Post by whitetail1 on Nov 6, 2011 20:55:13 GMT -5
My youngest son (whitetail jr), who just turned 10 in September, has been dreaming about hunting with his bow and after seeing how this season was playing out, was really lobbying to get out with his bow this year. He got a new Hoyt Ruckus last year for Christmas and has been shooting all year. He has done really good, both in the back yard and at the 3D shoots thru the summer. Last weekend, he was sitting with me (but without his bow) in one of our 2 man set ups and we had a great hunt. Had quite a bit of activity and had some deer as close as 5 yards. On the way home, he was asking about when he could hunt with his bow. He took his first deer last year during the youth season with his muzzleloader, but to be honest I didn’t think we could get his bow up to legal hunting weight until next year. But he kept asking and I told him that we would see what we could do.
This past Monday, we checked the weight on his bow and he was close enough to 35 pounds that we decided to crank the weight up and see how he did with it. He shot every day last week with the bow at hunting weight and did great. I had him shooting broadheads with his set up later in the week and again he did a wonderful job. We made the decision that he would carry his bow and sit with me this weekend, but we would limit his shots to 15 yards and under. Our goal would be to get him a shot at the first deer that would give him an opportunity.
Saturday, we were set up in the same 2 man stand that we had hunted the previous weekend. At 11:00, just as we were thinking about getting down for lunch, we had 3 does and a button buck coming down the trail at us. The 2 biggest does were hanging back about 30 yards, while the other 2 deer were on the trail to come right in front of us. As the first deer passed, I whispered to him to draw when the 2nd deer went behind a small tree. He drew, and as she stepped out I stopped her with a bleat. He released and shot right under her. Clean miss! When they ran off, the look on his face was not what I expected….he was smiling from ear to ear and said “Dad, that was so cool”! We finished out the day with no more deer sightings.
We decided to hunt the same stand today and were excited that “uncle Larry” aka Highcottonguide would be hunting with us. Mama whitetail also decided that she would hunt with us. She doesn’t carry a bow, but decided she would sit with whitetailchaser22. Right at daylight, we had a couple of bucks moving between us and Highcottonguide, but couldn’t get either within range. After about 20 minutes, I catch movement to my right and see a young 4 pointer quartering away. I whisper to Landon to get ready as I’m going to try to call him in. I use my bleat can, then some soft grunts, but the deer didn’t really respond. I lost sight of the buck for a second, and turned to Landon and whispered “can you still see the buck”? Just as I uttered the last word “buck”, I look beyond Landon and there is another 4 pointer walking on a trail that will bring him right to us, and he was only about 20 yards away!
I whispered as softly as I could….”turn around real slow, there is a deer behind you”. Landon slowly turned like a pro, and held his bow, ready to draw. As the young buck stopped behind some brush to smell some doe urine I had put down, I whispered to Landon to draw. He came to full draw and just a couple of seconds later the young buck took about 3 steps into a clearing. When he hit the clearing, I grunted, he stopped, and Landon released. His arrow buried right behind the shoulder, and we both watched as he took off with the fletching sticking out!
I called Highcottonguide to let him know Landon had shot a buck. I don’t know who was more excited….Landon, me, or Highcottonguide. We decided to give him some time, but decided to get down just a little while later to see what we could find. We found good blood right away, and a bunch of blood just a small way down the trail. Landon was in the lead as we made our way down the trail, bird dogging the blood trail the entire way. About 100 yards or so into the tracking job, we looked up and there was his buck!
While dressing the buck out, we discovered that he blew thru the near lung, hit the top of the heart, and penetrated the far lung. Beautiful shot, beautiful morning, and a truly special day with family and the world’s greatest hunting partner!
Here are a few pics of the hunt:
Landon and his first bow kill:
Landon, his brother whitetailchaser22, and uncle Larry (Highcottonguide):
Me, both boys, and Mama whitetail:
Thanks for reading our post. After checking the deer in, he wanted to know when I would post about his hunt!
This past Monday, we checked the weight on his bow and he was close enough to 35 pounds that we decided to crank the weight up and see how he did with it. He shot every day last week with the bow at hunting weight and did great. I had him shooting broadheads with his set up later in the week and again he did a wonderful job. We made the decision that he would carry his bow and sit with me this weekend, but we would limit his shots to 15 yards and under. Our goal would be to get him a shot at the first deer that would give him an opportunity.
Saturday, we were set up in the same 2 man stand that we had hunted the previous weekend. At 11:00, just as we were thinking about getting down for lunch, we had 3 does and a button buck coming down the trail at us. The 2 biggest does were hanging back about 30 yards, while the other 2 deer were on the trail to come right in front of us. As the first deer passed, I whispered to him to draw when the 2nd deer went behind a small tree. He drew, and as she stepped out I stopped her with a bleat. He released and shot right under her. Clean miss! When they ran off, the look on his face was not what I expected….he was smiling from ear to ear and said “Dad, that was so cool”! We finished out the day with no more deer sightings.
We decided to hunt the same stand today and were excited that “uncle Larry” aka Highcottonguide would be hunting with us. Mama whitetail also decided that she would hunt with us. She doesn’t carry a bow, but decided she would sit with whitetailchaser22. Right at daylight, we had a couple of bucks moving between us and Highcottonguide, but couldn’t get either within range. After about 20 minutes, I catch movement to my right and see a young 4 pointer quartering away. I whisper to Landon to get ready as I’m going to try to call him in. I use my bleat can, then some soft grunts, but the deer didn’t really respond. I lost sight of the buck for a second, and turned to Landon and whispered “can you still see the buck”? Just as I uttered the last word “buck”, I look beyond Landon and there is another 4 pointer walking on a trail that will bring him right to us, and he was only about 20 yards away!
I whispered as softly as I could….”turn around real slow, there is a deer behind you”. Landon slowly turned like a pro, and held his bow, ready to draw. As the young buck stopped behind some brush to smell some doe urine I had put down, I whispered to Landon to draw. He came to full draw and just a couple of seconds later the young buck took about 3 steps into a clearing. When he hit the clearing, I grunted, he stopped, and Landon released. His arrow buried right behind the shoulder, and we both watched as he took off with the fletching sticking out!
I called Highcottonguide to let him know Landon had shot a buck. I don’t know who was more excited….Landon, me, or Highcottonguide. We decided to give him some time, but decided to get down just a little while later to see what we could find. We found good blood right away, and a bunch of blood just a small way down the trail. Landon was in the lead as we made our way down the trail, bird dogging the blood trail the entire way. About 100 yards or so into the tracking job, we looked up and there was his buck!
While dressing the buck out, we discovered that he blew thru the near lung, hit the top of the heart, and penetrated the far lung. Beautiful shot, beautiful morning, and a truly special day with family and the world’s greatest hunting partner!
Here are a few pics of the hunt:
Landon and his first bow kill:
Landon, his brother whitetailchaser22, and uncle Larry (Highcottonguide):
Me, both boys, and Mama whitetail:
Thanks for reading our post. After checking the deer in, he wanted to know when I would post about his hunt!
