2011 Youth Deer Harvest Contest

[Central Iowa]

Iowawhitetail is pleased to kick of our first youth deer harvest contest. To participate a photo is required to be posted under this thread and a hunt story is encouraged for all entries. We encourage the hunters to try to write their own story if they are able, we understand help may be needed. the winner will have first choice of the two prizes. Runner up will have what is left.

Muddy Outdoors has sponsored this contest with a youth harness. (I'm sure a full size if needed)

http://www.gomuddy.com/shopping/Depa...d-Harness.aspx


Old Buck and Zach Wildlife Art has added a decorators print to the prize package. Larry also wanted to invite everyone to his open house this weekend.

http://www.zachwildlifeart.com/news-and-events

The administrators and moderators will vote on all the entries and reduce the field down to five finalists. Final voting will be performed by the PMA members with an emphasis on the photo; the voting will follow the close of all Iowa deer seasons. All youth harvested deer from any season by legal means are eligible. Members and non members are eligible.

We welcome youth hunters from all states to to enter. If you fit the age requirements as Iowa law reads you are eligible.

Iowa youth hunter= Iowa residents that are
less than 16 years old on the day they obtain a
license, are eligible for the Youth Season.

We hope to see a bunch of happy hunters in this contest good luck! :way:


Thanks again to Muddy Outdoors and Zach Wildlife Art for the prizes.

 

[Central Iowa]

Youth hunters don't forget to post pictures and story here to be eligible.

 

[TheMadCatter]

Time to make up a story, oh I mean tell it. The wind was blowing from every direction 100MPH I tell you, heard a Deer coming from 400 yards away and shot him in his tracks at 250 yards

Naw, time for the real story. It was about 12:30pm and our group was getting tired. Well, we didn't get to the spot where we were supposed to be and a Buck I saw last night (160s class) ran right infront of us 60 yards and I took 3 shots missed. This Buck comes over the hill and I heard 2 shots and it comes right to me, he's limping.

Well, I take one shot at him he turns around runs right to my Dad who takes a shot. We all missed besides another kid in my group. We blood trail him 200+ yards and everyone gives up but me. I sit down and I see movement 100 yards of and start to sneak, there he was.

He started limping my way at about 50 yards and I took a shot and hit him right in the heart. He went down FAST. The other kid shot him in a non-vital place and he would have lived if I didn't shoot him. I ended up gutting him, tagging him, and keeping him. We played out the rest of the day and this was the biggest Buck taken other than the Buck from yesterday. Good luck to everyone else who still has a tag!

Thanks to God I had a great hunt!

After a long day of school and running hard at Cross Country this was great! My Dad's combine broke down so we headed out at 6:30pm and went to the new property we just bought! (120 acres 10 timber and 2 ponds). So, this property over the years has been poached, illegaly hunted, and unethicaly hunted. It hasn't been hunted since Feb (Yeah, poached). So, we didn't think there would be any Bucks or squat but we just thought what the hay. We get out and see this Doe at 20ft away. My Dad looked at me and said "It's your tag" I look at the Doe aim and then something just came over me not to shoot. So, the Doe then runs about 25 yards out stops then looks for 3mins and then snorts away. I then relize, oh snap there were Deer over the hill! 15 Deer come and ran, my Dad then asked me "is it over?" I said "No way" I then go sit on a dirt hill (it's about 10ft off the ground) at 6:41pm and wait. Then at 6:47pm two Bucks come out of the corn 10 yards behind me! I'm thinking "Oh crap they saw me!" I then look and relize they have no clue I'm there! They then start to run right to me! WITHIN 20FT, 15FT, 10FT! then the Buck stops at 7 feet to look at a Doe and I then shot him right in the heart! He goes down then tries to get back up and BOOM second shot right through the heart and spine. The funny thing is, I told my Dad we should pray together before the hunt and we did and I think that's why this Deer came out infront of me. Here are some pictures! Not the Buck I was hoping for but still a good Buck.

AS HE LAYS!

I'm now working on making my own Euro mount!

God was a great help in this hunt

Well, I went out about 6:02pm I was really late because I had school back up on me a little because I had surgery. I'm pretty much caught up now, but on to the story. I went out and I was going to sit in my blind when a Doe runs 10 yards infront of me I stop dead in my tracks, another Doe runs and I watch them and don't notice a Buck come out 20-30 yards away until 3mins later. He is just standing there looking at me. I took my chances and grunted at him and he got PISSED. He looked at me held his head high and started walking down wind to me. I take my Bow raise it a little and freeze. He then doesn't relize I'm standing right there. He messes around at 40 yards and starts walking a fence line. Comes closer and closer, 30 yards, 25, 20, I shoot him in his tracks at 20 yards. The arrow bounces and I think "Oh, I hit the ground! Bugger!" I did, it hit the ground bounced into his leg and bounced off his leg into his vitals. I can't stop laughing about it! Weird thing is I sent a text to my Dad to pray and he said he did. The Deer runs 100 yards over a tarace and I didn't go look for him there. I walked up and could have shot a Doe at 5 yards but passed her up. I know I should save the arrow, so I walk back to where I shot the Buck and he comes out of the corn right by the tarace at 5 yards! He runs about 50 and that was the last time I saw him. He was laying right where I saw him last.

Shot it last night, I've only shot 3 Deer this year 2 of which are dead.

I'm 110% sure this is the Buck I shot last night, blood trailed him 200 yards, the 'Yotes were bad to him. IN ONE NIGHT THEY ATE HIM! He was still warm.

 

[deeraddict]

Hi guys this is Wyatt I shot a big doe last Sunday it was awsome. The first thing we had to do to hunt was set up the blind. We set it up in a food plot and brushed it in a couple weeks befor the seson. Then on opening morning of yoth season me, my dad, and my dad's frend Jeff went out on a hunt. we saw a big doe 60 or 70 yards away in the timber Dad told me to get ready and all of the sudden she was about 25 feet away I moved to try to get a shot but she spooked. My dad had to leve at 8:30 to go to my sisters softball game but Jeff and I stayed. after dad left a doe and two fawns came in but I had no shot. Then we saw about 10 turkeys and another doe. I got shot a shot at the doe, and when we looked for sign, Jeff said I flat missed. Jeff and I got back in the blind and then we left about an hour later and went to Jeff's house for a few hours and wached the Iowa football game then went out in the after noon. We were out for about an hour or two an a doe and a butten buck came in. I had a shot at the buttonbuck I shot, Jeff said I missed, and I reloaded and shot at it agine. we went out and looked for blood but couldn't fined any so we got back in the blind. At just abought dark a buck came in Jeff said it was a nice 8 point, he got it to stop and told me to shoot, we couldn't see any blood in the dark so we went back in the morning. Me, my dad and I checke d the spot the buck was standing but no sign, I missed again. Dad and Jeff decided we should pute a scope on the gun, even though I was shooting good with open sights when we practiced. Dad got a reddot scope put on and we went and practiced some more, i shot 6 bullseyes and dad said I was shooting good out to 50 yarsds. We went back out the next Friday night, but we didnt see any deer. My dad had to go to another softball game for my sister the next mornign so my uncle terry took me out. we did n't see any deer either. That night we didn't hunt as dad took me with him and his buddies to teh whiteltails unlimited banquet. I won a bb gun pistol there, it was fun. the next morning we got up at 4:45 to go hunt and i was really tired from the night before. We got all the way to the blind and dad realized the shells didn't get put back in my backpacka dn had to walk back to the truck. he got back and we got all set up. I kept falling asleep in my chair and dad kept waking me up telling me to watch for deer. all of the sudden he told me to take the safety off and get ready cuse he saw a deer. he said it's a small one wait fort the doe. She finally walked out where I could see her but she was walking away from me, dad said get on her and he would stop her, he went meep at her and she turned broadside, dad was next to me and said shoot, shoot, shoot. I pulled the trigger and she dropped in her tracks. dad said stay on her, then he said she's done, you got her. i started pumping my fist in the air and was yelling ya ya ya, and then me and dad high fived. we went out then and looked at her, and then dad had me call my mom, Robin and Jeff and tell them that I got one. Later Robin asked me how it felt and i told him ggod, but now it sucks cuse I am done hunting.

 

[Central Iowa]

Owens First Buck as told by Owen and typed by dad.

We left home Saturday afternoon and we went to the farm then we got ready to leave and go to the blind after we took a shower and put our hunting clothes on and got my gun ready. We went to a blind on a patch of clover. We didn't have a good sit we seen two does one fed in the beans and the other in the clover as it got dark. I wanted to shoot the furthest and biggest doe but it was to far to shoot because dad says I can only shoot 75 yards. The other doe came through the clover but it was to late to shoot but I could see her in the scope. We let her leave the field and snuck out and went to the cabin. We got our bedding ready and made supper. We the watched Scooby Do and a hunting video and went to bed. We slept in Sunday morning and we worked around the cabin. My dad found a stick for me to whittle with my first knife (dad made him where gloves) it was the first time I made an arrow it was fun. The we got ready to go hunting. We then went to another blind with rye, turnips, beans and corn all the way around us. I wanted to shoot a doe but as I got ready it ran into the corn the same thing happened to me the first weekend. I looked out a back window and I seen an 8 pointer it was in the corn and then it went to the edge of the corn and started eating probably rape or forage radish in the turnips. I had to kneel on a stool and got ready looking out the window of the door of the blind. The deer was slanted away ( translation: quartered away) I knew I had to aim farther back because the deer was slanted. I put the scope where I thought and I shot. I then watched it run into the corn a few yards farther and watched the corn go flying and I could not see the deer because it fell. I was so excited and my heart was pounding and I was breathing so hard my dad was was so impressed and happy. Then I spotted another buck it was a drop tine buck I couldn't shoot it because I already shot the 8 pointer I was so happy still. We had seen the drop tine buck the first weekend in another field. We watched the drop tine buck and we took pictures of it. the drop tine buck did not run away for a long time but it smelled my dead buck and ran two does ran to. We then got ready to find my deer I seen blood on the corn and tracked it I looked forward and sideways and it was there laying in the middle of the corn. It's antler was stuck under the root of a corn stalk my dad had to help me get it unstuck. It was heavy to pick up but I was so excited that I was able to pick the head up. We then took pictures and I got tired of my dad taking pictures and the head was getting so heavy. We then got the tractor to lift it up because it was so heavy. We then brought it up and loaded it up and went home. My dad is going to have it mounted because it is my first buck. It will go next to my boar head.

All Smiles!

Mid July Trail Cam Picture

 

[TheMadCatter]

I saw more Youth posts! C'mon why not try to win something?

 

[Central Iowa]

bump ttt , post youth deer here to be in the contest. I know we have had more posted make sure they get entered here to be eligible.

 

[bowman]

Posting for Allison.

This summer my dad got a food plot ready for us to hunt on. It grew very little because there was no rain forever. Luckily it rained and it finally took off growing.

My first hunt we went to the food plot. We sat till dark not seeing a thing. Oh well, that hunt was fun and my dad and I enjoyed it. The next hunt we hunted the food plot again. That time we saw two small 4 point bucks and about a 120inch buck. I decided to pass them all up. I was going to take the bigger buck but I just was not excited about taking him and I didn’t want to take him and not be happy with him. This is one of the little bucks I passed.

The next hunt we sat by some hay bails. We didn’t see anything while hunting, but when we were packing up we heard something. We looked up and saw a doe running away from our blind. The next hunt we tried hunting in the spot we saw a big buck last year. No luck, we didn’t see a thing except my little mice friends. Next we hunted a spot very close to where we hunted last time. We didn’t see anything until after the hunt. When we were walking out dad stopped to tell me something when we heard bucks fighting in the bottom below us. Dad looked though the binoculars and saw about 5 deer. They were coming up the hill towards us so we dropped over the back side of the hill and got to the truck as fast as we could with out spooking them. Dad told me that he could tell that the bucks that were fighting were mature.


The next night I was going to go to a volleyball game but I decided to go hunting instead. We hunted in the bottom were we saw the bucks fighting. We decided to set up the decoy for the first time this year. For the first 30 minutes we prayed as we always do, and I slept. Then a little 4 point buck came out. He walked around the decoy for about 20 minutes acting like he was going to ram it. He pawed he ground and circled the decoy. About the time we thought he was going to ram it a doe came out. The little buck watched her a while but then started looking to the right of us. Dad took his ear muffs off in time to hear two grunts. Just then the big boy came out. He saw the decoy and was walking towards it ready to fight. I tried to get my gun up as fast and as quite as I could but the little buck spotted me. He came about 4 yards away from us acting very suspicious. I was still trying to get my gun up before he spooked and ran. When I got it up and ready dad said to shoot. I shot and he ran about 45 yards, fell and rolled down the hill. We got the hunt on video and the video shows my excitement after the shot.

I’m glad now that I didn’t go to that volleyball game, or I may not have gotten this deer!

Scores 144 7/8"!:way:

 

[promise land]

My nephew shot his buck the 2nd weekend of youth season, man was he excited. He ran the batteries out on his cell phone calling everyone.

 

[NWBuck]

My daughter Krista asked me to post the story of Crabclaw Six for her in this thread, so here it goes...

The last weekend of the 2011 youth season rolled around and Krista still had a tag in her pocket. She's a busy 15 year old with sports, music, church activities, etc. so we hadn't had many chances to get out. Saturday night opened up an opportunity, so away we went. After I explained our set up options, she chose a ground blind over my recommended double ladder stand location. Our goal for the night was to fill a doe tag. Just before sunset 7 deer appeared about 250 yards away and fed out of sight. There were for sure 2 bucks in the group...1 looking to be pretty decent from what we could tell. Thinking they had moved on for the night, we turned our attention to 2 deer that fed out into the cornfield only 75 yards away. Unfortunately, a quick glance through the binocs revealed both were small bucks, and she chose to pass. With light fading the original 7 deer suddenly appeared on the back side of the unpicked corn and fed within easy range. We tried to decide pass or shoot on Crabclaw Six as he fed within less than 50 yards, and a smaller buck was mere feet from the blind's nearest window. Finally, it was clear that this was a mature buck and Krista decided to shoot at a range of about 35 yards. I was watching the buck through binocs at the time of the shot and through the post-shot smoke saw him mule kick and run into a thick, knarly draw just to the north of us.

I was sure of the shot, but knew this was a large animal that could potentially go a ways. We had only a few minutes before total darkness, so I suggested we walk to where he went into the draw and take a quick look. Working with a small backpack flashlight we could find no sign of blood, and didn't find the buck by the time we reached the bottom of the draw. As it had now become totally dark, I realized it was time to head back to the truck for better light and possibly call in reinforcements. The landowner had cut silage around the head lands on this field, but most of the rest of the field remained unpicked. We walked the cut silage around the point and headed back towards the truck. About 50 yards from the truck, Krista said "Hey Dad...isn't that a deer?". And unbelievably, laying right out in the middle of the cut rows, and about 30 yards from the truck, laid Crabclaw Six! Krista's shot was perfectly placed, and the buck had bolted down to the bottom of the draw, straight up the other side and was kind enough to die where we could drive a truck next to him :way: We high fived, laughed, and then jaw dropped as we had seriously underestimated the size of this buck both in antlers and body weight. He was the largest animal I'd ever seen dead in my 30+ years of hunting, and I'm pretty sure I said "Holy Crap Krista" at least a hundred times

We took a cell phone pic and sent a picture message to her mom with the caption "We're going to be a little late "

A daylight picture the following morning shows just how long and deep this deer was.

After struggling to get him loaded, we saw the landowners out harvesting beans and knew they'd want to see him. We stopped and Krista received high fives and back slaps from all...these guys are such great people :way: Crabclaw Six is technically an 8 with the small crabclaw points, but certainly a six point frame. It was interesting to listen to the landowners tell us how this particular farm had a history of producing large 6 point framed bucks for their shotgun group. Although I haven't taken the time to score him real closely, a few quick measurements make it clear this buck will be well into the 130's as a 6. As one of my good friends said while looking at the buck..."Damn him for not throwing two more points off each beam"

Although we didn't have any trailcam pics of this buck that we knew of, the story took an interesting turn a week or so later. A relative that hunts a nearby property facebooked Krista this picture they had taken of him during the summer. Thanks Zack!

Krista is still debating between full shoulder, euro or plaque, but whatever her choice, Crabclaw Six has earned a place in the man cave, and this hunt is one I'm sure we'll be talking about for many years to come. Thanks for reading...

NWBuck

 

[bowman]

Here is Trenton's buck and the story he wrote:

Last Year on September 24, I shot a 135 inch buck with my muzzleloader. We thought it was a good shot but we could not find the buck in the thick cover. A few months later we found out that another hunter had found the buck. Luckily he was nice enough to return it to me since we had the video to prove that I had shot it.

For the 2011 Youth Deer Season my Dad told me that I could hunt with my bow if I could draw enough weight and could shoot good enough. I practiced all summer and was finally drawing enough weight. I was shooting groups the size of baseballs at 15 yards! I decided I would carry my muzzleloader and my bow during youth season.

On opening day we were planning to go to the food plot we made during the summer but my dad’s friend called us and offered for us to come out to his farm to hunt. At the last minute we changed our plans and headed to his farm. He told us how to get to get to the blind over the phone.

When we were driving in we saw a 130 inch buck run across the neighbor’s field. We prayed before we left the truck and again in the blind. It was an hour into the hunt when I looked to my right there were three nice bucks walking towards us. I told my Dad and I started getting the gun ready. One buck was an upper 150’s 8 point, another one was lower 150’s 10 point, and the last one was one was in the 140’s . The bucks seemed nervous about the blind and turned around to walk away. I put the gun up on the window of the blind. I was going to shoot the smaller buck but right before I did my dad said to wait for the big buck to take a step. When the buck stepped to the side he gave me a shot at 50 yards. Right when I shot all I could see was smoke. They all ran together but then I saw a buck stop then it fell. I was really excited and wanted to go right to the buck but my Dad made me reload the muzzleloader first.

When we got up to the buck he looked a lot bigger than I thought he was. After we got up to him my eyes where really itchy. Then when we walked to the truck I was not breathing so well but after I was in the air conditioning I felt better. I have really bad rag weed allergies and we think that is why I was feeling so bad.

My Dad and I tried to load the buck but we couldn’t get it in the truck. We had to get help. While we drove home I called a whole bunch of people to tell them about my buck. When we got home people started coming over to see the buck. He scores 154 2/8" as an 8 point with a 23.5” spread. My Dad’s friend knew the buck and had named him Curly. He has trail cam pictures from last year and sheds from years before. He is 6.5 years old! This is him last year.

I called my Dad’s friend and thanked him for letting me hunt his farm and shoot this awesome buck.

I worked hard this summer and earned money to buy a bow tag. I will shoot anything for my first deer with a bow. I’m excited about bow season and feeling blessed for the buck I just shot.

 

[Fletcher #1]

[FONT=&quot] On November 21 my dad, one of his buddies, and I decided to hustle out and get in a quick hunt after school.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]We drew straws for stands because we never seemed to have any good luck when we just chose ourselves. I drew the buck-ridge stand, my dad drew the Iverson point stand, and my dad’s friend chose the big oak stand so I ended up not being able to see either one of them.
This was only the second time I had hunted the buck-ridge stand so I wasn't quite used to it yet. I had been out hunting about 15 times before this and this was probably the best weather we had seen. Multiple times before it had been cold and really windy but we had always stayed in the stand until the end.
I climbed up in my stand and took my coat off because it was so warm. I had only been in the stand for about a half an hour before I heard something coming up behind me. I stood up, grabbed my Ross Cardiac and slowly peeked around the tree. Coming down the ravine toward me was a seven point buck. He slid down into the dry creek bed and walked it over to my tree. The he climbed out of the creek bed and crossed directly behind my stand.
He was quartering away at 20 yards and was walking at a quick pace when I drew back and grunted to stop him. It was just my luck that his upper body stopped right behind a tree. I waited for what seemed like 10 minutes but was actually about 2 with my bow drawn. My arm started to get tired so I let my bow down as slowly and quietly as possible.
God decided to help me out a bit and he let the buck continue on its way. I drew back and grunted again, this time stopping him quartering away at 30 yards. I steadied the pin and let the arrow fly. The nocturnal lit up perfectly. He ran 100 yards and then bedded down. We thought he was dead so we walked over to him but it turned out he had a little life left in him and he ran out into the harvested bean field and bedded down there.
We got in the truck and went back home for a couple more hours to let him die. My dad and I were so anxious; we had a hard time eating dinner.
When we finally went back out to the field we couldn't find him. He wasn't in the field were we left him so I turned to look into the woods. There he was, bedded down in the grass right on the tree line. He was only about 7 yards from me so I drew my bow again and stuck him in the heart with my second arrow. He got up and only went 30 yards before he was down for good.
This was my first deer with a bow and my dad was really proud of me.[/FONT]

 

[Tip1ovr]

Olivia had been telling people for years that "when I turn 6 my daddy is taking me hunting". To me, that day couldn't arrive soon enough.

9/17/11 - Deer were already feeding in the food plot when we arrived so we "bumped" them off from about 350 yards. Got into the blind at about 2:45pm. About 10 minutes after we got there, and until the time she shot at about 7pm, it was a steady stream of deer in and out, eating and gorging, in the plot. The most deer out at one time was about 15 but I suppose we saw about 25 does / fawns and 1 spike. Many of the deer would feed within 10 yards of the tower blind we were hunting in. Olivia had a lot of fun watching the does and fawns especially when a couple of the fawns would nurse on mother. About 7pm ish, he ( The Split Ear Buck ) stepped out of the brush just east of the blind at about 45 yards. Wind was perfect and he immediately went to feeding in the food plot. There were a few tense moments as Wanda tried to get Olivia calmed down but after a deep breathe, she was fine and unbelievably focused. Filmed the deer for about 1 minute. When he turned broadside Olivia was ready and made a great hit on him with her new Thompson Center Pro Hunter - highlighted in pink of course.

After the shot, the buck ran right at us and went by the tower blind about 10-15' away. Reviewed the footage a couple times and just wasn't 100% sure of the hit ( smoke ) or if the spot on his side I thought I could see was even a hit?? Based on the way the deer reacted, about 5 minutes after she shot I decided I better get down and look for blood right by the blind - approaching darkness and rain in the forecast. Fortunately, found blood immediately which made me feel pretty confident the spot I thought I could see on his side ( while reviewing the video ) was indeed a good hit. Five minutes later we found him about 30 yards away in the brush. We had a lot of history with this deer. He is at least 5.5 or 6.5 yrs old I'd say. 3 racks ago he was a mid 140"s 10 pt with little kickers on the G2's that I passed up late muzzy ( I was guessing 3.5 then - shed from that year in the photo ). Saw him a couple times last year and I'd say he was about 155" ish then. Have 2 sheds from 2 yrs ago. Lots of velvet / hard horn Cudde pic's from all 3 yrs. Good 30 second trail camera video clips from last year and this year. The whole hunt was really an exciting and memorable family time ending with a great, great buck.

Matson’s Lab confirmed. 5.5 yrs old.
Gross 170 1/8”

Side note: As I'm sure you guessed, I am extremely proud of my beautiful 6 yr old daughter. She was a real trooper - very excited to practice shooting, check cam's, look at Cudde pic's, watch deer, sit "patiently" and wait, etc. We practiced shooting most of the summer ( about 300 rounds ) - primarily with a scoped Ruger .22. Not as much with the T/C but often times she'd look through the scope to be sure she could find things easily on 3X, 6X, or 9X power. When she did shoot the muzzleloader ( 80 grains of powder and a 200 grain Shockwave ), she was never shook by the recoil - which was always a little worrisome to me.

As you can see in the picture's she was a pretty happy little girl and I still catch myself smiling about the whole summers efforts leading up to that fateful day.

 

[my3sons]

Nathan's first deer 2012

The day was January 4th 2012 at 1:00 in the afternoon. Dad asked my brothers and I if we were all still going swimming with a cousin that was over that day or if anyone one wanted to go hunting. I thought to myself I could go swimming almost anytime so I was first to say I wanted to go with dad. I have been trying to harvest my first deer for awhile and I took every chance I could get to be out. So my dad and I headed to the blind. Earlier that day my brothers and I moved the blind closer to the field where we have seen several deer feeding so I knew the odds were better than they have been. We spent about an hour brushing the blind in and you had to really look hard to see the blind was there. I was excited and looking forward to a great hunt. We made it to the blind a little before 3p.m. Dad said that the wind was in our favor but there wasn’t a lot of wind, just a nice steady warmer south wind. Dad and I talked about what a great day it was to be out. After getting set up dad was sitting behind me with his binoculars and range finder, I was looking thru the muzzle loader scope to find the deer. We didn’t see anything right away but after about 30 minutes the does started to work into the field and they were about 200 yards away south of us. When they came out there were about 10-12 at a time and all were does. I told my dad that I wanted to try and get the biggest doe so I started sizing them and waiting. After I found the biggest one from the first groups even more came out and bigger does kept coming, so I waited and kept looking. There was one doe that was very curious and was looking at the blind or something close to the blind. I told dad that I may have to shoot her if she was going to come closer but dad said just to relax she was trying to catch our scent and it was most likely not to happen with the wind the way it was. So I waited for another 20-30 minutes and now had my choice of 20-30 does to shoot at 50-60 yards away. It was up to me dad was telling me, when I felt comfortable I was to let him know . I had 2 mature does in range and was waiting for the broadside shot on either one. I was just about to take the safety off and did another look over the field when I noticed a buck had come out. He was a mature 9 point and very good size deer. I was getting excited and my heart was beating really fast now! Dad said I should take some deep breaths and calm down before trying to make the shot. So I took deep breaths for about 10 minutes and watched the buck for him to get broadside , for the longest time he was headed straight into the blind and finally he started to turn. My dad was helping me decide with the best time to shoot, I kept asking him NOW ? He kept telling me I should relax a little more that the time will come. We have now been waiting for the buck seemed like an hour and finally the time came. The buck was 40 yards away and standing broadside. I took the safety off and heard my dad say once again when I was ready and felt comfortable to go ahead. I put the cross hairs on the bucks heart and pulled the trigger. Once the smoke cleared my dad and I watched as the buck ran one way then turned and wanted to go back in the woods. The next part is the best part, he only ran for about 30 yards and did a nose dive right into the dirt! I turned and looked at dad he gave me a high 5 and a hug and told me he was proud of me!! I was and still am very happy to have finally harvested my first deer. When we were cleaning the deer dad said I made a perfect heart shot. He also said I could get the buck mounted since it is my first buck. I can't wait till it's done and he is hanging in our house!- Nathan Bell

 

[Central Iowa]

TTT
Season is about to come to a close any youth harvested deer from any season is eligible. I am going to add a suprise prize to the line up and it will be a lottery drawing for all that is left after the winners are picked.

 

[Central Iowa]

Voting has started in the PMA and will conclude Sunday night February 12th. Winners will be posted Monday. Bill Winke has added the 3rd prize a personolized autographed copy of his book Hunting Hard For Whitetails.

 

[Central Iowa]

Congrats to all the youth that entered and took the time to write their stories and post their pictures we had a great turn out for our first youth coontest. The voting closed in the PMA Sunday night and the winners are posted below. I am looking forward to next year and plan on doing this again. Thanks to all the parents and friends that took the time to include the kids and taking great pictures for life long memories.

First place goes to Olivia she has picked the Muddy Outdoors youth harness. We hope to see many more pictures with that big smile sitting beside great deer for years to come!

Second place goes to our good buddy Trenton who's deer slaying genetics are about as good as you can get! No doubt we will be seeing more of this guy in the near future. He will get to choose a decorators print from Larry Zach with Zach Wildlife Art.

Nathan's name was drawn for the personalized autographed book from Bill Winke from Midwest Whitetail. Readings Nathan's hunt story tell's me we will see him again as well and with a slammer of a first deer like this I would think he's hooked. :way: