These days a dollar don't buy you much and even if it did money can't buy the price of an experience and memory that will last a lifetime. My 7 yr old has been going with me this year to the lease in SE Oklahoma. He's been with me since we set stands in late Aug to now. We've seen plenty of deer. He's witnessed scraping, rubbing, sparring, and now a harvest. We haven't seen a "Shooter" by my standards but we have by his. We have seen this young 3 rd old 8 on a previous occasion. He wanted me to shoot it then, but I convinced him let hold out a bit hoping in the following trips my shooter would show. Well forward to Saturday. The morning started early at 4:10am. We went to the feeder location and set out a couple of scent wicks with Doe in Estrus lure and a decoy set up as a doe with scent. We dumped a bag of granulated attractant and a half a bag of corn under the feeder. The doe decoy was between us and the feeder at about 20 yds nose into the NW wind. We got settled. It was chilly. 34 degrees with humidity felt like 28. Shapes became visible under the cloudy dim light a deer emerged to the right of the ground blind. It looked at the decoy snorted and turned away and left. Next after the feeder went off a group of four does approached from the left. The largest oldest doe looked at the decoy did the hear bob a couple of times and led the group away. Next two yearlings worked in from the right. They passed behind the feeder at 30 yards and moved off to the left after looking at the decoy. I looked at my son and whispered I'm going to take the decoy down and put it behind the ground blind. Just then the two yearlings came trotting back from the left. One approached the feeder and began to eat. Right behind them came a buck. He came in from the left (West) North of the feeder and decoy. He looked at her and continues past the feeder and started his downwind loop. He went past the right corner of the blind and out of sight. We could hear him walking in the leaves. Then antler tips emerged from the edge of the blind behind a tree 10 yards away. I held my hand up in a stop motion to keep my son from moving. He froze. I drew back the bow. He took a step and cleared the tree and the release went off when I had settled in. The deer jumped, kicked, and took off in a low run with tail tucked. I smoked him. We waited 15 mins and got out and found the arrow. It was covered with sign and the blood began immediately. I put him on it and he tracked it to the deer. This was my son's first harvest experience and it was with me. From sitting on Dad's lap before daylight to high fives on a buck down well...There just ain't enough money in the world. I am blessed and thank the Lord for the opportunity to share it all with my son.
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