Couldn’t be more proud of my son. He’s hunted with me since before he could walk but always just wanted to watch. He said that he wanted to shoot a deer this year so I had him start practicing everything that I could think of to make sure he was ready.

So this was the weekend for him to hunt a deer. We saw a lot of bucks (not a single doe) Thursday, Friday and Saturday but the majority were too young or right at 4.5. Our lease has a ton of 5.5+ mature deer and I try to teach the boys to pick those out as shooters. I started getting worried Saturday afternoon because the deer movement had slowed to a crawl. Mom wanted us home for New Years so I told the boys that we would hunt Sunday morning and then we would have to go home. I knew there was a set with a really old goofy looking 6pt if he wanted to hunt him. I started second guessing some of the deer that I had him pass on at this point. Either way, it taught him to be patient.

So.... we sat there Sunday morning. 17 degrees and snowing, which was great. There were 3 deer right at daylight. The old goofy 6pt, a tiny bodied 8pt, and a big bodied 8pt. The 2 8’s started fighting and the bigger bodied deer make quick work of the other. At that point, the goofy 6 ran off. About 5 min later a group of pigs scared the other two off. I thought we were going home empty handed. I told the boys I could go down and spin the feeders few times and we could see what happens. They agreed. On my way down to the feeder I found the sheds off that goofy 6 laying in the road. I guess he shed right there after those bucks we’re fighting. Never had that happen before. So I spun the feeder a few times and we waited.


We waited about 45 minutes and the 8pt and goofy 6 that just shed showed back up with a few doe. Little man got the rifle up and kept the cross hairs on him for about 10 minutes waiting for a good shot. He pulled the trigger and dropped the 8 in his tracks. Shot right through the heart. I could not be more proud of him. One of the most exciting days of my life, and an amazing first deer to take.
The wildlife manager on the ranch aged the buck at 8.5-9.5 (possibly older than my son), and scored him at 131.

Awesome buck

Very nice. Making lifetime memories. Congrats to all.

Nice deer. Congrats!

Congrats to the young man
Awesome buck

Your son's first deer is bigger than any deer I've ever killed...at 44 years old.

Nice job!

happy boy, nice buck

Congrats to your son!!

Yep. Congrats!!!

Congrats!

Outstanding!

Tell That young man great job. Keep it up.

Congrats to you both
Awesome buck and memories of a lifetime

Welldone

Awesome

Congratulations on a great buck! The first one I ever killed had 6" spikes, so you are way ahead of me.
Adios,
Gary

That's awesome!! I hope to have that experience soon!! I keep looking for a lease that will allow me to bring the family just to enjoy the hunt and be able to learn about hunting and man they are sure hard to find these days!! got a 13 year old daughter that wants to shoot a deer so bad! got her a 7-08 for Christmas and she is ready so I hope to find a lease next year I can take her and him with me to just experience the feeling and see deer out in the wild!! thanks for sharing!!

That is awesome. Love these stories. Really nice buck. You taught him well, Dad.

Congrats to him Nice looking buck!!

Congrats to the young man!

Awesome! Congratulations to your son!