hcsafari
Member
As we all know a "trophy" means a little something different to all of us. I titled this post "Trophy of a Lifetime" because it is about my 8 year old nephew and his first deer. You'll only ever get ONE first deer in a lfetime and we are all very proud of him and his first deer.
This whole senario actually started the first week of January. When I returned home from Christmas vacation in Iowa, I went to a little spot I have on the Mississippi River for a hunting/scouting trip. My first trip resulted in me finding some pretty good sign and seeing 2 bucks, one a small 4 pt and the other a nice 8 pt that I guessed was around 15" with nice tall tines that came within 40 yards of my position. A follow-up trip the next day resulted in sighting a little 7 pt. and a very nice deer that I saw right at dark but could'nt tell much about him other then that he had a lot of bone on his head. I had built a little ground blind on this hunt as hunting from a tree stand in this area would be extrememly difficult due to alot of mid-story vegetation. On the way home from that hunt I called my brother and told him that we needed to get his little boy out there ASAP and try to get him a deer. I was able to go one more time and the same 8 pt came through the very same spot, again at about 40 yards.
Finally, Bryce my nephew was able to go with us on the following Saturday (the 8th). I took Brian and Bryce into where I had been hunting, showed them my blind and where the deer was coming out. The blind was a little high for Bryce to see and shoot through so we picked them out a tree about 10 yards in front of the ground blind. As they were getting situated I told Brian I was going to back out and go back to the road and circle back in the oppisite direction about 250-300 yards from them and sit in another location.
I backed out and was working my way to my location when I caught movement out in fron of me. I made out 15 or 16 turkeys moving through the woods and they were headed in the direction of Brian and Bryce. I wa standing there thinking at the very least Bryce would get to see some turkeys. I was just about to sit down against a tree when it happened. BOOM!!!
I stood still to see if I could hear or see anything running in the woods. Nothing. After a couple of minutes I started easing my way in the direction of were they were set up. After a few minutes I could see Bryce's hunter orange and so I whistled and Brian gave me the signal to fo ahead and come to them.
The sight I saw walking up to them will forever be etched in my mind. Brian was standing holding Bryce and giving him a big old bear hug, a few tears running down my brother's face. I looked at Bryce and he gave me a great big "thumbs up". All I could do was join in with the hugs, tears and high fives. What a moment.
Brian said it was the 8 pt. He did'nt see it fall but he knew that Bryce had put a good shot on him. The deer ran about 50-60 yards, started tipping and then went out of sight. So we sat there and let and celebrated for about 15 minutes and then went ot pick up the blood trail. While we were walking to the spot where the shot took place, Brian grabbed my arm and pointed through the woods. There about 75 yards away, was Bryces's first buck. Of course went went through all the motion of following the tracks in the mud until we found blood and eventually the deer. Great experience for any young hunter.
Brian's acoount of the hunt goes something like this. They had sat down and were in the process of getting set up when Bryce had a coughing spell. He had gotten a little to hot walking in. Brian looked at his watch, 3:01 and told Bryce to go on on cough, by putting his mouth down up against his coat sleeve and get it over with as he figured they had plenty of time before the deer started moving. Bryce finished coughing and they went through the little pre-shoot ritual. Bryce sits between Brians legs and shoots a .243 with an attached bi-pod. About then Brian said he looked up and caught movement about 100 yards out. Said he immediately realized it was a nice buck and whispered to Bryce that he was looking at a buck. He got Bryce to follow his finger and said amazingly enough, Bryce picked out the deer right away. The buck was heading directly at them and walking slowly through the woods. Bryce had the rifle shouldered and was trying to follow the buck in the scope. The deer kept coming directly at them so they let him come. As the buck was getting closer Brian was telling Bryce where to shoot and when Brian finally figured out he was not going to give him a broadside shot, he told Bryce to aim below and to the left of the white patch. The buck was coming towards them, angling just a bit from left to right. When Bryce took the shot, the buck was a mere 25 yards and the time was 3:13. The rest is history.
Bryce and his trophy.
Proud Father and Son.
This hunt meant alot to My brother and I, probably more so to us right now then it did to Bryce. The gun you see in the second picture is a Remmington ADL .243 that belonged to my Father. When he passed away he left it to Brian. Brian, as it should be, fitted the rifle with a synthetic youth stock and a bi-pod for the grandchildren to use. My Father's legacy continues.
P.S. Sorry for the length of the post. This hunt just meant alot. The deer has 21" main beams and a 14 6/8" spread. Quite a trophy for such a little man.
This whole senario actually started the first week of January. When I returned home from Christmas vacation in Iowa, I went to a little spot I have on the Mississippi River for a hunting/scouting trip. My first trip resulted in me finding some pretty good sign and seeing 2 bucks, one a small 4 pt and the other a nice 8 pt that I guessed was around 15" with nice tall tines that came within 40 yards of my position. A follow-up trip the next day resulted in sighting a little 7 pt. and a very nice deer that I saw right at dark but could'nt tell much about him other then that he had a lot of bone on his head. I had built a little ground blind on this hunt as hunting from a tree stand in this area would be extrememly difficult due to alot of mid-story vegetation. On the way home from that hunt I called my brother and told him that we needed to get his little boy out there ASAP and try to get him a deer. I was able to go one more time and the same 8 pt came through the very same spot, again at about 40 yards.
Finally, Bryce my nephew was able to go with us on the following Saturday (the 8th). I took Brian and Bryce into where I had been hunting, showed them my blind and where the deer was coming out. The blind was a little high for Bryce to see and shoot through so we picked them out a tree about 10 yards in front of the ground blind. As they were getting situated I told Brian I was going to back out and go back to the road and circle back in the oppisite direction about 250-300 yards from them and sit in another location.
I backed out and was working my way to my location when I caught movement out in fron of me. I made out 15 or 16 turkeys moving through the woods and they were headed in the direction of Brian and Bryce. I wa standing there thinking at the very least Bryce would get to see some turkeys. I was just about to sit down against a tree when it happened. BOOM!!!
I stood still to see if I could hear or see anything running in the woods. Nothing. After a couple of minutes I started easing my way in the direction of were they were set up. After a few minutes I could see Bryce's hunter orange and so I whistled and Brian gave me the signal to fo ahead and come to them.
The sight I saw walking up to them will forever be etched in my mind. Brian was standing holding Bryce and giving him a big old bear hug, a few tears running down my brother's face. I looked at Bryce and he gave me a great big "thumbs up". All I could do was join in with the hugs, tears and high fives. What a moment.
Brian said it was the 8 pt. He did'nt see it fall but he knew that Bryce had put a good shot on him. The deer ran about 50-60 yards, started tipping and then went out of sight. So we sat there and let and celebrated for about 15 minutes and then went ot pick up the blood trail. While we were walking to the spot where the shot took place, Brian grabbed my arm and pointed through the woods. There about 75 yards away, was Bryces's first buck. Of course went went through all the motion of following the tracks in the mud until we found blood and eventually the deer. Great experience for any young hunter.
Brian's acoount of the hunt goes something like this. They had sat down and were in the process of getting set up when Bryce had a coughing spell. He had gotten a little to hot walking in. Brian looked at his watch, 3:01 and told Bryce to go on on cough, by putting his mouth down up against his coat sleeve and get it over with as he figured they had plenty of time before the deer started moving. Bryce finished coughing and they went through the little pre-shoot ritual. Bryce sits between Brians legs and shoots a .243 with an attached bi-pod. About then Brian said he looked up and caught movement about 100 yards out. Said he immediately realized it was a nice buck and whispered to Bryce that he was looking at a buck. He got Bryce to follow his finger and said amazingly enough, Bryce picked out the deer right away. The buck was heading directly at them and walking slowly through the woods. Bryce had the rifle shouldered and was trying to follow the buck in the scope. The deer kept coming directly at them so they let him come. As the buck was getting closer Brian was telling Bryce where to shoot and when Brian finally figured out he was not going to give him a broadside shot, he told Bryce to aim below and to the left of the white patch. The buck was coming towards them, angling just a bit from left to right. When Bryce took the shot, the buck was a mere 25 yards and the time was 3:13. The rest is history.
Bryce and his trophy.
Proud Father and Son.
This hunt meant alot to My brother and I, probably more so to us right now then it did to Bryce. The gun you see in the second picture is a Remmington ADL .243 that belonged to my Father. When he passed away he left it to Brian. Brian, as it should be, fitted the rifle with a synthetic youth stock and a bi-pod for the grandchildren to use. My Father's legacy continues.
P.S. Sorry for the length of the post. This hunt just meant alot. The deer has 21" main beams and a 14 6/8" spread. Quite a trophy for such a little man.
