Saturday Sept 28, VA held their annual youth deer hunt and we had quite a successful day….
The day started off with a great morning hunt with my son and I in a two man tree stand over looking an old clear cut. We saw one nice 6 point buck from that stand. He decided not take the shot because he was holding out for one of the two big mature bucks that his Grandpa had seen while scouting the area for him. One buck is a really big six point and the other is a really big 10 point. Obviously hopes were high for the big 10 to make an appearance. As the morning moved on the activity seemed come to a stop. So we left to go work on the new box blind that we are building for this year’s rifle season. While we were working on the new blind, which is in an area that we can cover great distances from, we started to see deer movement picking up again around 2pm. Based on that we decided to head out early for the evening hunt. We got into the blind around 2:30, shortly after getting setup we had another nice 8 point come by but again he decided to hold out for one of the big boys. After a couple of hours he was starting to second guess his choice to pass on the 8 point but I assured him he had done the right thing and we still had plenty of time left in the day. About 15 minutes later the big mature 6 point showed up about 150 yards from the blind. He stood in the thick brush for about 5 minutes motionless as the mature deer do to ensure he was safe to come out of his bedding area. He finally stepped out and my son put a great shot on him with my Accurate Ordnance 300wsm. As you can see in the picture below he took the very large, mature 6 point, which is one of the deer that he was holding out for. He was a very big bodied mature deer with a 19 inch inside spread with plenty of mass!
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We returned to my parents house with my sons deer to show his Mom, Grandmother and Baby Sister. While everyone was checking out his deer and congratulating my son, I thought my day couldn’t get any better, then my daughter came over and said “Daddy I want to go deer hunting.” I told her that I would take her soon and she replied “But Dad today is the kids hunting day and I really want to go.” I told her that I did not bring a rifle that would fit her and she said “I can shoot could shoot the same rifle that Eyan shot.” So I agreed and off we went to another blind. She was all decked out in her purple sweatshirt and grey pants and pink tennis shoes ready to go hunting. When we parked the UTV and started in to the blind it was about 5:30pm. The blind is overlooking a big hay field and we got pinned down by 4 small bucks already out in the field. We had to crawl to the blind but we managed to get in without spooking the deer. By the time we got set up the four bucks had moved off to our right and out of our line of sight for a good shot. About 30 minutes had passed and straight across from the blind I saw movement and another buck stepped out, this time it was a young 8 point but for my daughter it appeared be a Boone & Crockett record book buck! So we started working on getting set up for the shot. She had to stand up in the blind to make the shot because she was too short to rest the rifle on the window ledge and see the deer through the scope while sitting in a chair. After a couple minutes she was finally stable, using some shooting sticks to help as a rear rest and ready to take the shot. I confirmed that she was holding on his shoulder and I told her to send it. When rifle went off she took a pretty good step back from the recoil and the deer spun around and ran only covering about 25 yards before he piled up. Then the celebrating began!! We were both excited and she was very proud of herself, as was I!! She is 7 years old and this was her first deer. She took it with my super light weight stalking rifle which is an AO build on a 700 Ti action chambered in 300wsm which as you all know is not a light recoiling caliber. I asked her if she was ok and she said “I didn’t even feel it kick Daddy, let’s go see my deer!!” These are memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. What a great weekend!!
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Thanks,
Mike
The day started off with a great morning hunt with my son and I in a two man tree stand over looking an old clear cut. We saw one nice 6 point buck from that stand. He decided not take the shot because he was holding out for one of the two big mature bucks that his Grandpa had seen while scouting the area for him. One buck is a really big six point and the other is a really big 10 point. Obviously hopes were high for the big 10 to make an appearance. As the morning moved on the activity seemed come to a stop. So we left to go work on the new box blind that we are building for this year’s rifle season. While we were working on the new blind, which is in an area that we can cover great distances from, we started to see deer movement picking up again around 2pm. Based on that we decided to head out early for the evening hunt. We got into the blind around 2:30, shortly after getting setup we had another nice 8 point come by but again he decided to hold out for one of the big boys. After a couple of hours he was starting to second guess his choice to pass on the 8 point but I assured him he had done the right thing and we still had plenty of time left in the day. About 15 minutes later the big mature 6 point showed up about 150 yards from the blind. He stood in the thick brush for about 5 minutes motionless as the mature deer do to ensure he was safe to come out of his bedding area. He finally stepped out and my son put a great shot on him with my Accurate Ordnance 300wsm. As you can see in the picture below he took the very large, mature 6 point, which is one of the deer that he was holding out for. He was a very big bodied mature deer with a 19 inch inside spread with plenty of mass!
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</OWe returned to my parents house with my sons deer to show his Mom, Grandmother and Baby Sister. While everyone was checking out his deer and congratulating my son, I thought my day couldn’t get any better, then my daughter came over and said “Daddy I want to go deer hunting.” I told her that I would take her soon and she replied “But Dad today is the kids hunting day and I really want to go.” I told her that I did not bring a rifle that would fit her and she said “I can shoot could shoot the same rifle that Eyan shot.” So I agreed and off we went to another blind. She was all decked out in her purple sweatshirt and grey pants and pink tennis shoes ready to go hunting. When we parked the UTV and started in to the blind it was about 5:30pm. The blind is overlooking a big hay field and we got pinned down by 4 small bucks already out in the field. We had to crawl to the blind but we managed to get in without spooking the deer. By the time we got set up the four bucks had moved off to our right and out of our line of sight for a good shot. About 30 minutes had passed and straight across from the blind I saw movement and another buck stepped out, this time it was a young 8 point but for my daughter it appeared be a Boone & Crockett record book buck! So we started working on getting set up for the shot. She had to stand up in the blind to make the shot because she was too short to rest the rifle on the window ledge and see the deer through the scope while sitting in a chair. After a couple minutes she was finally stable, using some shooting sticks to help as a rear rest and ready to take the shot. I confirmed that she was holding on his shoulder and I told her to send it. When rifle went off she took a pretty good step back from the recoil and the deer spun around and ran only covering about 25 yards before he piled up. Then the celebrating began!! We were both excited and she was very proud of herself, as was I!! She is 7 years old and this was her first deer. She took it with my super light weight stalking rifle which is an AO build on a 700 Ti action chambered in 300wsm which as you all know is not a light recoiling caliber. I asked her if she was ok and she said “I didn’t even feel it kick Daddy, let’s go see my deer!!” These are memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. What a great weekend!!
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Thanks,
Mike
