I have been around 20 or so kiddos of lease members, friends kids, heck even full-grown adults who have taken their first deer at our place. Those times have been very exciting times for all involved. Yes, our place spoils the novice hunter with numerous chances to see and take their first deer or hog.
This time it was a little different. I was taking my 9-year-old grandson out for his second hunting trip. I took him out last year and we saw plenty of deer but he wasn't ready to shoot at that time. I told him that was fine with me. It's not about killing or shooting it's about spending time outdoors and hanging out with each other. He likes to fish so I have had to learn how to fish myself. I have never fished that much.
The first hunt Saturday afternoon we sat in the corral blind on a 210 acre wheat field and we had deer on us the whole time we were sitting there. There were a lot of smaller bucks, spikes, 4's, 6's and some 2 year old 8's. We were looking for an old mature 8-9 point to shoot. After looking at 40-50 bucks( most tiny young ones) we didn't see anything that was worth shooting at. He had never shot a rifle, just BB guns and 22's. That's my fault I guess. Seeing all the deer sure makes the time go by fast. Well right at dark we saw a hog come out of the mesquite trees. He made his way over to where we had thrown corn out about 80 yards from the blind. We got the hog lined up in the crosshairs. I took the safety off he squeezed the trigger and the .260 did its job. He dropped the hog in his tracks with a perfect neck shot. We were jacked up to say the least. He was excited to say the least, but I think I was way more fired up! Hard to tell, hehe.
The next morning we slept in and had breakfast ready for when everyone else came in.
For the afternoon hunt, we moved across the road to the tank blind on an unplanted oat filed. I don't know what they are eating but it looks like a clover type weed. There are some volunteer oats coming up as well but not much. We have been corning the field every time we go out so the deer know its there if we drive in. We set up and had deer on us the whole time. About 3 pm a nice buck jumped on the field about 400 yards North of us and walked to the West away from us 300 yards down a fence and jumped into the brush headed North. There was another 8 point out at 350 yards we were gonna shoot at if he got into range. A couple hours past and there were 70-80 deer out on the field. A coyote came out and he wanted to shoot it but I explained that it was just now getting time for the older bigger deer to come out. A deer jumped the fence from the north and it was the bigger deer we had seen earlier. He was 400 yards away and started walking to the East. We had plenty of daylight left and I was hoping he would turn South for us. He walked East 200 yards and bumped into a doe and they both started walking our way. I got the tripod and gun set up in the right window to take a shot. They had closed to about 125 yards straight in front of us. I caught movement to my right and a doe came running by at 60 yards. Right behind her was a 150-60 inch 11 point. I thought oh my gosh that's a stud! Then I thought he is gonna take our other deer with him, on crap! Well they ran right between us and the original deer we were looking at. He stayed on his doe and they were at 90 yards now where the corn was. I lined the gun where I thought it would be close and zoomed the focus out. There were 10 deer close together so it was hard to make sure he was on the right deer. He found the buck in the scope. I zoomed it in. He followed up the front leg with the crosshairs up to the shoulder, I flipped the safety off and told him to barely squeeze the trigger. He squeezed it off and the buck humped up and went 4 yards did a half turn and hit the deck. We were high fiving, hugging and to be honest, I was crying or my allergies were acting up! What a great experience for us to share. Without a doubt my favorite hunting experience ever. I haven't been that fired up in a long long time. He told me he wants to keep hunting all the time. Looks like I will be doing the culling from now on.
I would have tried to video the whole thing but I was way too nervous for all that. He is ready to go Spring turkey hunting and so am I!
I am truly blessed!
This time it was a little different. I was taking my 9-year-old grandson out for his second hunting trip. I took him out last year and we saw plenty of deer but he wasn't ready to shoot at that time. I told him that was fine with me. It's not about killing or shooting it's about spending time outdoors and hanging out with each other. He likes to fish so I have had to learn how to fish myself. I have never fished that much.
The first hunt Saturday afternoon we sat in the corral blind on a 210 acre wheat field and we had deer on us the whole time we were sitting there. There were a lot of smaller bucks, spikes, 4's, 6's and some 2 year old 8's. We were looking for an old mature 8-9 point to shoot. After looking at 40-50 bucks( most tiny young ones) we didn't see anything that was worth shooting at. He had never shot a rifle, just BB guns and 22's. That's my fault I guess. Seeing all the deer sure makes the time go by fast. Well right at dark we saw a hog come out of the mesquite trees. He made his way over to where we had thrown corn out about 80 yards from the blind. We got the hog lined up in the crosshairs. I took the safety off he squeezed the trigger and the .260 did its job. He dropped the hog in his tracks with a perfect neck shot. We were jacked up to say the least. He was excited to say the least, but I think I was way more fired up! Hard to tell, hehe.
The next morning we slept in and had breakfast ready for when everyone else came in.
For the afternoon hunt, we moved across the road to the tank blind on an unplanted oat filed. I don't know what they are eating but it looks like a clover type weed. There are some volunteer oats coming up as well but not much. We have been corning the field every time we go out so the deer know its there if we drive in. We set up and had deer on us the whole time. About 3 pm a nice buck jumped on the field about 400 yards North of us and walked to the West away from us 300 yards down a fence and jumped into the brush headed North. There was another 8 point out at 350 yards we were gonna shoot at if he got into range. A couple hours past and there were 70-80 deer out on the field. A coyote came out and he wanted to shoot it but I explained that it was just now getting time for the older bigger deer to come out. A deer jumped the fence from the north and it was the bigger deer we had seen earlier. He was 400 yards away and started walking to the East. We had plenty of daylight left and I was hoping he would turn South for us. He walked East 200 yards and bumped into a doe and they both started walking our way. I got the tripod and gun set up in the right window to take a shot. They had closed to about 125 yards straight in front of us. I caught movement to my right and a doe came running by at 60 yards. Right behind her was a 150-60 inch 11 point. I thought oh my gosh that's a stud! Then I thought he is gonna take our other deer with him, on crap! Well they ran right between us and the original deer we were looking at. He stayed on his doe and they were at 90 yards now where the corn was. I lined the gun where I thought it would be close and zoomed the focus out. There were 10 deer close together so it was hard to make sure he was on the right deer. He found the buck in the scope. I zoomed it in. He followed up the front leg with the crosshairs up to the shoulder, I flipped the safety off and told him to barely squeeze the trigger. He squeezed it off and the buck humped up and went 4 yards did a half turn and hit the deck. We were high fiving, hugging and to be honest, I was crying or my allergies were acting up! What a great experience for us to share. Without a doubt my favorite hunting experience ever. I haven't been that fired up in a long long time. He told me he wants to keep hunting all the time. Looks like I will be doing the culling from now on.
I would have tried to video the whole thing but I was way too nervous for all that. He is ready to go Spring turkey hunting and so am I!
I am truly blessed!
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