BrowningRage
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 4,593
As some of you know, I used 9 preference points to put in with my daughter (14) and father (70) in order to draw three early rifle deer tags for general season deer this year. There are a few guys here on MM that I owe some big thanks to as they genuinely had a part in this most successful of hunts.
My plan all along was to mentor my tag to my son (12) and hope we could fill the tag with any non-spike
. Because my daughter had her own tag, she could hunt all seasons. We had plans to hunt Archery, but unfortunately her bow (Diamond Infinite 305) had a major mechanical issue just before the hunt and we had to cancel that. 
We then focused on the muzzleloader for her. She got good with the .54 Hawkin and we felt she would do well with any shot inside 100 yes. We planned for 3 days of that hunt. Unfortunately, on the trip down, my dad's truck started losing power unexpectedly. We decided to drop the trailer on some BLM near our unit and at least go hunt the evening. Without the trailer, the truck did much better, but was still not 100%. That evening we covered ground and did some glassing. In all, we saw 59 deer, with one being a dink 2 point my daughter had no interest in. Though the 3 days hunt was cut short, it was exciting see a lot of deer.
Early rifle rolled around and we all packed up and headed down for the 5 day hunt. We knew the unit would be full of spike elk hunters as well, but figured that would just get deer moving all over. (Also, if ever you deer hunt where a spike elk hunt is taking place, spend the $56 for a tag just in case, I now know from experience
)
Opening morning had us up a little after 5am. The decision was made that my son would have first shot. Practicing this summer, he decided he wanted to use my first deer rifle, a lever action, Marlin 30-30 that I put a 4x scope on. As daylight began to creep in, we first spotted a spike. Just to be sure, I asked if he wanted to shoot him, and he was adamant that he did not.
As we moved along, we spotted several deer along the ridge ahead of us. At about 300 yards, I could see that one was a buck. We had to get closer for my son to feel comfortable. We quietly closed the distance to 166 yards. We got him a stable rest and he let his first ever shot at a deer fly. The well-known THWUMP came back and the deer hunched up. I yelled, "you got him, you got him!" The buck moved in front of a small 2 point and stood, sick for a few minutes. As he stepped away, I had my son send another one, it hit the buck high in the front leg. My son cocked in another round, and I heard him breath out... and bang! And the buck dropped. Everyone was beyond excited and we all started cheering. It was only 7:30 and my son had tagged out!
The rest of opening day and the next two days were a lot of fun, but also discouraging as we covered many different areas, made several hikes to glassing areas, put miles on the truck, saw tons of deer but couldn't turn up anything better than young 2-points and a 3-point my daughter named Dinky Dinkerson She was holding out for something better. By Friday night we were out of new areas, so we returned to a known area. We decided to bounce between some water holes, which paid off. As we came upon one, we saw five deer, including a small 3-point. My daughter wasn't sure about shooting him, but a rzr then came down a 2 track in our direction and made the decision for her, scaring the deer off in a flash. A few moments later, my daughter started to cry that she hadn't taken the buck. If any of you have experienced that, you know that I now HAD to find her a buck before going home.
Saturday morning found us heading to an area where we had been seeing the most deer. Just as we had enough light to see anything, we spotted a few does in a sage brush meadow. As I looked closer, I realized one was a buck, and not a dink buck (by our standards anyway). As we tried to get my daughter set up for a shot, the buck trotted away from us, just over a rise in the meadow. I knew we could still have a chance if we could get over the rise and he was still in the back of the meadow. We moved up and found several deer at the back of the meadow, including the buck. He was not going to stick around now that we were in view. We got my daughter on a solid rest and I helped her identify which deer was the buck. When she said "I have him", I got my binos on him. Just then he started to bound towards the quakies. I gave the most compelling "meh" sound you or that buck has ever heard. It stopped him in his tracks, directly in front of 4 little pines. He stuck out like a sore thumb in front of them. At 205 yards, my daughter let the 6.5 Creedmoor ring out in the early morning light. The buck hunched hard, danced around for 10 or 15 seconds, and tumbled over into the sage.
While I cheered that he was down, my daughter was overwhelmed and began crying with joy. She just wanted to keep hugging me as her brothers and my dad came over to us...
My dad said that was good enough, and we headed home. He was hopeful we'd see some older age bucks, but we just didn't. My kids and I could not be happier with the way the hunt went. Filling two tags on two first bucks feels like an accomplishment we are all satisfied with.
There was one issue though- I left my knives sitting on top of the sage brush right there next to the kill spot. If anyone wants to get them for me, I can send you the OnX pin of the kill site.
My plan all along was to mentor my tag to my son (12) and hope we could fill the tag with any non-spike
. Because my daughter had her own tag, she could hunt all seasons. We had plans to hunt Archery, but unfortunately her bow (Diamond Infinite 305) had a major mechanical issue just before the hunt and we had to cancel that. We then focused on the muzzleloader for her. She got good with the .54 Hawkin and we felt she would do well with any shot inside 100 yes. We planned for 3 days of that hunt. Unfortunately, on the trip down, my dad's truck started losing power unexpectedly. We decided to drop the trailer on some BLM near our unit and at least go hunt the evening. Without the trailer, the truck did much better, but was still not 100%. That evening we covered ground and did some glassing. In all, we saw 59 deer, with one being a dink 2 point my daughter had no interest in. Though the 3 days hunt was cut short, it was exciting see a lot of deer.
Early rifle rolled around and we all packed up and headed down for the 5 day hunt. We knew the unit would be full of spike elk hunters as well, but figured that would just get deer moving all over. (Also, if ever you deer hunt where a spike elk hunt is taking place, spend the $56 for a tag just in case, I now know from experience
) Opening morning had us up a little after 5am. The decision was made that my son would have first shot. Practicing this summer, he decided he wanted to use my first deer rifle, a lever action, Marlin 30-30 that I put a 4x scope on. As daylight began to creep in, we first spotted a spike. Just to be sure, I asked if he wanted to shoot him, and he was adamant that he did not.
As we moved along, we spotted several deer along the ridge ahead of us. At about 300 yards, I could see that one was a buck. We had to get closer for my son to feel comfortable. We quietly closed the distance to 166 yards. We got him a stable rest and he let his first ever shot at a deer fly. The well-known THWUMP came back and the deer hunched up. I yelled, "you got him, you got him!" The buck moved in front of a small 2 point and stood, sick for a few minutes. As he stepped away, I had my son send another one, it hit the buck high in the front leg. My son cocked in another round, and I heard him breath out... and bang! And the buck dropped. Everyone was beyond excited and we all started cheering. It was only 7:30 and my son had tagged out!The rest of opening day and the next two days were a lot of fun, but also discouraging as we covered many different areas, made several hikes to glassing areas, put miles on the truck, saw tons of deer but couldn't turn up anything better than young 2-points and a 3-point my daughter named Dinky Dinkerson
She was holding out for something better. By Friday night we were out of new areas, so we returned to a known area. We decided to bounce between some water holes, which paid off. As we came upon one, we saw five deer, including a small 3-point. My daughter wasn't sure about shooting him, but a rzr then came down a 2 track in our direction and made the decision for her, scaring the deer off in a flash. A few moments later, my daughter started to cry that she hadn't taken the buck. If any of you have experienced that, you know that I now HAD to find her a buck before going home. Saturday morning found us heading to an area where we had been seeing the most deer. Just as we had enough light to see anything, we spotted a few does in a sage brush meadow. As I looked closer, I realized one was a buck, and not a dink buck (by our standards anyway). As we tried to get my daughter set up for a shot, the buck trotted away from us, just over a rise in the meadow. I knew we could still have a chance if we could get over the rise and he was still in the back of the meadow. We moved up and found several deer at the back of the meadow, including the buck. He was not going to stick around now that we were in view. We got my daughter on a solid rest and I helped her identify which deer was the buck. When she said "I have him", I got my binos on him. Just then he started to bound towards the quakies. I gave the most compelling "meh" sound you or that buck has ever heard. It stopped him in his tracks, directly in front of 4 little pines. He stuck out like a sore thumb in front of them. At 205 yards, my daughter let the 6.5 Creedmoor ring out in the early morning light. The buck hunched hard, danced around for 10 or 15 seconds, and tumbled over into the sage.
While I cheered that he was down, my daughter was overwhelmed and began crying with joy. She just wanted to keep hugging me as her brothers and my dad came over to us...
My dad said that was good enough, and we headed home. He was hopeful we'd see some older age bucks, but we just didn't. My kids and I could not be happier with the way the hunt went. Filling two tags on two first bucks feels like an accomplishment we are all satisfied with.
There was one issue though- I left my knives sitting on top of the sage brush right there next to the kill spot. If anyone wants to get them for me, I can send you the OnX pin of the kill site.
