I consider any hunt with my kids a success but when it all comes together and you get to see the look on their faces when they down that buck, rabbit, or what ever it just can't be beat.
My daughter is 16 now and super busy with school, band, and other stuff so we had very little time to make it out for whitetail this fall. This was the last weekend and she only had about 3/4 of a day today to get it done so we went to a spot I found with a lot of activity (same spot I got my buck in last weekend. In fact, the two were taken not more than 40 yards apart) and hoped for the best. We set up in a small clearing with several good trails intersecting it and did a short rattle sequence. Within minutes we could hear something approach and she got prepared.
We watched as a deer circled the clearing just inside the trees and could hear a buck grunting. I couldn't make out antlers on the deer but assumed it was just a small spiker and that I just couldn't see them through the trees. I was surprised when it ran into the clearing to see another deer, with quite visible antlers, just behind it. The first one was a doe and the buck was hot on her tail. I doubt they had any interest in the rattling we were doing and just happened to be coming along the trail at the right time. I told her take the buck and when he made one more step into the opening she dropped him on the spot with her trusty Ruger Hawkeye Compact in 7.62x39 loaded with 123gr TSX.
It is her biggest buck to date and she was pretty excited about it. At the bottom, a couple pics of my buck from the same spot. He's not big either but an old buck with a huge body and good thick antlers. I hunted really hard this season but just didn't see any mature bucks before this one. I was really happy with him despite not being the biggest buck. For us its more about the hunt and how it's done than the score any way.
and pics of mine:
My daughter is 16 now and super busy with school, band, and other stuff so we had very little time to make it out for whitetail this fall. This was the last weekend and she only had about 3/4 of a day today to get it done so we went to a spot I found with a lot of activity (same spot I got my buck in last weekend. In fact, the two were taken not more than 40 yards apart) and hoped for the best. We set up in a small clearing with several good trails intersecting it and did a short rattle sequence. Within minutes we could hear something approach and she got prepared.
We watched as a deer circled the clearing just inside the trees and could hear a buck grunting. I couldn't make out antlers on the deer but assumed it was just a small spiker and that I just couldn't see them through the trees. I was surprised when it ran into the clearing to see another deer, with quite visible antlers, just behind it. The first one was a doe and the buck was hot on her tail. I doubt they had any interest in the rattling we were doing and just happened to be coming along the trail at the right time. I told her take the buck and when he made one more step into the opening she dropped him on the spot with her trusty Ruger Hawkeye Compact in 7.62x39 loaded with 123gr TSX.
It is her biggest buck to date and she was pretty excited about it. At the bottom, a couple pics of my buck from the same spot. He's not big either but an old buck with a huge body and good thick antlers. I hunted really hard this season but just didn't see any mature bucks before this one. I was really happy with him despite not being the biggest buck. For us its more about the hunt and how it's done than the score any way.
and pics of mine:
