mplane72
PMA Member
The plan was to hunt last weekend with both my boys but the older one getting called up to wrestle a tournament Saturday and the younger one needing to help out his soccer team we didn't make it and i thought we'd wait until 2nd season or late muzzy to get Jacob out to try and fill his youth tag. Monday my buddy who's ground we usually hunt 1st shotgun informed me he would be out Wednesday with one of his son's and we should come out if we could make it. With the early out on Wednesdays I said we would try if I could get out of work early.
Turns out not only could I get out of work but I busted Jacob out 45 minutes early as well so we could get out to where we needed to be while my buddy and his son were relocating. This being an unplanned hunt we didn't have a blind set as I left them on another property after youth season waiting for late season. I prefer to hunt this thick river bottom ground with out a blind but with the cold and an 8 year old I would have preferred one. We tried to improvise with a large piece of camo burlap strung up around a few trees and a heater he could get close to but with the wind blowing out the heater I knew he was going to be cold. Jacob hung in for abut an hour and a half before he started to feel the cold. I decided to relocate a bit farther into the woods where we found a large downed tree we could tuck into out of the wind and get the heater going which raised his spirits.
Not long after we got settled we started to see deer moving. His first chance was on a small 6 point but for reasons unknown he missed. I'm guessing it was him using his bros shotgun for the first time and having trouble finding the right distance from the scope. It might also have been because he was shaking like a leaf with excitement. After he shot I knew from the buck reaction he had missed but after checking for blood he was still excited and in good spirits. We settled back in to our log to wait out the last 45 minutes of light. I should say I settled in. He was still jacked up from the buck encounter. I had just finished warning him a deer was going to show up while he was jacking around when i spotted a doe coming down the trail and pulled him down. We did the stare down and head bob thing for a bit before she started to skirt us. I grabbed the gun and got it laid across the log for him as she went behind a tree. It was a fire drill getting him set and she started staring us down again as I kept asking him if he had her before I released the safety. When I finally got an "I think so" I reached up to steady the gun and had him move his head so I could look through the scope. Sure enough he was on her so I had him settle in and get the cross hairs set again before I took of the safety. He took what seamed like forever to pull the trigger but when he did she dropped where she stood. He was very excited and in total shock when we got to her. I've never seen him so proud!
Turns out not only could I get out of work but I busted Jacob out 45 minutes early as well so we could get out to where we needed to be while my buddy and his son were relocating. This being an unplanned hunt we didn't have a blind set as I left them on another property after youth season waiting for late season. I prefer to hunt this thick river bottom ground with out a blind but with the cold and an 8 year old I would have preferred one. We tried to improvise with a large piece of camo burlap strung up around a few trees and a heater he could get close to but with the wind blowing out the heater I knew he was going to be cold. Jacob hung in for abut an hour and a half before he started to feel the cold. I decided to relocate a bit farther into the woods where we found a large downed tree we could tuck into out of the wind and get the heater going which raised his spirits.
Not long after we got settled we started to see deer moving. His first chance was on a small 6 point but for reasons unknown he missed. I'm guessing it was him using his bros shotgun for the first time and having trouble finding the right distance from the scope. It might also have been because he was shaking like a leaf with excitement. After he shot I knew from the buck reaction he had missed but after checking for blood he was still excited and in good spirits. We settled back in to our log to wait out the last 45 minutes of light. I should say I settled in. He was still jacked up from the buck encounter. I had just finished warning him a deer was going to show up while he was jacking around when i spotted a doe coming down the trail and pulled him down. We did the stare down and head bob thing for a bit before she started to skirt us. I grabbed the gun and got it laid across the log for him as she went behind a tree. It was a fire drill getting him set and she started staring us down again as I kept asking him if he had her before I released the safety. When I finally got an "I think so" I reached up to steady the gun and had him move his head so I could look through the scope. Sure enough he was on her so I had him settle in and get the cross hairs set again before I took of the safety. He took what seamed like forever to pull the trigger but when he did she dropped where she stood. He was very excited and in total shock when we got to her. I've never seen him so proud!
