Post by swilk on Nov 30, 2017 9:46:51 GMT -5
My dad turns 70 next February but it seems the older he gets, the more excited he gets as deer season comes closer each year. As time has gone on his ability to walk very far has disappeared but I figure as long as there are things I can do to keep him going then I will do whatever I can.
Last year I built him an elevated platform about 7' off the ground overlooking one of the foodplots. I havent gotten around to building a shack on top of it yet so I put a large ground blind on top of it for him that is roomy enough for 2 or 3 hunters. He asked me to put up a guard rail on the side nearest to where he enters the blind this year to give him something to hold onto so that was put in place this year.
He sat out opening day this year partly because of weather and partly because it was his 50th wedding anniversary but we went out Sunday morning .... it wasnt too long before I got a text asking what time I was wanting to head home. I figured he must be in some pain or cold because he generally likes to try and sit all day on his first time out. I sent a reply telling him whenever he wanted to go just let me know and then asked if everything was okay. He was cold he replied. I think thats a problem lots of guys on certain blood pressure meds deal with .... they just cant keep their hands and feet warm.
We called it a day around 10:00 eastern and headed home ..... I ran in to rural king after getting back to town and bought him a Buddy heater and then took it back down for him and set it up in the blind.
He hunted again Monday evening by himself.... we have a system in place. Text me when you leave the truck. Text me before you head up the stairs to the blind. Text me once youre in the blind. I was able to get down to the farm at close to sunset and told him to text me as shooting light went and if there were deer out in the plot Id walk to him and run them off instead of him doing it from the blind. it was shortly after last light I got a text telling me to come on over ... I get there and the barrel of his rifle was just poking out of the blind window. I climbed up and asked, was there one you were thinking of shooting? He said there was but it was just at dark and he couldnt tell exactly how big it was.
We collect his things and hop on the ranger (that he parks right at the bottom of the stairs) and headed home.
I decided to take Wednesday afternoon off of work to take my son and all 3 of us were planning on sitting together in dads blind. Easton turned 6 that day and unknown to me my wife had already made plans with him to go to the movies .... so it was going to just be dad and I.
He comes to my house and I put my gear into the back seat of his truck and as he settles in to the passenger side, I climb behind the wheel and we are off. I get about half way to the farm and realize Im wearing crocks instead of boots ..... not unusual because I rarely wear my boots in my truck. Problem is Im not in my truck .... my boots are back at my house. I tell dad that I need to turn around and head back to get my boots. Luckily its only a 20 minute or so round-trip back to the house so the delay wasnt all that long and we were back on our way.
We get to the blind and as we get settled in, heater keeping us toasty, gun resting on the Field Pod, I crack open my book and settle in for the evening hunt. The day started of relatively slow with only a small 8 pointer and 3 does showing themselves as of 5:00 Eastern. After that time the action started to pick up. 8 does. Couple of small bucks. 3 more does. Another little buck. The deer are showing up but light is slipping away from us.
Im looking at my watch and with about 5 minutes of legal light left I stand up and start to gather my things when dad whispers another deer at the end of the plot.
I turn around and have a look ..... 260 yards away but I can tell hes a buck through binoculars. A good buck at that .... and hes heading our way pretty quickly. As he gets to about 200 yards I tell dad "shooter". Dad starts to manuever the field pod in the right direction as the deer keeps coming at a trot .... hes heading towards 3 does that are about 100 yards at the 2:00 position in front of the blind.
As he gets closer and I can study him a bit I lean over and whisper HE IS DEFINITELY A SHOOTER!.
Dad gets the gun on him .... Im watching through binoculars .... and my 'ol 358 lets loose. The deer bucks and I knew he was hit hard and watch him run off through the binocs.
At first the rest of the deer just stand there .... like nothing had happened ... then they finally took off.
We sit for just a minute or two and I search around in my pack for my light ... after a few minutes I tell dad I am going to sneak down to where he was shot and see what kind of blood there is and then make a decision on when we look for him.
I slowly and quietly work across the plot and its what you always hope for when looking for blood .... I knew the deer couldnt have gone far. I slowly work my way and after about 30 yards inside the woods I see him piled up.
WOW!
I make my way back to dad and tell him ... I think you messed up and shot the wrong deer.
A puzzled look of concern on his face.
Its just a great big 8 pointer I tell him.
More puzzled look and a whimper of "what??"
Its just a GREAT BIG 8!! I tell him excitedly ......
A smile cracks over his face and a "dont do that to me" as we put the gear in the ranger and head over to him.
The buck ended up going just under 150" and weighed 205. I would guess him to be 5.5 years old. Dads biggest buck ever. He was nearly beside himself .... it was one of the sweetest moments I have ever had while hunting. To see his excitement .... was amazing.
Our view from the blind. I just took my havalon knife and made my own windows... didn't like how the actual windows opened. Sun was brutal and the wind just ripped through...I like this much better.
The type of blood trail I was dealing with....a bullet through both lungs is a wonderful thing.
The first time dad put his hands on him where he fell...
The short drag to the edge of the plot nearly killed me...how did folks use to do it before UTVs??? I cant imagine having to drag him all the way to the truck. I tried to load in in to the ranger and the harder Id pull the more my boots slid while standing in the bed. I ended up having to gut it on the spot to shed some weight to get it loaded.
The photos are terrible...dad wasn't able to push, pull and tug the deer around and every time I would try and position it it would just fall or twist or whatever before I could get back and get a photo. But as bad as they are I'll hold on to them forever.
I was looking through my sheds and I *think this is right side from last year. The curl on the end looks very similar. When it comes back from the taxi I'll compare more closely.
Last year I built him an elevated platform about 7' off the ground overlooking one of the foodplots. I havent gotten around to building a shack on top of it yet so I put a large ground blind on top of it for him that is roomy enough for 2 or 3 hunters. He asked me to put up a guard rail on the side nearest to where he enters the blind this year to give him something to hold onto so that was put in place this year.
He sat out opening day this year partly because of weather and partly because it was his 50th wedding anniversary but we went out Sunday morning .... it wasnt too long before I got a text asking what time I was wanting to head home. I figured he must be in some pain or cold because he generally likes to try and sit all day on his first time out. I sent a reply telling him whenever he wanted to go just let me know and then asked if everything was okay. He was cold he replied. I think thats a problem lots of guys on certain blood pressure meds deal with .... they just cant keep their hands and feet warm.
We called it a day around 10:00 eastern and headed home ..... I ran in to rural king after getting back to town and bought him a Buddy heater and then took it back down for him and set it up in the blind.
He hunted again Monday evening by himself.... we have a system in place. Text me when you leave the truck. Text me before you head up the stairs to the blind. Text me once youre in the blind. I was able to get down to the farm at close to sunset and told him to text me as shooting light went and if there were deer out in the plot Id walk to him and run them off instead of him doing it from the blind. it was shortly after last light I got a text telling me to come on over ... I get there and the barrel of his rifle was just poking out of the blind window. I climbed up and asked, was there one you were thinking of shooting? He said there was but it was just at dark and he couldnt tell exactly how big it was.
We collect his things and hop on the ranger (that he parks right at the bottom of the stairs) and headed home.
I decided to take Wednesday afternoon off of work to take my son and all 3 of us were planning on sitting together in dads blind. Easton turned 6 that day and unknown to me my wife had already made plans with him to go to the movies .... so it was going to just be dad and I.
He comes to my house and I put my gear into the back seat of his truck and as he settles in to the passenger side, I climb behind the wheel and we are off. I get about half way to the farm and realize Im wearing crocks instead of boots ..... not unusual because I rarely wear my boots in my truck. Problem is Im not in my truck .... my boots are back at my house. I tell dad that I need to turn around and head back to get my boots. Luckily its only a 20 minute or so round-trip back to the house so the delay wasnt all that long and we were back on our way.
We get to the blind and as we get settled in, heater keeping us toasty, gun resting on the Field Pod, I crack open my book and settle in for the evening hunt. The day started of relatively slow with only a small 8 pointer and 3 does showing themselves as of 5:00 Eastern. After that time the action started to pick up. 8 does. Couple of small bucks. 3 more does. Another little buck. The deer are showing up but light is slipping away from us.
Im looking at my watch and with about 5 minutes of legal light left I stand up and start to gather my things when dad whispers another deer at the end of the plot.
I turn around and have a look ..... 260 yards away but I can tell hes a buck through binoculars. A good buck at that .... and hes heading our way pretty quickly. As he gets to about 200 yards I tell dad "shooter". Dad starts to manuever the field pod in the right direction as the deer keeps coming at a trot .... hes heading towards 3 does that are about 100 yards at the 2:00 position in front of the blind.
As he gets closer and I can study him a bit I lean over and whisper HE IS DEFINITELY A SHOOTER!.
Dad gets the gun on him .... Im watching through binoculars .... and my 'ol 358 lets loose. The deer bucks and I knew he was hit hard and watch him run off through the binocs.
At first the rest of the deer just stand there .... like nothing had happened ... then they finally took off.
We sit for just a minute or two and I search around in my pack for my light ... after a few minutes I tell dad I am going to sneak down to where he was shot and see what kind of blood there is and then make a decision on when we look for him.
I slowly and quietly work across the plot and its what you always hope for when looking for blood .... I knew the deer couldnt have gone far. I slowly work my way and after about 30 yards inside the woods I see him piled up.
WOW!
I make my way back to dad and tell him ... I think you messed up and shot the wrong deer.
A puzzled look of concern on his face.
Its just a great big 8 pointer I tell him.
More puzzled look and a whimper of "what??"
Its just a GREAT BIG 8!! I tell him excitedly ......
A smile cracks over his face and a "dont do that to me" as we put the gear in the ranger and head over to him.
The buck ended up going just under 150" and weighed 205. I would guess him to be 5.5 years old. Dads biggest buck ever. He was nearly beside himself .... it was one of the sweetest moments I have ever had while hunting. To see his excitement .... was amazing.
Our view from the blind. I just took my havalon knife and made my own windows... didn't like how the actual windows opened. Sun was brutal and the wind just ripped through...I like this much better.
The type of blood trail I was dealing with....a bullet through both lungs is a wonderful thing.
The first time dad put his hands on him where he fell...
The short drag to the edge of the plot nearly killed me...how did folks use to do it before UTVs??? I cant imagine having to drag him all the way to the truck. I tried to load in in to the ranger and the harder Id pull the more my boots slid while standing in the bed. I ended up having to gut it on the spot to shed some weight to get it loaded.
The photos are terrible...dad wasn't able to push, pull and tug the deer around and every time I would try and position it it would just fall or twist or whatever before I could get back and get a photo. But as bad as they are I'll hold on to them forever.
I was looking through my sheds and I *think this is right side from last year. The curl on the end looks very similar. When it comes back from the taxi I'll compare more closely.
