This weekend I took my 20-yr old stepson hunting for his first time in the field. We originally booked a hunt at Double Arrow Bow Hunting for a Red Deer Hind, but a couple days prior to leaving Curtis offered up a whitetail buck as an option to the hind. He sent me some pictures of the buck, estimated to be 8-1/2, but off limits until recently due to the ranch being under AR restrictions. Now that the ranch is MLD, the buck was available. We arrived on Friday around midday, with the intention of hunting the remainder of the day, through Saturday evening if necessary to find either the Whitetail Buck or Red Deer Hind. Myself and my stepson were set up in the massive 6 x 6 blind around 2pm, along with my wife and 10 yr old son, all fitting in the blind nicely. Curtis had informed me that the buck had been frequenting this particular location for the last few weeks, so we felt very good about our chances of seeing at least one of our target animals, with my stepson hoping to see the buck and have some headgear to commemorate the hunt. Since the ranch is primarily for bow hunting, we were set up only 20 yards or so from the corn feeder. Within 30-40 minutes after settling in the blind, we had three spike fallows in front of us, getting as close as 10 yards at times. They were soon joined by four turkeys, and then a nice Corsican ram. Finally a Whitetail buck showed up, but he was a nice 8 point buck, and not the one we were after. About 4:45, my wife motioned to me that a deer approaching, and as I leaned to my right to get a look, I immediately recognized the deer as being our target buck. I told my stepson to get on him as he approached, but his trajectory was such that no shot was possible because he was walking straight in to us. As he approached the larger racked 8 point, it was quickly evident that he was the more dominant, with the 8 point ducking his head and scooting away quickly. At this point he started to turn broadside, I gave him a quick call from the blind to stop him and elevate his head, at which time he caught the round from the .243 at 50 yards, directly through the pump station. As blood spewed from his body, he ran about 20 yards and piled up. It was a great introduction to hunting for a young man excited to participate in what is easily my obsession in life. The events of the day worked out perfectly, and we saw multiple species of animals including many Oryx, Blackbuck and Red Deer while driving in/out. Curtis is highly knowledgeable, eager to share, and patient. The ranch is very close to Houston which also made it very nice for us.

The deer on the hoof...


And the deer on the ground...

Congrats to both of y'all, great story!!!

Nice work and good write up. My daughter keeps asking to go back to hunt with Curtis. He is a good guy. We will see him in 2015. Good shooting by your boy.

Nice work. Congrats