Well, since no one else has started it off, I will. This was my second year to guide, and somehow I manage to have more fun than last year. My boy and his father arrived Thursday evening. The boy was pretty quiet and shy, but an extremely good kid. I knew we were going to have fun.
Friday morning we get out to the blind. I had set up a good blind earlier in the week and brushed it in really well with cedars to cover our scent and give us a good comfortable hiding hole.
Just after shooting light, a forkhorn steps out and browses for 15 minutes or so at 30 yards. The boy only had a doe tag, so we had to pass. Forkie left and soon after another deer came in. I could see it was small so I told the boy to hold off, luckily, cause after it got lighter we saw little 3 or 4 inch spikes on it. Eventually it wandered off and we sat for a while with no action. Bout 9:30 I see these 4 turkeys come under the fence, traveling with 4 does, one of them being a shooter doe. I instantly started shaking and getting all kinds of excited for this boy. We had to wait a while for them to work into our shooting lane, but in the mean time the turkeys put on a good show for us. I had been baiting the place and there was corn scattered about the the turkeys kept running the crows off, it was quite comical. So after watching that for a while the doe finally moved up about 50 yards out broadside. I help the boy get in position and told him to fire when ready. He literally had to shoot over the turkeys to get to his deer, so when he pulled the trigger, turkeys flew, deer scattered, and I could not keep my eye on his doe. I was paying more attention to the boy than where he shot on the deer, so I didn't see impact. We gave her a few minutes then went and looked for blood. The boy went out and instantly found some pink frothy blood. I explained to him what that meant, that he probably made a good shot and his deer would not be far. We gave her a little longer and went and got the 4wheeler. That lil boy was like a bloodhound tracking that deer. He did an awesome job and I never had to guide him. Bout 50 yards from where he shot her we found his doe piled up beside a tree. There was one happy boy then! And a father!
Friday evening I take the boy and his father out to the same place. I was a little discouraged because he had already filled his doe tag, so I told them we'd go out and see if we could find a pig. We got to the blind around 4-4:30 and had to run deer off to get to it. For the next two and a half hours we constantly had deer in front of us. Couple of little bucks and tons of does. Had one large doe that we thought she was going to stick her head in the window of the blind. She was about three feet away and never winded us. Her little yearling comes downwind of us and starts nibbling on the blind. We never got busted, it was so awesome. So even though we didn't get to shoot anything, the boy and his dad got a great show and got to get closer to a deer than ever before. We went in and had supper and talked with the gracious landowner, best people on the planet. When the boy and his dad left the room, I asked if they would mind if we shot a small buck. Landowner was tickled at the idea of the boy getting his first buck, so he told us to shoot anything we wanted. I never mentioned it to the boy, and already had a copy of his license, so early the next morning I went and bought him a buck tag.
So Saturday morning, I get the boys rustled around and feet are dragging a little, not a whole lot of motivation, knowing he can't shoot another deer. I pulled the buck tag out of my pocket and the little boy's face lit up. The dad couldn't believe it, so things did a 180 and they couldn't wait to get in the blind. Unfortunately it was a horrible morning. One fawn is all we saw. They boy was starting to get sick, dad forgot his pants and had to wear shorts the whole time, so he was over there freezing in 40 degree weather. The boy dozed off a little, I think the dad did too, so I remained on point. Finally a little after 9, all I see is horns out of the corner of my eye. I hit the boy so hard I nearly knocked his chair over trying to wake him up. He finally woke up and looked at me, I just smiled at him and said "why don't you shoot that buck out there?" The boy looked out the window and there was this awesome little 8 point buck that was standing 20 yards broadside. I motioned for the boy to hold still a minute as the buck was starting to turn, so we watched him for a few minutes and he got out to about 40 yards before offering us a shot. Little dude poked his gun out and laid the smack down on the buck. I thought I heard the buck crash in the woods, so since they were freezing, we went ahead and got out of the blind and went and looked for blood. Right off we found good blood. The dad could not believe it, he was SO pumped! We went and took a walk in the opposite direction to warm up and give the buck a chance to lay for a while, the whole time we went over the reenactment and high fived. After 30 minutes or so, we went back and started tracking. Didn't have the greatest of blood trails, but spatters here and there. I was glad of that though, I wanted to challenge the boy. That gave me a chance to teach him not to walk on the path the deer took, walk beside it so you taint the trail. That little boy did an AWESOME job. We probably tracked it 100 yards or so, and finally came up on it. Father and son were ecstatic.
It could not have been a better weekend. My deer season is pretty much over now, I'm not sure I can top that. It was so fulfilling to me to help that boy get his deer. They were both extremely green to hunting, but they said they learned so much and will not have any fear of doing it on their own now. I taught the boy to gut, skin, and quarter both of his deer, so now he knows how. I just can't say how awesome of a weekend it was. Great organization putting on some great hunts for these kids.
Friday morning we get out to the blind. I had set up a good blind earlier in the week and brushed it in really well with cedars to cover our scent and give us a good comfortable hiding hole.
Just after shooting light, a forkhorn steps out and browses for 15 minutes or so at 30 yards. The boy only had a doe tag, so we had to pass. Forkie left and soon after another deer came in. I could see it was small so I told the boy to hold off, luckily, cause after it got lighter we saw little 3 or 4 inch spikes on it. Eventually it wandered off and we sat for a while with no action. Bout 9:30 I see these 4 turkeys come under the fence, traveling with 4 does, one of them being a shooter doe. I instantly started shaking and getting all kinds of excited for this boy. We had to wait a while for them to work into our shooting lane, but in the mean time the turkeys put on a good show for us. I had been baiting the place and there was corn scattered about the the turkeys kept running the crows off, it was quite comical. So after watching that for a while the doe finally moved up about 50 yards out broadside. I help the boy get in position and told him to fire when ready. He literally had to shoot over the turkeys to get to his deer, so when he pulled the trigger, turkeys flew, deer scattered, and I could not keep my eye on his doe. I was paying more attention to the boy than where he shot on the deer, so I didn't see impact. We gave her a few minutes then went and looked for blood. The boy went out and instantly found some pink frothy blood. I explained to him what that meant, that he probably made a good shot and his deer would not be far. We gave her a little longer and went and got the 4wheeler. That lil boy was like a bloodhound tracking that deer. He did an awesome job and I never had to guide him. Bout 50 yards from where he shot her we found his doe piled up beside a tree. There was one happy boy then! And a father!
Friday evening I take the boy and his father out to the same place. I was a little discouraged because he had already filled his doe tag, so I told them we'd go out and see if we could find a pig. We got to the blind around 4-4:30 and had to run deer off to get to it. For the next two and a half hours we constantly had deer in front of us. Couple of little bucks and tons of does. Had one large doe that we thought she was going to stick her head in the window of the blind. She was about three feet away and never winded us. Her little yearling comes downwind of us and starts nibbling on the blind. We never got busted, it was so awesome. So even though we didn't get to shoot anything, the boy and his dad got a great show and got to get closer to a deer than ever before. We went in and had supper and talked with the gracious landowner, best people on the planet. When the boy and his dad left the room, I asked if they would mind if we shot a small buck. Landowner was tickled at the idea of the boy getting his first buck, so he told us to shoot anything we wanted. I never mentioned it to the boy, and already had a copy of his license, so early the next morning I went and bought him a buck tag.
So Saturday morning, I get the boys rustled around and feet are dragging a little, not a whole lot of motivation, knowing he can't shoot another deer. I pulled the buck tag out of my pocket and the little boy's face lit up. The dad couldn't believe it, so things did a 180 and they couldn't wait to get in the blind. Unfortunately it was a horrible morning. One fawn is all we saw. They boy was starting to get sick, dad forgot his pants and had to wear shorts the whole time, so he was over there freezing in 40 degree weather. The boy dozed off a little, I think the dad did too, so I remained on point. Finally a little after 9, all I see is horns out of the corner of my eye. I hit the boy so hard I nearly knocked his chair over trying to wake him up. He finally woke up and looked at me, I just smiled at him and said "why don't you shoot that buck out there?" The boy looked out the window and there was this awesome little 8 point buck that was standing 20 yards broadside. I motioned for the boy to hold still a minute as the buck was starting to turn, so we watched him for a few minutes and he got out to about 40 yards before offering us a shot. Little dude poked his gun out and laid the smack down on the buck. I thought I heard the buck crash in the woods, so since they were freezing, we went ahead and got out of the blind and went and looked for blood. Right off we found good blood. The dad could not believe it, he was SO pumped! We went and took a walk in the opposite direction to warm up and give the buck a chance to lay for a while, the whole time we went over the reenactment and high fived. After 30 minutes or so, we went back and started tracking. Didn't have the greatest of blood trails, but spatters here and there. I was glad of that though, I wanted to challenge the boy. That gave me a chance to teach him not to walk on the path the deer took, walk beside it so you taint the trail. That little boy did an AWESOME job. We probably tracked it 100 yards or so, and finally came up on it. Father and son were ecstatic.
It could not have been a better weekend. My deer season is pretty much over now, I'm not sure I can top that. It was so fulfilling to me to help that boy get his deer. They were both extremely green to hunting, but they said they learned so much and will not have any fear of doing it on their own now. I taught the boy to gut, skin, and quarter both of his deer, so now he knows how. I just can't say how awesome of a weekend it was. Great organization putting on some great hunts for these kids.
