09-03-2013, 05:23 AM
I thought I'd be spending all season trying to get my little one a shot. She fooled me and dropped this ole' doe with her first shot ever in the woods. ...this after I'd missed a deer myself about an hour before.
After a long day driving to town to get a flat fixed, and then driving to Boise and back (because I decided I needed four new tires) we made it back to our spot in time for an evening hunt. Saw plenty of game, but like I said, I blew my chance.
Then this doe came our way a bit later. She was playing hide-and-seek behind the pine trees at about 20 yards, offering nothing but a Texas heart shot angle. I told my daughter not to dare shoot unless the deer was perfectly broadside, and she obediently waited. She's only pulling 40 lbs and I wanted everything perfect. I think the deer saw me but not her, because she kept her eyes on me but walked toward my daughter, giving her a perfect broadside angle at about 12 yards. I did the "meh" sound when she took the perfect step and she just stopped and stood there looking at me while my daughter tried to draw a bead on her . It was about the end of shooting light, but my girl found her pins through her peep after what seemed like an eternity. The deer was down a steep hill, and my daughter used her top pin which was a 20, so she hit spine and anchored the doe. You guys who know what that can be like know how I worried about what my little girl's reaction might be to that scenario, but turned out I didn't need to. I helped my daughter find a good angle and she put in the finisher like a pro. Was maybe 2 minutes from first shot to absolute finish, and my daughter was perfect the whole time... And just like me, after it was all over, then she started shaking uncontrollably. Yes, I gutted the deer for her.
Amazing weekend for both of us. Her is big in the picture, but the one behind the camera was probably bigger.
[signature]
After a long day driving to town to get a flat fixed, and then driving to Boise and back (because I decided I needed four new tires) we made it back to our spot in time for an evening hunt. Saw plenty of game, but like I said, I blew my chance.
Then this doe came our way a bit later. She was playing hide-and-seek behind the pine trees at about 20 yards, offering nothing but a Texas heart shot angle. I told my daughter not to dare shoot unless the deer was perfectly broadside, and she obediently waited. She's only pulling 40 lbs and I wanted everything perfect. I think the deer saw me but not her, because she kept her eyes on me but walked toward my daughter, giving her a perfect broadside angle at about 12 yards. I did the "meh" sound when she took the perfect step and she just stopped and stood there looking at me while my daughter tried to draw a bead on her . It was about the end of shooting light, but my girl found her pins through her peep after what seemed like an eternity. The deer was down a steep hill, and my daughter used her top pin which was a 20, so she hit spine and anchored the doe. You guys who know what that can be like know how I worried about what my little girl's reaction might be to that scenario, but turned out I didn't need to. I helped my daughter find a good angle and she put in the finisher like a pro. Was maybe 2 minutes from first shot to absolute finish, and my daughter was perfect the whole time... And just like me, after it was all over, then she started shaking uncontrollably. Yes, I gutted the deer for her.
Amazing weekend for both of us. Her is big in the picture, but the one behind the camera was probably bigger.
[signature]