jlingle
12-03-2006, 12:48 AM
I've had a miserible deer season, no kidding. I lost my 2 best hunting spots to guys who could afford to pay more than I'd ever dream on a hunting place. I thought I'd lucked into a great place in a different county, only to find out that the guys that we were supposed to be hunting with had pulled a fast one on us & gained exclusive rights to the place (it was free anyway.) So I ended up having really only 2 very small pieces of land to hunt on, and my favorite hunting partner was out of state for most of the season. It was just weird. I learned much more about people than I wanted to know this deer season. For the life of me, I can't understand why people will behave completely out-of-character and have tantrums over a deer. Really, it's just a stupid deer and I don't care how big the buck is, he's not worth losing friendships or your reputation over. But this year I have had several people that I had previously called friends lie to me and go behind my back and cut me out of hunting land, just to hunt a big deer that they'd seen. Sad sad sad. So I let them hunt the places by theirselves and I let some other guys think that they'd really put one over on me. I don't mind. I'm not gonna have a fit over a deer. I just want to spend time in the woods and have a chance at a decent deer, that's all I ask. Deer hunting is one of my "getaways" in order to unwind.
Anyway, I hunted my fanny off this year. I took the first week of rifle season off work and hunted morning and evening everyday for 9 days, without ever getting a good shot on a buck. I did shoot at one buck, but brush was in the way and my shot was deflected. I missed the deer clean but blew the crap out of a tree branch. That was really my only chance at a good deer, until today.
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, me and my buddy decided to take our 5 year old boys out hunting this evening to his family's lease in Eldorado. My son wasn't dressed as warmly as I'd hoped so I put him in a stand with me. After opening the windows, the darn wind was blowing so hard through the blind, that we decided to get down and find us a spot out of the wind to sit. We walked over to a wheatfield and I immediately spotted a doe. I wanted my son to get into position to be able to watch the deer, so as I was maneuvering him into a better place...... the doe looks back to the edge of the mesquites. There he was. I couldn't tell how many points he had, but I knew he was at least a 10 & had long main beams. He never would look our direction, so I couldn't tell how wide he was either, but my son was wound up and I wasn't about to let this buck walk. The situation was too perfect, with my boy Jaden there to see it all unfold. He was REALLY excited. I bellycrawled out to a little hump in the field so I could shoot from my stomach with my bipod. I had no idea how far the shot was, but I was guessing it was in the 300 yd. range. I held just under his back and squeezed the trigger, and the "whump" of the impact gave it all away. I turned and told Jaden "I think I just nailed him, buddy." He was all smiles. We had to walk all the way back around a very thick stand of mesquites and china berry trees to where the buck was standing when I shot. I really thought that he would've ran into the mesquites after I shot him, so that was the direction that I was looking for blood. I heard Jaden say "well there he is, dad." & I turned to see him laying on his belly right where I'd shot him. I had hit him perfectly, low & tight behind the shoulder and he'd dropped in his tracks.
The buck is a mainframe 12 pointer, with only marginal tine length and rather narrow at only about 14 inches, but he sure is pretty and my son is extremely proud of him. I'm just truly happy that my deer season turned out this way, with me being able to harvest a nice buck while hunting with my son. I couldn't be happier. I'm going to skull mount him and hang him in Jaden's room for him to show off. He's just thrilled that he was able to find the deer and make the recovery for me. I'm glad that he had a part in it as well. He's been telling me all night long "I'm good at deer hunting, ain't I Daddy?"
I want to get some pictures tomorrow in the daylight of Jaden and his deer. When I do, I'll post some pics.
Jerrod
Anyway, I hunted my fanny off this year. I took the first week of rifle season off work and hunted morning and evening everyday for 9 days, without ever getting a good shot on a buck. I did shoot at one buck, but brush was in the way and my shot was deflected. I missed the deer clean but blew the crap out of a tree branch. That was really my only chance at a good deer, until today.
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, me and my buddy decided to take our 5 year old boys out hunting this evening to his family's lease in Eldorado. My son wasn't dressed as warmly as I'd hoped so I put him in a stand with me. After opening the windows, the darn wind was blowing so hard through the blind, that we decided to get down and find us a spot out of the wind to sit. We walked over to a wheatfield and I immediately spotted a doe. I wanted my son to get into position to be able to watch the deer, so as I was maneuvering him into a better place...... the doe looks back to the edge of the mesquites. There he was. I couldn't tell how many points he had, but I knew he was at least a 10 & had long main beams. He never would look our direction, so I couldn't tell how wide he was either, but my son was wound up and I wasn't about to let this buck walk. The situation was too perfect, with my boy Jaden there to see it all unfold. He was REALLY excited. I bellycrawled out to a little hump in the field so I could shoot from my stomach with my bipod. I had no idea how far the shot was, but I was guessing it was in the 300 yd. range. I held just under his back and squeezed the trigger, and the "whump" of the impact gave it all away. I turned and told Jaden "I think I just nailed him, buddy." He was all smiles. We had to walk all the way back around a very thick stand of mesquites and china berry trees to where the buck was standing when I shot. I really thought that he would've ran into the mesquites after I shot him, so that was the direction that I was looking for blood. I heard Jaden say "well there he is, dad." & I turned to see him laying on his belly right where I'd shot him. I had hit him perfectly, low & tight behind the shoulder and he'd dropped in his tracks.
The buck is a mainframe 12 pointer, with only marginal tine length and rather narrow at only about 14 inches, but he sure is pretty and my son is extremely proud of him. I'm just truly happy that my deer season turned out this way, with me being able to harvest a nice buck while hunting with my son. I couldn't be happier. I'm going to skull mount him and hang him in Jaden's room for him to show off. He's just thrilled that he was able to find the deer and make the recovery for me. I'm glad that he had a part in it as well. He's been telling me all night long "I'm good at deer hunting, ain't I Daddy?"
I want to get some pictures tomorrow in the daylight of Jaden and his deer. When I do, I'll post some pics.
Jerrod