My college freshman daughter was able to take a quick break before finals and met me at the ranch this weekend for some Daddy/Daughter time. Saturday afternoon we had a light north wind and hunted a blind she had killed her biggest buck from last year. About 20 minutes before last light, a mature buck showed up, but would not come out in the open and eventually turned and walked away. We were both a little bummed.
The wind would shift overnight and not be right for this blind, but the wind was very light, so I decided we should try the same blind again the next morning. We got in the blind early and I brought my ozone machine to try and counter the wind. As luck would have it, the mature buck was the first deer we saw just after first light. He faced us head on for about 5 minutes and thought he’d never turn. Finally another deer approached from behind causing the mature buck to turn perfectly broadside looking away from us. At that instant, my daughter shot. He bucked and ran out of sight. We found him less than 75 yards away. He was originally a 10 point but had broken his right brow tine clean off. He still scored 138 and weighed an even 200 lbs.
The best part was when we took the buck to the meat processor. Two older hunters drove in behind us when we were dropping off her buck. They made quite the big deal out of what a great buck she had shot. While not her biggest buck, I know those two guys made her really proud of this big old boy.
My college freshman daughter was able to take a quick break before finals and met me at the ranch this weekend for some Daddy/Daughter time. Saturday afternoon we had a light north wind and hunted a blind she had killed her biggest buck from last year. About 20 minutes before last light, a mature buck showed up, but would not come out in the open and eventually turned and walked away. We were both a little bummed.
The wind would shift overnight and not be right for this blind, but the wind was very light, so I decided we should try the same blind again the next morning. We got in the blind early and I brought my ozone machine to try and counter the wind. As luck would have it, the mature buck was the first deer we saw just after first light. He faced us head on for about 5 minutes and thought he’d never turn. Finally another deer approached from behind causing the mature buck to turn perfectly broadside looking away from us. At that instant, my daughter shot. He bucked and ran out of sight. We found him less than 75 yards away. He was originally a 10 point but had broken his right brow tine clean off. He still scored 138 and weighed an even 200 lbs.
The best part was when we took the buck to the meat processor. Two older hunters drove in behind us when we were dropping off her buck. They made quite the big deal out of what a great buck she had shot. While not her biggest buck, I know those two guys made her really proud of this big old boy.
Great buck and great story as well. Thanks for sharing.
Love to hear of Father/Daughter stories and of time shared afield.
My Daughter (now 35) has been deer hunting with me every year since she was 9 yrs, old (except for a few years when she was in college). Sadly, this year...she has a knee surgery scheduled that will prevent us from being able to go. I am always encouraged to hear of the Ladies enjoying the outdoors. And even better when it is time shared with a loved one.