spot where I found the bullet under the hide on the off side. (Note how limber that shoulder is, it was smashed to pieces)


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Harrison using his new knife to help skin the deer.

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The shot was somewhere around 240 yards after I got down to the spot where she was standing and I wouldn't have let him shoot if I'd realized it at the time. But he hit her right where he said he was aiming. He impressed me by cycling the bolt and putting the gun back on safe without me telling to him to do it. ( This is first time I've put more than one round in the gun) And I shouldn't have doubted his shooting after we went to the range a couple of weeks ago.

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So all in all, a very good weekend with my son. I still haven't told him he can hunt all year, not just on youth weekend. I might tell him when he gets big enough to drag and skin his own.

Bob.

Congrats

Great story and outstanding job by your son. He's lucky to have a Dad that will "Army style" crawl in the mud with him too.

Congrats to you both!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you, I was really proud of him and can see him getting better at this each year as we go.

It took me all day Sunday to recover from the army style

That's awesome! I still remember my first deer which was with my dad. I set the bar high with a monster 8pt that I have yet to top 14 years later. I remember the morning vividly as if it were yesterday.

Fusion + .243 is good stuff. Congrats to you both!!!

Congrats!!! I like the passing down of the knife. Very cool tradition.

Eric

Awesome! I am so looking forward to days like that with each of my sons.

I love to see posts like this.
They remind me of what is really important.
Thanks for posting.
Steve

Congrats to Harrison and his guide!!!!
Both are very lucky!!!!

Nice!
Nice to see the NEXT generation outside hunting
instead of inside playing a Video game.
AMRA

I remember it too - like it just happened - with all the details. A lot of similarities between OP's and our stories. So you lopping off years already? It happened 2nd weekend of Nov in 1997...that's a shade over 16 years by my count ;-)

Congrats.

Congratulations to you and your son. Pass along my compliments on some fine shooting, as well.

As I looked through your pictures, my mind went back to November 19, 2005. My son was 8 at the time, and he took his first deer that day.

Neither of you will ever forget these days together.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm back at hunting camp without him doing some muzzleloader hunting and sure do miss him.

The scope on his rifle is a redfield revolution with the accu-range reticle. He asked me last Saturday what the dot was for (first time he's asked anything about the scope) and I told him it was supposed to be for 400 yards. He said, will this gun shoot that far?, I want to start shooting at 400 he said. We have access to a 500 yard range and I'll start letting him try out the steel targets next time he comes hunting. I may have to start reloading for .243 now!

Bob.

Guess Im Loosing track of time in my old years!

WONDERFUL PICTURES,STORY AND A VERY CLEAN CLEAN CUT,HAPPY YOUNG HUNTING PARTNER