5 states, 4 species, and hopefully a boys first deer.

Figured I'd go ahead and do a little update. Rolled in Wednesday morning a bit before 10am. Talked with the hunt manager and a few other hunter's for awhile then we started the orientation. Which basically consists of a bit of the history of the property, the rules and expectations of the hunt and assigning areas.View attachment 344128


After that I teamed up with a fellow hunter Bill who was assigned the same area as me. Our area was roughly 500 acres and we scouted the area and worked together to insure nobody was "stepping on any toes". I found a nice field edge with a live oak mott bordering it that showed good sign and put my stand in one of the oaks. I also put a popup on a promising funnel but haven't hunted it yet as I'm saving it for taking the kids out this weekend. Here's a view from the stand.View attachment 344130



By the time I finished it was 4pm and I was hot, sweaty, and hungry. So I headed to the cabin checked in got some dinner and turned in early.View attachment 344131


Was in the stand early the next morning and shortly after first light heard the dreaded blow of a doe from the oak thicket behind me. I caught a glimpse of 2 does and a fawn as they ran off and around me to the south. Climbed down around 10:30 and headed to lunch and a nap. When I woke up at 3 it was 100 degrees. At home I'd have done something else but these are the days I have to hunt so I headed out about 4. I climbed into my stand around 5 and cooked for the next couple hours.View attachment 344132


This morning I was tired but headed out early climbing into the stand about 45 minutes before shooting light. About 5 minutes before legal shooting hours two does and a fawn came out about 60 yards in front of me and began feeding closer. By the time shooting light came they were inside 30 yards but I had to wait a couple more minutes as the doe I was trying for was quartering hard to me. Eventually at 22 yards she gave me the right angle and I sent one through her boiler room. I heard the whack and she took off right when I lost sight of her I heard a crash. I decided to err on the side of caution and gave her 30 minutes. After the wait I climbed down picked up my arrow and followed a blood trail about 40 yards to my doe. Drug her up to the truck and got her field dressed and took her up to the head quarters. There the hunt manager took some samples and helped me put her in the walk-in. View attachment 344136View attachment 344137


I have one more tag and the wife is on the way down now with the kids. Decided to take this evening off and help the wife get the kids settled and take them out for dinner. Also I misunderstood the tag allocation I thought it was 1 doe and 1 buck but apparently it's 2 deer no more then 1 buck so I can shoot another doe. If I can get another doe in front of me with one of the kids I'll let one fly.
What broadhead did you use and is that the entrance or exit wound?
 
So we were the first ones on the refuge and finished his shooting test by 10:30 that morning. Orientation was set for 1:30 so we headed to get some lunch and find our cabin so we knew we're it was. Headed back to the refuge headquarters and pulled in about 1pm. When we had left there were only two other kids there now it was a packed house. The orientation was basically a quick summary of the Washita NWR, why they allow limited hunting, and the rules and regulations. Then the kids drew for tags with Henry drawing blind 20. All the kids had a antlerless tag but every hunt they allow one kid to turn their tag into a either sex tag. Unfortunately Henry didn't get lucky and the kid in blind 3 drew. After that we were assigned hunt managers and we got Levi the head honcho who has been my hunt manager in the past. He escorted us and another father and son to our area dropping them off first. He showed us where to park explained how to get to the blind and wished us luck. It was only around 2:30 pm but Henry wasn't waiting any longer so we got our gear together and headed to the blind. On the way we saw racoon, covey of quail, armadillo, and bald eagle. He decided to practice his stalking on the armadillo.20241101_145016.jpg

We got to our blind tucked into a beautiful bottom with a food plot in front and a large field of milo on our left and ran off a deer. Apparently it wasn't to early! 20241101_145126.jpg20241101_145131.jpg
I was a little concerned because the field offered some long shots 300+ yards and we had a personal 100 yard limit. We practiced getting his gun out, I laid my hoodie across the window for a better rest, and we settled in. Shortly after 4 a few deer fed into the food plot on our right but like I had feared they were over 200 yards out. All we could do was watch for now but they did appear to be slowly feeding our way. Henry had borrowed my binoculars and was watching the 3 deer feed and didn't see the two deer that had cone out right in front of the blind about 40 yards away. I tapped him lightly he looked at me then looked where I was. When he saw them his eyes lit up he looked at me then his gun and back to me. I shook my head and he slowly lifted his rifle out resting the forearm on the blind window. He asked me which deer and I responded "the one on the right". He took aim cocke the hammer and then the deer on the left stepped behind our target. I told him to wait. After a second the smaller deer cleared from behind the big doe and I told him to go ahead. Almost instantly the gun went off with a deafening concussion in the enclosed blind. I watched her run forward knowing from her reaction she was hit, then I watched a red spot grow and knew it was a lethal hit. I start to fall apart a bit but keep my eye on her as she begins to wobble then fall in the middle of the plot about 30 yards from where she was hit. We hug and high five I tell him I love him and am proud of him. We walk out and he puts his hands on his first deer and we say a small prayer of thanks.
20241101_161157.jpg20241101_161721.jpg20241101_161854.jpg

We drag her to the two track whole (Levi asked to not leave the guys due to the eagle nest near) and get the truck. We load her up and head to the headquarters. She was weighed at 145lb live weight, was 4 1/2 years old, and we were the first on the score board. We took our time gutting letting him do most the heavy lifting then skinning. During the gutting we found his bullet had hit right at the top of the heart. We began loosing light and he was tired so I finished quartering and we headed to the cabin about dark. We're home now and will be cutting up deer thus week before I head to Colorado. He wants to make a bunch of jerky for his class.20241101_172721.jpg20241101_173654.jpg


Well there's the highlight of the year (my life)! We will be headed out late November to hunt our land and maybe find him his first buck.
 
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