I got to take my 7 year old nephew on his first solo hunt Sunday Morning before church. He has just recently started showing interest in hunting and we bought him his lifetime license when he was a baby, so I thought why not take him.
I have not been in the woods 1 time this year and had no idea what to expect. We arrive about 30 minutes before shooting light and get set up in a tree line overlooking a field. Right at daylight we have a group of does pouring into the field at about 100 yards. We have practiced shooting but nowhere near enough that I felt he could make a 100 yard shot. (He was shooting my AR-15 with a red dot scope on it). After watching them for about 10 minutes and him squirmy vigorously wanting to shoot, out steps a buck at about 40 yards. He gets set up with the shooting stick, I tell him when he is on him, pull the trigger... BOOM shot rings out and buck runs away.
"I got him" he says but the deer showed no signs of being hit as he ran off. My heart sank. We waited a few minutes and went to look for blood. I got down on my hands and knees begging to find something to get me excited but there was nothing. Every red leaf on the ground, he would shout I found some blood, only to be discouraged. We looked around for about 30 minutes and there was nothing. I patted him on the back and said we would go back and sit down and see if anything else come out. Low and behold as we turn around, this same buck runs right out of the woods into the field about 35 yards away and just starts staring at us. We squat down and just cant get him steady enough.
The deer starts running away and over a hill. Now I'm super discouraged. My nephew starts "grunting" with his mouth and ill be danged if that deer doesn't turn around and start coming right toward us. We get setup as the deer continues to close the gap and at about 35 yards he turns sideways. I tell him to shoot when he is ready... BOOM the deer drops like a ton of bricks. That was probably the most excided I have been on a hunting trip in a long time. The .223 bullet absolutely devastated the heart of that deer.
He was so happy. I heard from his mom later in the day and she said he had shown everyone at church the picture of his deer.
That is what the juvy hunt is all about. I now feel i have a hunting partner any time I want need one.
I have not been in the woods 1 time this year and had no idea what to expect. We arrive about 30 minutes before shooting light and get set up in a tree line overlooking a field. Right at daylight we have a group of does pouring into the field at about 100 yards. We have practiced shooting but nowhere near enough that I felt he could make a 100 yard shot. (He was shooting my AR-15 with a red dot scope on it). After watching them for about 10 minutes and him squirmy vigorously wanting to shoot, out steps a buck at about 40 yards. He gets set up with the shooting stick, I tell him when he is on him, pull the trigger... BOOM shot rings out and buck runs away.
"I got him" he says but the deer showed no signs of being hit as he ran off. My heart sank. We waited a few minutes and went to look for blood. I got down on my hands and knees begging to find something to get me excited but there was nothing. Every red leaf on the ground, he would shout I found some blood, only to be discouraged. We looked around for about 30 minutes and there was nothing. I patted him on the back and said we would go back and sit down and see if anything else come out. Low and behold as we turn around, this same buck runs right out of the woods into the field about 35 yards away and just starts staring at us. We squat down and just cant get him steady enough.
The deer starts running away and over a hill. Now I'm super discouraged. My nephew starts "grunting" with his mouth and ill be danged if that deer doesn't turn around and start coming right toward us. We get setup as the deer continues to close the gap and at about 35 yards he turns sideways. I tell him to shoot when he is ready... BOOM the deer drops like a ton of bricks. That was probably the most excided I have been on a hunting trip in a long time. The .223 bullet absolutely devastated the heart of that deer.
He was so happy. I heard from his mom later in the day and she said he had shown everyone at church the picture of his deer.
That is what the juvy hunt is all about. I now feel i have a hunting partner any time I want need one.
