duckhunt
Well-known member
Leg day everyday's workout for today is going to be carrying this 40# 3yr old to a deer spot close to home. We'll see if we can make it happen tonight.
Your going to have fun on this one. I miss those days with my boys.
Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ
- Thread starter Lostinthewoods
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Your going to have fun on this one. I miss those days with my boys.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
I'm a little slower with a kid on my back, but I did find a buck worth shooting. By that I mean I saw a horn through 8x binos at over a mile just after sunset. He was with 6 other deer that looked like does, but I can't confirm it.
I packed the kiddo in my Kifaru, and made it to within within 400yds with 10 minutes of legal light left. Unfortunately, they moved back into the sage, and I couldn't pick the buck out of the group before dark.
The good news is I've seen deer in this spot every time I've been there. I just need to have a full day without other obligations to make it happen.
I packed the kiddo in my Kifaru, and made it to within within 400yds with 10 minutes of legal light left. Unfortunately, they moved back into the sage, and I couldn't pick the buck out of the group before dark.
The good news is I've seen deer in this spot every time I've been there. I just need to have a full day without other obligations to make it happen.
bobbydean
Well-known member
I love the happy smiles. The young woman's is much prettier! Like the first picture best. You do well on so many levels.
Crossbowguy
Well-known member
Can't wait to get my kids out in the blind with me and try for a nice buck or bear whichever comes in first!!!! You guys are definitely doing it right!!! Love the smiles!!!!!
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Haha. I'll work on my smile. lol. She's excited to get out next time and try to find some deer. I'm thinking I'll take her down again Friday night and camp in my tent to save time and gas. That'll give us Friday night and all of Saturday and Sunday.
For tonight I'm trying to workout a sneak attack on some bucks a friend of mine (non-hunter) saw this morning. I don't know how it's going to work out, but I'm bringing a friend and giving him the first shot. We'll see how it goes.
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SFC B
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My "little" on (Hunting Princess) is thirteen and we are headed out in DEC for her RFW elk hunt. Let me tell you that it keeps getting better 
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
My "little" on (Hunting Princess) is thirteen and we are headed out in DEC for her RFW elk hunt. Let me tell you that it keeps getting better
Yeah. I can't wait for her to get to the age she can hunt and have tags. It's my goal this year to shoot a deer with my daughter there. I'd like if she could at least see the deer, but she doesn't have the eyes for them yet. lol. We're at a 2:19 ratio so far.
Good luck on the hunt this weekend and the one with your daughter in December.
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My "little" on (Hunting Princess) is thirteen and we are headed out in DEC for her RFW elk hunt. Let me tell you that it keeps getting better
Best of luck to you and your daughter in December!
I'm way behind you and CJ when it comes to being close to taking my daughter out.
It's ok though, I like her staying small.... time is already moving too fast.
It's fun having a little girl because you can throw her in camo one day
And then deck her out the next day in a dress.
My wife and I didn't find out the gender until my daughter came out.
Ask me 9 months ago and I thought my world would have been over if I had a girl.
Ask me now and id never want it any other way, she is my world!
I cannot wait to get her on her first hunt.
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So I've been itching at the bit, but my deer season officially gets to start Saturday here in Florida.
I've got a pretty neat spot picked out, I'm just going to have to wait for the wind verdict on Friday evening!
In the yellow circle is the last bit of acorns in that general area. While scouting it Sunday I found two does in there (pink dots) and tons of tracks. It's real close to the road, but for some reason it's over looked and no one touches it! Better for me!!!
The green lines is where they are crossing the small creek. I've got a camera on the north west side of the crossing. There was tons of sign and no one is walking in that far.
I had a spot I originally wanted to sit because it was loaded with hogs and deer, but it's almost flooded out.
Now I just have to get through the rest of this week!!!
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I've got a pretty neat spot picked out, I'm just going to have to wait for the wind verdict on Friday evening!
In the yellow circle is the last bit of acorns in that general area. While scouting it Sunday I found two does in there (pink dots) and tons of tracks. It's real close to the road, but for some reason it's over looked and no one touches it! Better for me!!!
The green lines is where they are crossing the small creek. I've got a camera on the north west side of the crossing. There was tons of sign and no one is walking in that far.
I had a spot I originally wanted to sit because it was loaded with hogs and deer, but it's almost flooded out.
Now I just have to get through the rest of this week!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
duckhunt
Well-known member
Good luck
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Welp... The plan worked perfectly and we found the bucks exactly where the duck hunter said they would be. Unfortunately, we both missed. My buddy missed with the muzzleloader, and I missed with my camera.
We saw 5-8 bucks, some of them could have been the same, but we saw at least 5 bucks and 2 does. We're going to go back after then on Thursday to give the area a little break. It's a bit of a hike, but I think I'll be able to bring my daughter with me.
Crossbowguy
Well-known member
I'd say good luck but by the looks that hasn't been a problem so far, so kill a nice one and can't wait to hear about it.
As for the deer here in NY, all the corn is getting cut so the deer are piling into my woods so I should have some new monsters showing up soon, and hope to get one on the ground soon!!!!
As for the deer here in NY, all the corn is getting cut so the deer are piling into my woods so I should have some new monsters showing up soon, and hope to get one on the ground soon!!!!
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I hope the corn cutting pushes a stud your direction! I'm drooling a little thinking about some venison backstraps!!!!
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Had late night tonight. I need to sleep a little, go to work, edit some photos, and think of how I'll tell this story.
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Nothing like an ER visit before Florida opener, ha ha!
My elbow has fluid filling up around it and it's about the size of a plum. I was going to wait until Monday, but they made me come in today.... doh!
No worries, I'll still be out bow in hand tomorrow.
My elbow has fluid filling up around it and it's about the size of a plum. I was going to wait until Monday, but they made me come in today.... doh!
No worries, I'll still be out bow in hand tomorrow.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Every now and then you have one of those experiences which grounds you and reminds you why you do what you do. Last night's hunt with Ryan was one of those experiences.
Ryan's family didn't hunt, but he was always interested in getting into hunting. Last year, while he was in Texas he bought a bow and a rifle, and practiced until he was proficient with both. He had a few opportunities but wasn't able to capitalize on them. When he moved to Idaho this spring he knew he wanted to experience hunting in the mountains.
Ryan is a terrific woodsman, and is comfortable in the field. His first mountain hunt was for archery elk where he was able to successfully get within archery range of a handful of elk. He even got a shot off, but adrenaline and excitement caused him to miscount his pins and send the arrow right over the bull's back. He hunted hard and was into animals the entire hunt. Which is quite an accomplishment for someone who had never hunted elk before, let alone never really hunting at all. Despite his near success, he still had an empty freezer (which was his best ammunition for convincing his wife to allow him to buy all of his hunting gear )
Fast forward to Tuesday, when I received a tip on the bedding location of a few nice bucks from a duck hunter, I knew I had to invite Ryan along. When we got to where I was told the deer were bedded, we stopped and discussed our plan for the afternoon. The spot looked good and there were trails funneling to a narrow opening in the brush.
Not more than 5 minutes after deciding to just sit tight and wait in that spot, a buck showed up. While Ryan was repositioning to get a clear shot, the buck came closer, spotted us, and spooked. But like almost all mule deer, he stopped after a few yards and looked back at us. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn't get steady and he missed the shot. The plan worked perfectly... almost too easy.
We sat the rest of the night and saw a handful of other deer, but they never came close enough or stood still long enough to get a shot off. So we decided to give it a day to cool off and to come back Thursday.
I had several conversations with Ryan in-between hunts and reminded him hunting isn't a guarantee, and statistically most people are unsuccessful. He just needed to keep a positive outlook and get back out there. It'll happen. I had no doubt we'd get it done.
Our plan for Thursday was to sit in the same spot and wait. So we waited... and waited. Just as it was reaching the time of night when you start to doubt whether or not anything would step out, I saw movement on the other side of the clearing. It was a deer, and a buck too! Since the wind wasn't ideal for the direction the deer was moving we decided to try to flank him and get into a better spot. We moved slowly and cautiously since we knew he was close. We'd stop and glass around every corner we came to. We waited for a few minutes at the spot we figured the deer would move through, but he never came.
So we chose to move slowly back to where we were sitting earlier. A few steps later....
There he was! Only 40 yards away from where we started and about 70 yards from us. I handed Ryan my muzzleloader and shooting stick. I didn't give him any pointers because he knew what he had to do.
I just sat back and soaked in the moment. This was the first time I'd ever been with someone when they're about to take they're first animal, and it was an amazing sight to see. I watched as he brought the rifle to his shoulder, acquired his sight picture, and exhaled in a effort to calm himself down. Through the corner of my eye, I could see a subtle effect of adrenaline on the end of the barrel.
As I put my eye to my camera's viewfinder and pressed the shutter, the rifle went off. As is common with muzzleloaders, our view was blocked by smoke, but when it cleared we saw the buck regain his footing and stumble a few yards into the brush. It was a good shot. He wasn't going far.
Since we didn't see him drop, I looked at my watch, made note of the time, and told Ryan we'd wait 10-15 minutes before walking over. It was impossible to miss the feeling of excitement in the air. We discussed the shot placement, and what we thought we'd see when we walked over there. I could tell Ryan was trying to contain his excitement and keep a level head, and he did. He stayed calm and absorbed as much of the moment as he could.
We quickly found blood where the buck was standing and I knew he was dead. So I stepped back and hit the record button on my camera to capture the moment he found his first kill. Ryan found the buck in the same spot we'd last seen him, and he stood there in awe of his harvest for a moment before approaching him. Such a special moment, and I felt so blessed to witness it.
In the hierarchy of lifetime achievements, I consider killing your first animal to be among of the highest of them. I know for me, that moment changed the course of my life. It satiated the primal instinct we share with our ancestors to harvest and eat meat. It taught me to respect the fragility of life, how to appreciate the wonderful gift that life is, and many more lessons which cannot be described with words.
Now I don't know if Ryan felt these things, but I could tell by his prayer of thanks and the pure awestruck look in his eyes as we broke the animal down into quarters that he knew what hunting is all about. This deer is just the beginning for him, and the most special harvest of all of them; the first.
Ryan's family didn't hunt, but he was always interested in getting into hunting. Last year, while he was in Texas he bought a bow and a rifle, and practiced until he was proficient with both. He had a few opportunities but wasn't able to capitalize on them. When he moved to Idaho this spring he knew he wanted to experience hunting in the mountains.
Ryan is a terrific woodsman, and is comfortable in the field. His first mountain hunt was for archery elk where he was able to successfully get within archery range of a handful of elk. He even got a shot off, but adrenaline and excitement caused him to miscount his pins and send the arrow right over the bull's back. He hunted hard and was into animals the entire hunt. Which is quite an accomplishment for someone who had never hunted elk before, let alone never really hunting at all. Despite his near success, he still had an empty freezer (which was his best ammunition for convincing his wife to allow him to buy all of his hunting gear
)Fast forward to Tuesday, when I received a tip on the bedding location of a few nice bucks from a duck hunter, I knew I had to invite Ryan along. When we got to where I was told the deer were bedded, we stopped and discussed our plan for the afternoon. The spot looked good and there were trails funneling to a narrow opening in the brush.
Not more than 5 minutes after deciding to just sit tight and wait in that spot, a buck showed up. While Ryan was repositioning to get a clear shot, the buck came closer, spotted us, and spooked. But like almost all mule deer, he stopped after a few yards and looked back at us. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn't get steady and he missed the shot. The plan worked perfectly... almost too easy.
We sat the rest of the night and saw a handful of other deer, but they never came close enough or stood still long enough to get a shot off. So we decided to give it a day to cool off and to come back Thursday.
I had several conversations with Ryan in-between hunts and reminded him hunting isn't a guarantee, and statistically most people are unsuccessful. He just needed to keep a positive outlook and get back out there. It'll happen. I had no doubt we'd get it done.
Our plan for Thursday was to sit in the same spot and wait. So we waited... and waited. Just as it was reaching the time of night when you start to doubt whether or not anything would step out, I saw movement on the other side of the clearing. It was a deer, and a buck too! Since the wind wasn't ideal for the direction the deer was moving we decided to try to flank him and get into a better spot. We moved slowly and cautiously since we knew he was close. We'd stop and glass around every corner we came to. We waited for a few minutes at the spot we figured the deer would move through, but he never came.
So we chose to move slowly back to where we were sitting earlier. A few steps later....
There he was! Only 40 yards away from where we started and about 70 yards from us. I handed Ryan my muzzleloader and shooting stick. I didn't give him any pointers because he knew what he had to do.
I just sat back and soaked in the moment. This was the first time I'd ever been with someone when they're about to take they're first animal, and it was an amazing sight to see. I watched as he brought the rifle to his shoulder, acquired his sight picture, and exhaled in a effort to calm himself down. Through the corner of my eye, I could see a subtle effect of adrenaline on the end of the barrel.
As I put my eye to my camera's viewfinder and pressed the shutter, the rifle went off. As is common with muzzleloaders, our view was blocked by smoke, but when it cleared we saw the buck regain his footing and stumble a few yards into the brush. It was a good shot. He wasn't going far.
Since we didn't see him drop, I looked at my watch, made note of the time, and told Ryan we'd wait 10-15 minutes before walking over. It was impossible to miss the feeling of excitement in the air. We discussed the shot placement, and what we thought we'd see when we walked over there. I could tell Ryan was trying to contain his excitement and keep a level head, and he did. He stayed calm and absorbed as much of the moment as he could.
We quickly found blood where the buck was standing and I knew he was dead. So I stepped back and hit the record button on my camera to capture the moment he found his first kill. Ryan found the buck in the same spot we'd last seen him, and he stood there in awe of his harvest for a moment before approaching him. Such a special moment, and I felt so blessed to witness it.
In the hierarchy of lifetime achievements, I consider killing your first animal to be among of the highest of them. I know for me, that moment changed the course of my life. It satiated the primal instinct we share with our ancestors to harvest and eat meat. It taught me to respect the fragility of life, how to appreciate the wonderful gift that life is, and many more lessons which cannot be described with words.
Now I don't know if Ryan felt these things, but I could tell by his prayer of thanks and the pure awestruck look in his eyes as we broke the animal down into quarters that he knew what hunting is all about. This deer is just the beginning for him, and the most special harvest of all of them; the first.
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Opening day in my zone in Florida!
Got the spot I want to hunt a little early because it's a controlled area and only 200 are allowed to hunt it at a time! Not bad for 24k acres.
Now I'm at the gate waiting for my buddies to show up and for them to open it in 2 hours.
All of my cameras are showing deer. I may try to set up in a spot with the most action and just watch both of my buddies hunt. One is brand new to hunting this year and I want to see him come unglued when he sees his first deer with a bow in hand.
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duckhunt
Well-known member
Thats a great first buck.
duckhunt
Well-known member
Opening day in my zone in Florida!
Got the spot I want to hunt a little early because it's a controlled area and only 200 are allowed to hunt it at a time! Not bad for 24k acres.
Now I'm at the gate waiting for my buddies to show up and for them to open it in 2 hours.
All of my cameras are showing deer. I may try to set up in a spot with the most action and just watch both of my buddies hunt. One is brand new to hunting this year and I want to see him come unglued when he sees his first deer with a bow in hand.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Good luck
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