This weekend was the best. Saw five does Saturday morning, two NICE bucks Sunday morning, and then this guy today. All different deer, so there are lots left for my newbies who I'm trying to put in front of one for the first time.
My young fellow wanted to go with me today (he's 8 years old)...so I obliged and woke him at 5:30 this morning. When I did, he woke up super excited, telling me he had been dreaming about deer hunting right before I woke him. I guess the passion must be in the blood!
We were up our stand by 6:30AM. In August I put up an extra ladder stand right beside mine so he could sit up a tree with me. I cammed it in with a commercial product that uses a metal safety bar and camo tarp. He's in there pretty solid so I need not worry about him falling out!
We heard lots of fun woods noises as we awaited the sun to rise. We heard something distinctly cross the river just as the sun was coming up. Our eyes met at the same time, and the excited look on his face was priceless! That's what it's all about.
Fast forward about an hour, and I spot movement out in the tall swale grass field I'm overlooking. Lukas is watching the woods behind me, where we saw a nice doe last weekend. I lean over and tell him I see a deer. He manoeuvres himself around to see the deer, about 100 yards out. He gets pretty pumped up. I tell him to not move too much, as deer have excellent eyes, and if they catch movement in our direction, he'll go the other way. Training a new hunter is the most satisfying part of being in the woods..passing on the tradition is very important to me.
Back to the deer....He starts moving across the swale, and not towards us. I didn't know he was a buck initially. I pulled out my doe bleat, and did three calls. Curiosity got to him, and he changed direction and headed our way. That's when the heart began to pump! He wasn't in a hurry, and we lost sight of him in and out of the swale grass that was over this bucks head. It wasn't until he 'reappeared' 60 yards out that I knew he was a six pointer. I managed to follow him as he moved along, turning and walking parallel to our stand at about 50 yards. It never works out perfect where they simply walk up to your stand and let you shoot them, does it?!?!
I whispered to Lukas to sit tight, and not move - it was 'show time'! The buck hung out in a clump of thistles at 45 yards, facing away from us (all I could see was the tail). I considered the bleat again, but thought I'd wait to see what he does next. Low and behold he turns around and starts coming right towards us! I had the Vortex up and ready to go. I was going to wait to see if he'd come closer, but at 40 yards he turned perfectly broadside, and began nibbling some field grass. I normally don't take shots at that distance, but I didn't know if he'd continue my way, turn around, or any of the other million choices this deer had. I had considerable time to hold steady on him, so I put the crosshairs on him, and whistled the GTII with a 100gr Slick Trick and Lumenok in his direction. He 'startled' at the release, and dropped slightly - this may have been good for me, since I estimated him at 30 yards while he was 38 yards away!
The shot sounded good, as it had the hollow sound you hear when it strikes the 'engine room'. He turned and trotted back through the swale grass, and I was lucky enough to be able to watch him as he left. He slowed to a walk, and that's when I began to think "WTH?!?". That's when you second guess your shot. I was thinking "Please just fall over!". He continued on, but just as he was going out of sight, and noticed him stumble, and then heard a crash. I was thinking this is good, but wasn't going to be too confident in our success. We waited up the tree for 15 minutes, giving him time to bleed out.
Once we got down, Lukas and I found the Lumenok arrow fairly easily, and it had solid blood on the shaft. We proceeded to stalk hunt over towards where I last saw him, just in case he was still alive. We found him close by, and after ensuring he was not going to run away, we exchanged high five's and a few 'whoohoo's'!
Deer down. Meat in the freezer, and a young man now hooked on deer hunting for many years to come - even AFTER witnessing the field dressing process!
A perfect Thanksgiving Day for this Dad and his son!
