I'm not sure who was more excited, my son or me.
Greyson is 7 this year and has been determined that this is the year he was going to get his first deer. I told him if he continued to do well in school, we would try and get a hog or doe. He worked hard in school and only with the occasional friendly reminders. Grey asked to shoot every chance he got to ensure he was ready when the opportunitu arised. I had him shooting my AR-15 6.8spc because ive shot plenty of animals with it and it fit him well. Just before opening weekend of youth season, he was able to consistantly hit a 6 inch steel at 80 yrs. Perfect. He's ready, I told myself. Actually I was pretty proud at that moment. He was memorizing his steps to relax, exhale, settle in and squeeze the trigger. Pretty fun to watch.
The weekend came and he was more than excited. We missed the morning hunt because I was getting off work, but made the best of the evening. We got out early anticipating a good hunt. I was for sure we would get it done that evening as I usually see plety of doe. The evening drug on with only one doe showing at dusk and she had a young fawn with spots. I explained how we needed to let her go so she could raise the little one. He was all good and ready for the next hunt. I couldnt believe we didn't see more than that. Well Sunday fell the same way with no luck.
Fast forward to mid week when i went fir a solo,bow hunt, guess who showed up. The old one eyed doe I wanted him to shoot. I know ive seen her for 6 years now and hoped she would show Saturday.
Saturday came with Grey and I settled in the box blind. No sign of the blind doe, but a mature doe was sittining at 70yrds. I gave Grey the green light watched as he went through his steps as he practiced. Along with the nervous shakes. Lol, it may have been me shaking. He squeezed the trigger and the gun roared. The doe bolted at 3/4 speed and had that look of startled, but not the death run i was expecting. I replayed the video and could not confirm a hit. He was bummed. I was bummed for him. We got out and looked with no blood to be found. We pressed on in the direction she went. We caught up to her where she stomped, snorted and trotted off as nothing was wrong. I confirmed the miss. He was bummed but suprisingly in positive spirits looking forward to the next day. We werent able to make Saturday evening or Sunday morning hunts. So Sunday evening we got all situated. I started reading when he said "here comes 2 big does" I looked, sure enough 2 good size does were making their way in. With in the next 15 minutes we had 7 does and 2 yearlings. One of them was the blind doe. We spent the remainder of the evening waiting for the right shot. I think I hit record 4 or 5 times with it not working out.
With the sun setting, she finally mad her way to the rice bran pile and pushed the other does off. We confirmed and reconfirmed the correct doe and to make sure no other deer were behind her. I though she was going to take off. She moved towards the brush and went to alert, Greyson asked if i was ready, "shoot her"! Boom!-whop! She bolted in a death run. I knew he hit her. Yes! Yes! Grey quietly hollered. I replayed the video and confirmed a great shot. He went nuts. Wish I could have caught that on video. We called momma to come with little brother to help find her. We found good, ung blood, but not much past that. The wife picked up the trail near the fence line. Glad I called her. I went and looked and there she was just on the other side. We set up for pics, thanked God for the opportunity and meat. Its a blast to see your son humbly kill his first deer. What a feeling I will never forget. Congrats son!
Greyson is 7 this year and has been determined that this is the year he was going to get his first deer. I told him if he continued to do well in school, we would try and get a hog or doe. He worked hard in school and only with the occasional friendly reminders. Grey asked to shoot every chance he got to ensure he was ready when the opportunitu arised. I had him shooting my AR-15 6.8spc because ive shot plenty of animals with it and it fit him well. Just before opening weekend of youth season, he was able to consistantly hit a 6 inch steel at 80 yrs. Perfect. He's ready, I told myself. Actually I was pretty proud at that moment. He was memorizing his steps to relax, exhale, settle in and squeeze the trigger. Pretty fun to watch.
The weekend came and he was more than excited. We missed the morning hunt because I was getting off work, but made the best of the evening. We got out early anticipating a good hunt. I was for sure we would get it done that evening as I usually see plety of doe. The evening drug on with only one doe showing at dusk and she had a young fawn with spots. I explained how we needed to let her go so she could raise the little one. He was all good and ready for the next hunt. I couldnt believe we didn't see more than that. Well Sunday fell the same way with no luck.
Fast forward to mid week when i went fir a solo,bow hunt, guess who showed up. The old one eyed doe I wanted him to shoot. I know ive seen her for 6 years now and hoped she would show Saturday.
Saturday came with Grey and I settled in the box blind. No sign of the blind doe, but a mature doe was sittining at 70yrds. I gave Grey the green light watched as he went through his steps as he practiced. Along with the nervous shakes. Lol, it may have been me shaking. He squeezed the trigger and the gun roared. The doe bolted at 3/4 speed and had that look of startled, but not the death run i was expecting. I replayed the video and could not confirm a hit. He was bummed. I was bummed for him. We got out and looked with no blood to be found. We pressed on in the direction she went. We caught up to her where she stomped, snorted and trotted off as nothing was wrong. I confirmed the miss. He was bummed but suprisingly in positive spirits looking forward to the next day. We werent able to make Saturday evening or Sunday morning hunts. So Sunday evening we got all situated. I started reading when he said "here comes 2 big does" I looked, sure enough 2 good size does were making their way in. With in the next 15 minutes we had 7 does and 2 yearlings. One of them was the blind doe. We spent the remainder of the evening waiting for the right shot. I think I hit record 4 or 5 times with it not working out.
With the sun setting, she finally mad her way to the rice bran pile and pushed the other does off. We confirmed and reconfirmed the correct doe and to make sure no other deer were behind her. I though she was going to take off. She moved towards the brush and went to alert, Greyson asked if i was ready, "shoot her"! Boom!-whop! She bolted in a death run. I knew he hit her. Yes! Yes! Grey quietly hollered. I replayed the video and confirmed a great shot. He went nuts. Wish I could have caught that on video. We called momma to come with little brother to help find her. We found good, ung blood, but not much past that. The wife picked up the trail near the fence line. Glad I called her. I went and looked and there she was just on the other side. We set up for pics, thanked God for the opportunity and meat. Its a blast to see your son humbly kill his first deer. What a feeling I will never forget. Congrats son!
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