bowman
Super Moderator
Sorry for the delay in posting this.
Trenton went into the 2010 deer season with high hopes and a great track record having never missed an animal. The season was filled with highs, lows, and luckily, a successful ending.
Allison had shot a beautiful buck in 2009 and Trenton was hoping to do half as good. We alternated Allison and Trenton's hunts and we captured each hunt on video. For some reason when it was Allison's turn to hunt, we were covered up with young bucks that Trenton would have loved to have shot. Allison was being picky and wanting a 2.5 year old or older. When it was Trenton's turn, it was always does and usually they were too far for a shot. After some misscommunication Trenton missed his first animal, a doe at 75 yards.
On September 24th, 2010, a year to the date that Allison shot her buck on the same property, Trenton and I set up against some haybales where an alfalfa field met a standing corn field. All that we saw was a skunk until sunset. I spotted two bucks feeding towards us and got Trenton's attention. The buck on the left looked to be approaching 150" and the buck on the right appeared to be in the 130's. The buck on the left was facing us when he spotted movement but the buck on the right was feeding and broadside. We focused on the smaller buck as the other was out of position for a shot.
The shot was about 42 yards. At the shot, smoke filled the screen but I could see that the buck wasn't using his right (closest) shoulder as he dissappeared behind the standing corn. I panned the camera to Trenton knowing that the emotion that he would show would be well worth the price of admission. He looked at me with tear filled eyes and said, "This is the greatest day of my entire life!" We hugged and celebrated in our makeshift blind and then loaded up. We got back to the truck at dark and reviewed the footage. The shot appeared to be perfect and we were confident we would have a short blood trail. The only downfall is that we could only see him run for about 3-4 yards before the corn blocked our view.
With flashlights in hand we began looking for blood in the alfalfa. Just as we began we heard a deer get up and run no more than 20 yards from the last place we saw the buck. We began questioning what we had seen in the video and became concerned of a marginal hit. We decided to back out and return in a few hours. The weather man said that we would have rain by 3 am.....he was wrong. We got there at 10 pm and were greeted by rain within minutes of exiting the truck. With no blood to follow we began searching.
To make a long story a little shorter, I and many friends searched for the buck for more than 30 hours over the next few days. There were hundreds of acres of standing corn, some of the thickest draws I've ever been in, and the only sign of a deer came when I found a coyote den with a fresh deer hoof on day three. With that Trenton and I resumed hunting and notified the farmer to let us know if he found anything when combining.
On the last day of youth season Trenton shot a doe to fill his hard earned doe tag. Unfortunatly the coyotes beat us to her and there was nothing left to recover. Trenton's season had gone from bad to worse. The corn came out and no report from the landowner. We hunted early muzzy with no luck and were planning to hunt late season. Trenton appeared to be in a state of depression and all that he could talk about was the buck that we thought that he had hit so perfectly but never found.
The hunt was on Midwestwhitetail.com (6 minutes 39 seconds in). http://www.midwestwhitetail.com/gallery/74/media/2380/ia109-youth-wrap-up.html
Shortly after Christmas the landowner called me to say that he found a large bodied buck dead in a thick draw approximately 125 yards from where Trenton had shot his buck. Problem......no head could be found. The landowner began calling all that had permission to hunt the property during 2010.
On New Years Eve the landowner called Trenton to report that a group that had hunted 1st season shotgun had found a decaying buck and took the head. Once I had his name I called the man on New Years day and asked him f the buck that he found was a main framed 9 point with 5 on the left and 4 on the right. He said that it was. I asked if the right side swept up higher on the right than it does on the left and he said that he couldn't remember but it was in his garage. I told him that we had the buck on video and would know if it was him. We arranged to go to his house and as soon as I saw the rack I knew it was him!:way: I showed the man the video and he agreed that it was Trenton's buck.
After months of sadness Trenton was reunited with his buck and trust me, you have never seen a happier boy!
We drove straight to the landowner's house and Trenton nearly tackled him with a hug. I called the game warden to ask if we could put Trenton's tag on the buck and he told us to go ahead and do so. We went out and took some pics to make up for the lack of harvest photos.
The buck scored 134 5/8" but it measured far less than the width of Trenton's smile. That night, as Trenton sat snuggling his rack, I told him that it was bedtime. He gave his mom and I a kiss, told us he loved us, and headed for bed with his rack. I stopped him and told him that he could not sleep with the rack. The look of dissappointment on his face made his feelings obvious. I allowed him to put it on the floor beside his bed and this seemed to help him with his separation anxiety.:grin:
We just delivered the rack to Whitaker's Wildlife Creations the first week of April. Rick has an early season cape that will look great. Trenton picked out a full sneak form and to say he is excited to get his mount back would be an understatement. He is dreading the long wait but he knows it will be worth it.
Sorry for the long read. Trenton, congrats again little buddy!!:way:
Trenton went into the 2010 deer season with high hopes and a great track record having never missed an animal. The season was filled with highs, lows, and luckily, a successful ending.
Allison had shot a beautiful buck in 2009 and Trenton was hoping to do half as good. We alternated Allison and Trenton's hunts and we captured each hunt on video. For some reason when it was Allison's turn to hunt, we were covered up with young bucks that Trenton would have loved to have shot. Allison was being picky and wanting a 2.5 year old or older. When it was Trenton's turn, it was always does and usually they were too far for a shot. After some misscommunication Trenton missed his first animal, a doe at 75 yards.
On September 24th, 2010, a year to the date that Allison shot her buck on the same property, Trenton and I set up against some haybales where an alfalfa field met a standing corn field. All that we saw was a skunk until sunset. I spotted two bucks feeding towards us and got Trenton's attention. The buck on the left looked to be approaching 150" and the buck on the right appeared to be in the 130's. The buck on the left was facing us when he spotted movement but the buck on the right was feeding and broadside. We focused on the smaller buck as the other was out of position for a shot.
The shot was about 42 yards. At the shot, smoke filled the screen but I could see that the buck wasn't using his right (closest) shoulder as he dissappeared behind the standing corn. I panned the camera to Trenton knowing that the emotion that he would show would be well worth the price of admission. He looked at me with tear filled eyes and said, "This is the greatest day of my entire life!" We hugged and celebrated in our makeshift blind and then loaded up. We got back to the truck at dark and reviewed the footage. The shot appeared to be perfect and we were confident we would have a short blood trail. The only downfall is that we could only see him run for about 3-4 yards before the corn blocked our view.
With flashlights in hand we began looking for blood in the alfalfa. Just as we began we heard a deer get up and run no more than 20 yards from the last place we saw the buck. We began questioning what we had seen in the video and became concerned of a marginal hit. We decided to back out and return in a few hours. The weather man said that we would have rain by 3 am.....he was wrong. We got there at 10 pm and were greeted by rain within minutes of exiting the truck. With no blood to follow we began searching.
To make a long story a little shorter, I and many friends searched for the buck for more than 30 hours over the next few days. There were hundreds of acres of standing corn, some of the thickest draws I've ever been in, and the only sign of a deer came when I found a coyote den with a fresh deer hoof on day three. With that Trenton and I resumed hunting and notified the farmer to let us know if he found anything when combining.
On the last day of youth season Trenton shot a doe to fill his hard earned doe tag. Unfortunatly the coyotes beat us to her and there was nothing left to recover. Trenton's season had gone from bad to worse. The corn came out and no report from the landowner. We hunted early muzzy with no luck and were planning to hunt late season. Trenton appeared to be in a state of depression and all that he could talk about was the buck that we thought that he had hit so perfectly but never found.
The hunt was on Midwestwhitetail.com (6 minutes 39 seconds in). http://www.midwestwhitetail.com/gallery/74/media/2380/ia109-youth-wrap-up.html
Shortly after Christmas the landowner called me to say that he found a large bodied buck dead in a thick draw approximately 125 yards from where Trenton had shot his buck. Problem......no head could be found. The landowner began calling all that had permission to hunt the property during 2010.
On New Years Eve the landowner called Trenton to report that a group that had hunted 1st season shotgun had found a decaying buck and took the head. Once I had his name I called the man on New Years day and asked him f the buck that he found was a main framed 9 point with 5 on the left and 4 on the right. He said that it was. I asked if the right side swept up higher on the right than it does on the left and he said that he couldn't remember but it was in his garage. I told him that we had the buck on video and would know if it was him. We arranged to go to his house and as soon as I saw the rack I knew it was him!:way: I showed the man the video and he agreed that it was Trenton's buck.
After months of sadness Trenton was reunited with his buck and trust me, you have never seen a happier boy!
We drove straight to the landowner's house and Trenton nearly tackled him with a hug. I called the game warden to ask if we could put Trenton's tag on the buck and he told us to go ahead and do so. We went out and took some pics to make up for the lack of harvest photos.
The buck scored 134 5/8" but it measured far less than the width of Trenton's smile. That night, as Trenton sat snuggling his rack, I told him that it was bedtime. He gave his mom and I a kiss, told us he loved us, and headed for bed with his rack. I stopped him and told him that he could not sleep with the rack. The look of dissappointment on his face made his feelings obvious. I allowed him to put it on the floor beside his bed and this seemed to help him with his separation anxiety.:grin:
We just delivered the rack to Whitaker's Wildlife Creations the first week of April. Rick has an early season cape that will look great. Trenton picked out a full sneak form and to say he is excited to get his mount back would be an understatement. He is dreading the long wait but he knows it will be worth it.
Sorry for the long read. Trenton, congrats again little buddy!!:way:
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