Special day and a decent buck to boot !!
Went home after night shift and got my 4 1/2 yr old boy up and took him hunting first at first light. He was extremely excited to just be sitting in the front of the truck in his car seat for the first time and able to look out all around.
We seen a small fork horn nose to the ground running accross a field then a doe a couple of miles later when we were turning to go into a heavy bush patch. We watched her for minute to see if a buck was around but nothing. Next we went down a cutline to an over grown fenceline to where this doe was headed and there was this doe with a nice buck behind her. I got out a snuck up to a small rise and watched fo a bout a minute ( it was hard to tell size in the first light) but I determined that he was wider than his ears, decent browtines and good height. All of a sudden he turned to run and I shot and watched him run over a small hill. I quickly went back and got my son to help track this buck. We immediately found his running tracks and lots of blood in the snow and all on the trees. I knew he was down and very close as I could smell the rutting buck. I quickly seen him piled up about 10 yards away in some grass and small willows. I showed my boy the tracks and the blood and had hime go in front of me and look intenesly for the buck. It was great to watch him searching through the grass trees in front of me with such excitement and all of sudden he spied the buck and yelled here he is Dad!! I stopped him and went ahead and poked the deer a couple of times then watched my boy grab the horns and try to lift his head and say he's a big one dad. He helped me drag the buck out of the trees. I did not get any pics of me and the dear but I got about 8 of him holding the antlers in various positions.
The buck had;
20" spread
21.5" main beams
6.5" brows
12.5" G2's
I was hoping for a little bigger buck but I tell you what, the time I had with my son there, watching him look for the deer,seeing him hold that big buck up with a huge smile and determination..........ABSOLUTELY PRICLESS !!!!
I felt like I had just won the lottery !!! I could not have been a prouder Dad!
He was so excited so, I called our home number and had him tell my wife and daughter at home. He could hardly contain himself. He even helped me process the buck before loading it up and taking it home. This is going to be one of many more trips to come!
I just have 35mm film and will try to get pics onto a computer somehow.
|