I wanted to share a great weekend hunt I had with my Son and my Dad this past weekend back home on my family farm. This past Saturday was the 2011 Youth Day deer hunt. We have hunted this season with good success for the past three years but this year my son was able to take a really nice buck.
We woke to a steady rain on Saturday morning but we were going no matter what the weather was doing. We left the truck just after first light and started our long walk into the location we were going to hunt next to the New River. We were moving very slowly as we glassed the edges of the fields trying to catch a deer heading back into its bedding area. About 7:15am we spotted four does browsing for acorns under a big oak on the top of a ridge. The wind was in our favor and with the rain covering our sound we were able to stalk within 50 yards of them and setup in a patch of small pines. I asked my son if he wanted to take the biggest doe but he said he wanted to hold out for a buck. We watched them for a couple minutes as they browsed their way back in the laurel thickets towards their bedding area. As we watched them head out of sight the rain stopped and the fog started to roll in off the river. We decided to continue out the ridge and glass the last field before we started into the timber.
Once we reached our vantage point on the ridge over looking the last field we began to glass, no deer to be seen. We decided to sit on the ridge to watch the thermals carry the fog for a few minutes to determine what the wind was going to do with our scent before we entered the timber. As all of you hunters know a deer’s sense of smell is their number one defense and I am working with my son to teach him how to read the wind and play it to his advantage. We had been sitting there for about 5 minutes when I saw a big bodied deer working along the edge of the woods on the other side of the field. I watched it through my binoculars for a few seconds and could tell it was a good buck but the fog was making the details hard to see. I told my son to get his shooting sticks set up and get ready to take the shot. The deer was quartering away slightly and eating acorns. I ranged the deer at 290 yards. Then I told him how high to hold on the deer’s body to compensate for the bullet drop and to let me know when he was ready. After a couple of seconds he said “Ready Dad!” as my Dad and I watched through our binoculars I told him to “Send it”. With the crack of the rifle the deer kicked like a mule and ran into the woods where we heard it crash. We sat quietly for 5 long minutes just to be sure we would not push him then we went to find his buck. It turned out to be a very nice big bodied 9 pointer. That’s when the high fives and hugs began.
Needless to say my Dad and I are very proud of our hunting buddy.
Thanks,
Oneshot
We woke to a steady rain on Saturday morning but we were going no matter what the weather was doing. We left the truck just after first light and started our long walk into the location we were going to hunt next to the New River. We were moving very slowly as we glassed the edges of the fields trying to catch a deer heading back into its bedding area. About 7:15am we spotted four does browsing for acorns under a big oak on the top of a ridge. The wind was in our favor and with the rain covering our sound we were able to stalk within 50 yards of them and setup in a patch of small pines. I asked my son if he wanted to take the biggest doe but he said he wanted to hold out for a buck. We watched them for a couple minutes as they browsed their way back in the laurel thickets towards their bedding area. As we watched them head out of sight the rain stopped and the fog started to roll in off the river. We decided to continue out the ridge and glass the last field before we started into the timber.
Once we reached our vantage point on the ridge over looking the last field we began to glass, no deer to be seen. We decided to sit on the ridge to watch the thermals carry the fog for a few minutes to determine what the wind was going to do with our scent before we entered the timber. As all of you hunters know a deer’s sense of smell is their number one defense and I am working with my son to teach him how to read the wind and play it to his advantage. We had been sitting there for about 5 minutes when I saw a big bodied deer working along the edge of the woods on the other side of the field. I watched it through my binoculars for a few seconds and could tell it was a good buck but the fog was making the details hard to see. I told my son to get his shooting sticks set up and get ready to take the shot. The deer was quartering away slightly and eating acorns. I ranged the deer at 290 yards. Then I told him how high to hold on the deer’s body to compensate for the bullet drop and to let me know when he was ready. After a couple of seconds he said “Ready Dad!” as my Dad and I watched through our binoculars I told him to “Send it”. With the crack of the rifle the deer kicked like a mule and ran into the woods where we heard it crash. We sat quietly for 5 long minutes just to be sure we would not push him then we went to find his buck. It turned out to be a very nice big bodied 9 pointer. That’s when the high fives and hugs began.
Needless to say my Dad and I are very proud of our hunting buddy.
Thanks,
Oneshot
