Wow, what a day and praise the LORD!
I punched my final tag yesterday, and my son punched his this afternoon. I had planned to take him Wed as he was off school but decided to take him today as well as I wasn't sure on the rain tomorrow. He decided that he would buck hunt for a few days and try to save his final tag for a decent buck.
We hunted this morning until 10:30 but never saw a deer which is odd in this spot. We did have trail camera pics of 2 decent bucks in daylight in the last 3 days so we were hopeful for this afternoon. After a trip to McDonald's for lunch, and a quick 30 min nap, we headed back in. It was a nice evening but still no deer until the final 10 mins of legal light. I told him that I thought I heard a deer coming below us on a flat. I then looked and saw it standing there about 40 yards. It was so dark in the woods where it was standing that I couldn't tell if it was a buck or not and didn't bring my binoculars. I got the gun and looked at it through the scope but couldn't tell. It had two options, either walk 20 yards out into the broad open where the lgith was still good or cut a diagonal trail to hit a road bed about 80 - 90 yards below us that went straight from us. Of course, the deer picked the latter, crap it's gonna get away. I was 99% sure that it was a buck by the way it was acting and that it was a big bodied, dark colored deer. I finally seen him hit the roadbed below us and looked at him again but still couldn't tell about a rack. I told him that I knew that it was a buck but couldn't tell how big. He said, I'm gonna shoot it. I said what if it's a small buck and your last tag. He said, "Dad, I don't care, I'm only 9." :tu: I said well you better get around and get on it as it started across the trail. I bleated to stop it in the center. I told him where it was standing and to find it in the scope. He found it and let the 7mm-08 roar. The deer took off across the opening, and we heard it crash. I told him that it might be a doe but was 99% sure that it was a buck. I was also 95% sure that it was at least a 2.5 yo buck by it's body size but didn't tell him that part at the time. As we got our stuff and started down the stand, we had 4 mins of legal light left so he shot it with about 5 - 6 mins left. We hurried down to look for blood. It was difficult to pick up the trail, but we finally found it. I seen horns but told him that it was a doe. He had already saw the beam sticking up. He ran to it, and the other side was buried in the leaves. He said it's only got one horn, but I saw the other going into the ground. Hw picked it up, and there was 8 pts. The excitement right then was unreal. What an evening, and we're both still on cloud 9. His biggest buck to date, and you would have thought that I had done the same.
This is his fourth deer of the year and 2nd buck. I said well we can sleep in now. Nope, he's ready to go shoot some does. :super: I've created a monster. I said well we are going to sleep in for a day or two anyhow.
Sorry for the long read but super excited still. If you haven't taken a kid hunting, do it. I promise that you won't forget it.
I've got to try to take some better pics tomorrow. This is the best that we could do tonight.
I punched my final tag yesterday, and my son punched his this afternoon. I had planned to take him Wed as he was off school but decided to take him today as well as I wasn't sure on the rain tomorrow. He decided that he would buck hunt for a few days and try to save his final tag for a decent buck.
We hunted this morning until 10:30 but never saw a deer which is odd in this spot. We did have trail camera pics of 2 decent bucks in daylight in the last 3 days so we were hopeful for this afternoon. After a trip to McDonald's for lunch, and a quick 30 min nap, we headed back in. It was a nice evening but still no deer until the final 10 mins of legal light. I told him that I thought I heard a deer coming below us on a flat. I then looked and saw it standing there about 40 yards. It was so dark in the woods where it was standing that I couldn't tell if it was a buck or not and didn't bring my binoculars. I got the gun and looked at it through the scope but couldn't tell. It had two options, either walk 20 yards out into the broad open where the lgith was still good or cut a diagonal trail to hit a road bed about 80 - 90 yards below us that went straight from us. Of course, the deer picked the latter, crap it's gonna get away. I was 99% sure that it was a buck by the way it was acting and that it was a big bodied, dark colored deer. I finally seen him hit the roadbed below us and looked at him again but still couldn't tell about a rack. I told him that I knew that it was a buck but couldn't tell how big. He said, I'm gonna shoot it. I said what if it's a small buck and your last tag. He said, "Dad, I don't care, I'm only 9." :tu: I said well you better get around and get on it as it started across the trail. I bleated to stop it in the center. I told him where it was standing and to find it in the scope. He found it and let the 7mm-08 roar. The deer took off across the opening, and we heard it crash. I told him that it might be a doe but was 99% sure that it was a buck. I was also 95% sure that it was at least a 2.5 yo buck by it's body size but didn't tell him that part at the time. As we got our stuff and started down the stand, we had 4 mins of legal light left so he shot it with about 5 - 6 mins left. We hurried down to look for blood. It was difficult to pick up the trail, but we finally found it. I seen horns but told him that it was a doe. He had already saw the beam sticking up. He ran to it, and the other side was buried in the leaves. He said it's only got one horn, but I saw the other going into the ground. Hw picked it up, and there was 8 pts. The excitement right then was unreal. What an evening, and we're both still on cloud 9. His biggest buck to date, and you would have thought that I had done the same.
This is his fourth deer of the year and 2nd buck. I said well we can sleep in now. Nope, he's ready to go shoot some does. :super: I've created a monster. I said well we are going to sleep in for a day or two anyhow.
Sorry for the long read but super excited still. If you haven't taken a kid hunting, do it. I promise that you won't forget it.
I've got to try to take some better pics tomorrow. This is the best that we could do tonight.
