bowman
Super Moderator
Well, the kids have done very well so far this year! Trent was the first to harvest a buck during the Early Muzzleloader season. He did it all on his own while I was at work with no help from Dad. He put a perfect shot on this beautiful 8 and he went down within sight. Luckily big sister came out and helped him get it loaded. He was really excited with his 2017 Muzzleloader buck!
Trenton has worked very hard this year, buying and running his own trail cams, asking permission to hunt new places, buying and hanging stands, and keeping close tabs on his target buck.
He didn't stop after his muzzy buck and kept after it with his bow. He passed up some smaller bucks looking for one that just felt right. Lucky for me I was as cameraman on the day that he found that buck. It was the morning of Halloween when this guy came through and offered Trent a 20 yard shot. Once again he made a perfect shot and the buck went down within 50 yards of the hit. He was one excited boy and I was one excited dad! I couldn't be more proud at the young man that Trenton has become at 16 years old. He gets good grades, is a great looking kid, and has a strong relationship with the Lord. The fact that he shares my hunting passion is the icing on the cake.
Now it was Allison's turn. After struggling with Target Panic for the past several years Alli seemed to be getting a grip on her shooting and was ready to try to get a deer with her bow, after many succesful gun harvests, including a bull elk in 2016. She and her boyfriend, Justin, had put tons of work into his hunting properties near his home. They ran trail cams put in food plots, and hung stands together. Most kids their age are doing other things on dates, these kids are getting ready for deer season! It was an evening hunt when one of those Target bucks finally offered a shot. Unfortunately, her shot hit a bit far back and a decision was made to wait till the next morning to look for her buck. The next day was a perfect example of having too many people involved in the search. We lost blood after about 120 yards, and everyone began searching their own direction. Assuming that everyone had covered their own we expanded our search and the day ended without a buck. Justin put a few more days into searching some cover about 120 yards from last blood but was not able to come up with the deer. A few days later Justin spotted crows and drove down to find Allison's buck literally only 50 yards from the last blood in a patch of higher grass! It was an area that had been searched by someone, and that person obviously had walked past the buck without seeing it. It was bittersweet as Alli had her first buck, but unfortunately it was recovered 4 days late. She is still one excited 19 year old girl! She's going to nursing school while working part-time, being a graduate leader for the youth group at Church, and trying to hunt as much as she can. Needless to say she is very very happy with this buck.
Hayden and I are left with tags. I've been out hitting it hard and have passed some beautiful bucks but still waiting for that right one. Hayden still has a youth tag but it has been very challenging to get him out with my evening work schedule. Hopefully we can get it done during one of the shotgun Seasons or during the late season for him. Allison does have a late-season Muzzleloader tag that she is hoping to find another target for.
Thanks for tagging along, good luck to everyone who still has tags to fill! Hopefully it will only be a few more days before I can post Harvest photos of my own!
Trenton has worked very hard this year, buying and running his own trail cams, asking permission to hunt new places, buying and hanging stands, and keeping close tabs on his target buck.
He didn't stop after his muzzy buck and kept after it with his bow. He passed up some smaller bucks looking for one that just felt right. Lucky for me I was as cameraman on the day that he found that buck. It was the morning of Halloween when this guy came through and offered Trent a 20 yard shot. Once again he made a perfect shot and the buck went down within 50 yards of the hit. He was one excited boy and I was one excited dad! I couldn't be more proud at the young man that Trenton has become at 16 years old. He gets good grades, is a great looking kid, and has a strong relationship with the Lord. The fact that he shares my hunting passion is the icing on the cake.
Now it was Allison's turn. After struggling with Target Panic for the past several years Alli seemed to be getting a grip on her shooting and was ready to try to get a deer with her bow, after many succesful gun harvests, including a bull elk in 2016. She and her boyfriend, Justin, had put tons of work into his hunting properties near his home. They ran trail cams put in food plots, and hung stands together. Most kids their age are doing other things on dates, these kids are getting ready for deer season! It was an evening hunt when one of those Target bucks finally offered a shot. Unfortunately, her shot hit a bit far back and a decision was made to wait till the next morning to look for her buck. The next day was a perfect example of having too many people involved in the search. We lost blood after about 120 yards, and everyone began searching their own direction. Assuming that everyone had covered their own we expanded our search and the day ended without a buck. Justin put a few more days into searching some cover about 120 yards from last blood but was not able to come up with the deer. A few days later Justin spotted crows and drove down to find Allison's buck literally only 50 yards from the last blood in a patch of higher grass! It was an area that had been searched by someone, and that person obviously had walked past the buck without seeing it. It was bittersweet as Alli had her first buck, but unfortunately it was recovered 4 days late. She is still one excited 19 year old girl! She's going to nursing school while working part-time, being a graduate leader for the youth group at Church, and trying to hunt as much as she can. Needless to say she is very very happy with this buck.
Hayden and I are left with tags. I've been out hitting it hard and have passed some beautiful bucks but still waiting for that right one. Hayden still has a youth tag but it has been very challenging to get him out with my evening work schedule. Hopefully we can get it done during one of the shotgun Seasons or during the late season for him. Allison does have a late-season Muzzleloader tag that she is hoping to find another target for.
Thanks for tagging along, good luck to everyone who still has tags to fill! Hopefully it will only be a few more days before I can post Harvest photos of my own!
