Jmac0501
Active Member
Second weekend of youth season, I had a moody 15 year old, that suddenly didn't want to go hunting. I reminded him, that because he was mad at me for something, and he was choosing to take away something that we both enjoyed. He finally changed his mind, and his attitude changed right along with it. We had a good weekend, but no sightings from the stand.
We headed back to the farm this weekend and hunted a stand that I hadn't wanted to go into any earlier. It's hard to get to, but often produces. We heard deer early, but were never able to spot them. I stood up to stretch a bit, and off to the left behind us at 75 yards was a young buck. I assumed that he would work his way behind us, but told Alik not to move yet until we figured out where he was going. He soon disappeared, into the creek bed, so I got Alik ready for a shot in front of us. He came out of the creek bottom and headed the direction Alik needed for a shot. There was one opening for a shot between a couple of trees and that was it. He stopped just short of the opening. Two more steps.... MRRRPPP. I'm always unsure if I'm getting them stopped in the right spot when someone else is behind the sights. BOOM. I had stayed standing, so could see the hit above the smoke. I could see the high shoulder hit, just a bit forward and high, but I knew it was lethal. He headed for the standing corn. We heard a short plowing session, then silence. This is the second time this year during youth season, that I did not have a kid reload the Muzzleloader because I was 100% sure of the shot.
While it was only a 50 yard shot, we had 1.5 miles to go around the creek to get to him.
We got to the spot of the shot and couldn't find blood, but I knew he was dead. Headed to the corn field, and it was pretty clear where he had entered the corn, as he made his own path. Pretty amazing how much corn they can mow down on a death run.
High shoulder hit was accurate. Shattered the near side shoulder blade, and still managed to get both lungs. No exit as it lodged on the inside of the far leg. That explained the lack of blood at the impact site.
Since he will be 16 next summer, so this was his last year of youth season. He has always taken the first deer that presented a shot. He missed a doe early in his youth career, otherwise it has always been a buck. Most were small, but he got this guy 4 years ago and this likely cemented his love of deer hunting.
It's been great to see him grow as a hunter and learn through the experiences. He had to pass up a shot at an absolute giant a couple of years ago. Sometimes, the shots just aren't there I have never allowed them to push a shot beyond their skill. It's been fun, encouraging, frustrating at times passing on my love of the pursuit to the next generation. Hopefully I have a hunting buddy for a few more years, just not this early in the season(unless he starts bow hunting).
We headed back to the farm this weekend and hunted a stand that I hadn't wanted to go into any earlier. It's hard to get to, but often produces. We heard deer early, but were never able to spot them. I stood up to stretch a bit, and off to the left behind us at 75 yards was a young buck. I assumed that he would work his way behind us, but told Alik not to move yet until we figured out where he was going. He soon disappeared, into the creek bed, so I got Alik ready for a shot in front of us. He came out of the creek bottom and headed the direction Alik needed for a shot. There was one opening for a shot between a couple of trees and that was it. He stopped just short of the opening. Two more steps.... MRRRPPP. I'm always unsure if I'm getting them stopped in the right spot when someone else is behind the sights. BOOM. I had stayed standing, so could see the hit above the smoke. I could see the high shoulder hit, just a bit forward and high, but I knew it was lethal. He headed for the standing corn. We heard a short plowing session, then silence. This is the second time this year during youth season, that I did not have a kid reload the Muzzleloader because I was 100% sure of the shot.
While it was only a 50 yard shot, we had 1.5 miles to go around the creek to get to him.
We got to the spot of the shot and couldn't find blood, but I knew he was dead. Headed to the corn field, and it was pretty clear where he had entered the corn, as he made his own path. Pretty amazing how much corn they can mow down on a death run.
High shoulder hit was accurate. Shattered the near side shoulder blade, and still managed to get both lungs. No exit as it lodged on the inside of the far leg. That explained the lack of blood at the impact site.
Since he will be 16 next summer, so this was his last year of youth season. He has always taken the first deer that presented a shot. He missed a doe early in his youth career, otherwise it has always been a buck. Most were small, but he got this guy 4 years ago and this likely cemented his love of deer hunting.
It's been great to see him grow as a hunter and learn through the experiences. He had to pass up a shot at an absolute giant a couple of years ago. Sometimes, the shots just aren't there I have never allowed them to push a shot beyond their skill. It's been fun, encouraging, frustrating at times passing on my love of the pursuit to the next generation. Hopefully I have a hunting buddy for a few more years, just not this early in the season(unless he starts bow hunting).
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