CamoMan
New Member
I had a busy and fun weekend, as I was finally able to match up schedules with my nephew, Brandon. This was his first season, and first day, as a deer hunter. He had a youth season tag, but we weren’t able to hunt together til the last weekend of ML season. I picked Brandon up from school on Friday, and we headed for the woods. We were set up by 4:15, and by 4:30, he had missed his first shot at a yearling doe. Well, I may not have worded that quite right - he didn’t ‘technically’ miss, because I hadn’t ‘technically’ loaded the gun like I thought I had. Probably not the worst thing, because once we got past that problem, we saw more deer. Several came out into the field, but were downwind, and quickly spooked. We decided to slip through the timbered draw, and hunt the other side, where the wind situation was better. Before we even got set up, we spotted several does out in front. We tried to slip up near the large hay bales on the edge, but realized we would have to shoot from within the brush. We positioned the shooting stick, and Brandon patiently waited for a closer and better shot. One big old doe seemed to notice us, and came closer. She was getting nervous, and when she turned broadside at 75 yards, I told Brandon to take the shot. A half-second later, he fired, and all I saw was deer running in every direction. We gathered up our stuff, and headed across the hayfield. We weren’t finding blood in the field, so we stepped into the woods where she had headed. A couple minutes later, Brandon spotted something over the embankment down in the creek. Even with a great double-lung shot, this deer ran almost 150 yards before going down . . . in the ‘canyon’. Oh well, it was time for hugs and high-fives !!!!
She was a fairly heavy doe, and felt twice as heavy as we tried to get her out of the creek, up the hill, and out to the field edge. Brandon was down to one good arm, as he is recovering from a football injury. We worked off of adrenaline, and finished the drag. Definitely a hunt that Brandon and I won’t forget . . . and I hope it is the first of many to come.
On our way out of the woods, my older son, Cody, sent a text message saying that he had missed a very close shot on a doe. Prior to this year, he had taken just two deer, and they had both gone down in sight. When the doe ran off, he thought it was a clean miss. After a few questions, I assured him that he hadn’t missed the 25 yard shot from his position in the cornfield. The next morning, we headed to his hunting spot, and found her right away. His depredation tag was filled. More high-fives and hugs !!!
When I got home from Brandon’s hunt, my pastor called and said he had taken his first archery deer, a nice little 8-point. He only wanted the backstraps, and said we could have the rest of the meat. It was fun hearing his excitement and being able to swap stories. On Sunday, the landowner who had let Brandon hunt killed a couple of does and gave them to us. So, by Sunday, we had cut up 5 deer. I pulled in Brandon, my boys, my pastor, and my neighbor. We got it all processed, and I ran out of time to get to my stand on the weekend. No big deal. . . the best bowhunting times are ahead, and besides, you can’t buy memories like this. What a great weekend !
She was a fairly heavy doe, and felt twice as heavy as we tried to get her out of the creek, up the hill, and out to the field edge. Brandon was down to one good arm, as he is recovering from a football injury. We worked off of adrenaline, and finished the drag. Definitely a hunt that Brandon and I won’t forget . . . and I hope it is the first of many to come.
On our way out of the woods, my older son, Cody, sent a text message saying that he had missed a very close shot on a doe. Prior to this year, he had taken just two deer, and they had both gone down in sight. When the doe ran off, he thought it was a clean miss. After a few questions, I assured him that he hadn’t missed the 25 yard shot from his position in the cornfield. The next morning, we headed to his hunting spot, and found her right away. His depredation tag was filled. More high-fives and hugs !!!
When I got home from Brandon’s hunt, my pastor called and said he had taken his first archery deer, a nice little 8-point. He only wanted the backstraps, and said we could have the rest of the meat. It was fun hearing his excitement and being able to swap stories. On Sunday, the landowner who had let Brandon hunt killed a couple of does and gave them to us. So, by Sunday, we had cut up 5 deer. I pulled in Brandon, my boys, my pastor, and my neighbor. We got it all processed, and I ran out of time to get to my stand on the weekend. No big deal. . . the best bowhunting times are ahead, and besides, you can’t buy memories like this. What a great weekend !
