j-bird
Moderator
I took off for the woods this evening and got settled in and I get a text.....from my youngest. "where you at?" She wanted to hunt.....this was right at 4 and it's dark by 6. I told her to get her stuff and to come to the stand. I was in 2-man and she knows where that is at, but took the long way to get there...."so she didn't get lost". She shows up like a little lost puppy so I get her situated. She was happy as a clam as they say and we chatted about the day and she was telling me how she had such a great day and the like. I figured her walking to the stand that late had essentially ruined the hunt....but, we make sacrifices for our kids....so I didn't say anything.
Totally unexpected 2 does come into the soybean food plot. Emma doesn't see them as there is a large tree branch in the way. I tell her one of them is a mature doe and if she wants it, it's hers for the taking. Keep in mind this would be her first deer......EVER!
Emma is nervous and decides she is going to shoot if the opportunity presents itself. The doe walks along the far edge of the food plot and simply won't stop. Emma is tracking the doe in the scope of the gun and I crank up the magnification. As the doe entered the corner of the clover plot I got tired of waiting. I whistled! BOOM! The doe mule kicks and bounds into the CRP weeds.....I here some limbs breaking and a crash. The fawn bounds away in another direction. It's 5:20....and Emma appears to have just shot her first deer! I tell her we have to wait. She negotiates waiting until 5:30 to get down. I tell her we will only look for blood. I take the lead with the gun in case the deer bolts.....even though I think it's done. I find deer hair and Emma finds blood. Time for another teaching moment....how to follow blood and not just where we think the deer went. At this point I don't hear or smell (thinking gut shot) the deer and the blood looks like lung hit. There is enough light that Emma finds blood on the grass and weeds so I let her take the lead. She does pretty good and I show her how to follow a deer's path to help find the next spot. We come to the edge of the woods and still no deer. The blood showed up well on the switchgrass which really helped. I again take the lead with the gun and Emma sees a big smear on a tree.....and just beyond that about 10 yards I see a white rear-end! I approached the deer to ensure it was done. I signaled to Emma that the deer was done and again teach her how we approach a downed deer and why. It's photo op time!!!!
Emma is on top of the world right now. The shot was about 75 yards and the 30/30 did the trick and took out both lungs. Location was a bit high and missed the heart and the deer only went less than 100 yards. live weight was 150 lbs.
Another memory that I will never forget.
Totally unexpected 2 does come into the soybean food plot. Emma doesn't see them as there is a large tree branch in the way. I tell her one of them is a mature doe and if she wants it, it's hers for the taking. Keep in mind this would be her first deer......EVER!
Emma is nervous and decides she is going to shoot if the opportunity presents itself. The doe walks along the far edge of the food plot and simply won't stop. Emma is tracking the doe in the scope of the gun and I crank up the magnification. As the doe entered the corner of the clover plot I got tired of waiting. I whistled! BOOM! The doe mule kicks and bounds into the CRP weeds.....I here some limbs breaking and a crash. The fawn bounds away in another direction. It's 5:20....and Emma appears to have just shot her first deer! I tell her we have to wait. She negotiates waiting until 5:30 to get down. I tell her we will only look for blood. I take the lead with the gun in case the deer bolts.....even though I think it's done. I find deer hair and Emma finds blood. Time for another teaching moment....how to follow blood and not just where we think the deer went. At this point I don't hear or smell (thinking gut shot) the deer and the blood looks like lung hit. There is enough light that Emma finds blood on the grass and weeds so I let her take the lead. She does pretty good and I show her how to follow a deer's path to help find the next spot. We come to the edge of the woods and still no deer. The blood showed up well on the switchgrass which really helped. I again take the lead with the gun and Emma sees a big smear on a tree.....and just beyond that about 10 yards I see a white rear-end! I approached the deer to ensure it was done. I signaled to Emma that the deer was done and again teach her how we approach a downed deer and why. It's photo op time!!!!
Emma is on top of the world right now. The shot was about 75 yards and the 30/30 did the trick and took out both lungs. Location was a bit high and missed the heart and the deer only went less than 100 yards. live weight was 150 lbs.
Another memory that I will never forget.
