pilgrimhunter
Well-Known Member
I posted this over on The Hunting Beast and thought I would share with you guys also.
This year has been a tough one for me in a lot of ways. I had come across the Hunting Beast Jan 2017. I have been hunting for 20 years and have taken quite a few whitetails but hadn't been very consistent with mature bucks. I had watched a lot of Midwest Whitetails shows in 2016 and it really had helped with my approach to hunting in 2016. The info on The Hunting Beast is what really turned on some light bulbs for me and connected some puzzle pieces. And then my wife was was diagnosed with Lyme's in the summer of 2017 and really struggled with her health. This has really hindered her ability to care for our 4 children resulting in fewer hunts for me as I was needed at home.
Although I had limited time to hunt I was able to get on some good deer but never was able to get them into bow range.
One thing I really wanted to do more this year was take my children along to the woods. I hadn't taken them during bow season but with our rifle season in I was able to get them involved. November 21 it was my 5 year old sons turn to go. I managed to get off work early and elected to go to a farm close by home. I didn't have high expectations although I know historically the farm does hold some good deer. It is large pasture but has a good section of cut over that is full of briers and brush.
The farm holds a lot of does but I also noticed last year as the rut wound down there were was a decent buck bedding in there. In fact I had several opportunities at him but elected to pass him up hoping he would be back again this year. And actually managed to get a few pics of him through my rifle scope.
But this night I just was hoping for a doe that night just so my son could be in on the experience of harvesting something. There is an old permanent stand at the top of hill on the north end of the property that while it is only 6' off the ground it allows me to see over the tops of the briers due to the lay of the land. It also has side walls which was the only way I felt comfortable with my son up there.
It was a mild afternoon with a steady south wind to carry . I actually would have preferred hunting a couple hundred yards south of where we were but the wind was wrong. I picked my son up from the house about 3 pm and drove the few miles to the farm. He was an excited young man. We got settled in but wasn't long til he was getting tired of sitting still. By 4:30 he informed me that "there weren't any deer here and maybe we should move" and " can we blow the grunt tube?"
Wasn't long til we had a spike work through and were able to watch him for 20 minutes browsing and cruising around the edge of the briers checking for does. First my son told me he was to small to shoot. After he left I asked him if he would have actually liked if I would have shot it and he admitted "Yeah, I wish you would have shot him." At this point I started kicking myself a little because I had 2 buck tags and this was really supposed to be about my son.
The daylight was beginning to fade. The only other deer we had seen was a few brief glimpses of some yearlings 500 yards below at the far side of the the cut over. My son was sitting in his little camp chair eating crackers when suddenly out of no where I saw tines above the briers 100 yards below me. "Buck!" I whispered. "Hold still!" A quick glance told me he was a decent deer but I was already in kill mode because I wanted this one for the little guy with me. The buck was standing still just looking around. The only available shot due to the briers was upper front shoulder. I had a solid rest on the tree and was confident I could get the shot tucked in. The gun barked and the buck disappeared. I jacked another shell in not knowing if he jumped in the thick stuff or if he went down. Almost instantly a doe jumped up and bounded 10 yards. Then stopped and stared back to where the buck was standing. I watched for a few minutes but she just stared back to where the buck had been. This I knew was a good sign that he was down right there.
After a few minutes wait to make sure he was not getting back up we packed our gear and excitedly headed down the hill. When I had shot I thought it was just a decent 8 point but hadn't looked closely. This time there was no ground shrinkage. You talk about one excited 5 year old boy! You would have thought he had shot it.
After some pics we headed back to the house to pick up the rest of the family to get in on field dressing and recovery.
It was a memorable evening to say the least. To see the excitement on my young sons face was worth more than the deer. There is something so special about sharing these thing with your kids that is hard to put into words but it leaves me more determined to spend more time in the woods with my children. These moments are memories that will last for a long time.
Also a note regarding the earlier pic of the deer I passed up in 2016. I really can't say it was the same deer but the rack does have a lot of the same characteristics.
This year has been a tough one for me in a lot of ways. I had come across the Hunting Beast Jan 2017. I have been hunting for 20 years and have taken quite a few whitetails but hadn't been very consistent with mature bucks. I had watched a lot of Midwest Whitetails shows in 2016 and it really had helped with my approach to hunting in 2016. The info on The Hunting Beast is what really turned on some light bulbs for me and connected some puzzle pieces. And then my wife was was diagnosed with Lyme's in the summer of 2017 and really struggled with her health. This has really hindered her ability to care for our 4 children resulting in fewer hunts for me as I was needed at home.
Although I had limited time to hunt I was able to get on some good deer but never was able to get them into bow range.
One thing I really wanted to do more this year was take my children along to the woods. I hadn't taken them during bow season but with our rifle season in I was able to get them involved. November 21 it was my 5 year old sons turn to go. I managed to get off work early and elected to go to a farm close by home. I didn't have high expectations although I know historically the farm does hold some good deer. It is large pasture but has a good section of cut over that is full of briers and brush.
The farm holds a lot of does but I also noticed last year as the rut wound down there were was a decent buck bedding in there. In fact I had several opportunities at him but elected to pass him up hoping he would be back again this year. And actually managed to get a few pics of him through my rifle scope.
But this night I just was hoping for a doe that night just so my son could be in on the experience of harvesting something. There is an old permanent stand at the top of hill on the north end of the property that while it is only 6' off the ground it allows me to see over the tops of the briers due to the lay of the land. It also has side walls which was the only way I felt comfortable with my son up there.
It was a mild afternoon with a steady south wind to carry . I actually would have preferred hunting a couple hundred yards south of where we were but the wind was wrong. I picked my son up from the house about 3 pm and drove the few miles to the farm. He was an excited young man. We got settled in but wasn't long til he was getting tired of sitting still. By 4:30 he informed me that "there weren't any deer here and maybe we should move" and " can we blow the grunt tube?"
The daylight was beginning to fade. The only other deer we had seen was a few brief glimpses of some yearlings 500 yards below at the far side of the the cut over. My son was sitting in his little camp chair eating crackers when suddenly out of no where I saw tines above the briers 100 yards below me. "Buck!" I whispered. "Hold still!" A quick glance told me he was a decent deer but I was already in kill mode because I wanted this one for the little guy with me. The buck was standing still just looking around. The only available shot due to the briers was upper front shoulder. I had a solid rest on the tree and was confident I could get the shot tucked in. The gun barked and the buck disappeared. I jacked another shell in not knowing if he jumped in the thick stuff or if he went down. Almost instantly a doe jumped up and bounded 10 yards. Then stopped and stared back to where the buck was standing. I watched for a few minutes but she just stared back to where the buck had been. This I knew was a good sign that he was down right there.
After a few minutes wait to make sure he was not getting back up we packed our gear and excitedly headed down the hill. When I had shot I thought it was just a decent 8 point but hadn't looked closely. This time there was no ground shrinkage. You talk about one excited 5 year old boy! You would have thought he had shot it.
After some pics we headed back to the house to pick up the rest of the family to get in on field dressing and recovery.
It was a memorable evening to say the least. To see the excitement on my young sons face was worth more than the deer. There is something so special about sharing these thing with your kids that is hard to put into words but it leaves me more determined to spend more time in the woods with my children. These moments are memories that will last for a long time.
Also a note regarding the earlier pic of the deer I passed up in 2016. I really can't say it was the same deer but the rack does have a lot of the same characteristics.
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