Good memories

[okie archer]

I'm going to post a few pics of a western deer hunt from November 2020. I had no idea these pictures were taken until yesterday. Usually we make it a family trip. My daughter and I or just myself will go hunting during the day and at times during the trip we have some family time sight seeing depending what state we are in at the time. Well last fall my wife and most of the family were not able to go out west for 7-10 days. We started fostering children 2 years ago and it just made it to where we all could not go. We have 4 biological children and 3 foster children. My then 18 year old daughter and I both had deer tags already paid for. My 8 year old son Drake said he wanted to go but I just wasn't sure he could keep up and cover that many miles on foot. Drake tends to have a bit of seperation anxiety at times if I am away from home. Not bad but just enough to where wife and I were concerned it would be a handful for her to deal with for that many days with me being several states away for that many days. So I asked Drake if he wanted to go and warned him we could be walking several miles a day. He assured me he could do it so go with us he did. I cant overstate how glad I am Drake went! I wont spend a lot of time story telling about the hunt as the pics will tell a lot. I was confident with my shooting out to 500 yards as I practised during the summer with my 6.5 creedmore (don't let that last sentence ruin the story for you. 6.5cm or 500 yards). My daughter was confident out to 250 yards. The first couple of days we glassed a shooter or two but couldn't feel confident in the shot. (See, I do have some ethics). On the third day we failed on a stalk attempt as the buck we made a play on smelled us after about an hour long stalk. Bummed a bit we sat down for a break. In a bit Drakes young eyes picked up a spot about 1500 yards away. After discovering a nice buck in the glass we made another move. Close to an hour later we were getting close to the general area. I had to stop several times to allow Brooklyn and Drake with his short legs to catch up. I saw a hill and decided once we reached the hill I would peak over for a looksy. I slowly raised my head over the skyline and saw movement. Sure enough a shooter buck and a few more deer were performing the usual mid November rut activity. I looked behind me and Brooklyn was about 85ish yards behind me a Drake maybe 25ish yards behind her. On my knees I frantically motioned for them to hurry as I was wanting to give Brooklyn the first opportunity to fill her tag. They were already tire and somewhat winded but slowly coming. I got a range of about 300 yards on the 10 pointer (Oklahoma terminology). I did not feel Brooklyn could get steady on the bipods as she had been most comfortable shooting prone as well as she was breathing heavily both from the excitement and physical exertion. Beside those factors 300 yards was beyond her shooting experience. All these thoughts were racing through my mind as I was trying to make a decision before the opportunity would pass. The deer had no idea they were being hunted but they were busy and could bolt anytime naturally with all the deer love that was in the air. Through the prairie grass and sitting on my knees I found the buck through my scope which was set on 24x. Knowing which hold-over mark to use (because I'm not smart enough to figure out turrets yet), I sqeezed the trigger. At the report of the very well qualified 6.5 Creedmore with Hornady 143 gn eld-x the buck was hit. "He's down!" Brooklyn said as she was watching closely behind me. I told Brooklyn and Drake to stay there so I would have a reference point to look back at as I searched for the deer. I made my way over and easily discoverd the buck. I was amazed at the body size of this buck compared to our Oklahoma deer. I motioned for them to come over. I was admiring the buck but felt a sense of guilt that Brooklyn didn't get him. When they got there we took several pics and talked about the excitement of the hunt. I apoligized to Brooklyn that I had shot the deer instead of her. But we both discussed the circumstances and knew I had made the right decision. We got to work on breaking down the deer. Drake had finally got to use the pack he had been begging me to buy him before we left ($10 Walmart pack) on something beside snacks. I put about 20 pounds of meat in his pack. Brooklyns pack was loaded down as was mine. We headed back across the prairie with the cold wind in our face with heavy packs. We made it about 1.7 miles and dropped our packs at a place I could drive to. I left them there as I walked another approximate 1.5 miles. We hunted for almost another week trying to fill Brooklyns tag after several stalks and failed attempts also a clean miss we had to go home. Brooklyn had several opportunities on smaller deer but she wanted to hold out for a bigger buck. I also killed a few pheasants and a prime furred coyote. What a great time we had. Brooklyn has hunted with me since she was 5 years old. I have helped her with a couple deer, turkeys, ducks, a Pronghorn, and a Black Bear all before she was 17. As I said earlier I didn't know she was following behind taking pics. I am writing this in middle of hot Oklahoma summer thinking about the good memories. Also Brooklyn and a young preacher seem to be getting more serious as they are talking about a fall wedding. Which I dont mind as I am pastor myself but to be honest it affects me in a way only a dad could understand.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Nice!

Daughters do snap a bunch of photos as they travel along....sons, not so much.

Liked the hunt and the photos

 

[EastTNHunter]

Very cool. Thank you for sharing

 

[sambo3006]

Great story, thanks for sharing. Good memories indeed.
And wow what a buck!

 

[mdcrossbow]

Making memories. That's so cool.

 

[Wyomingbackcountry]

Great story. That's awsome you get spend the time with your family. I take my 3 year old daughter scouting for deer and elk just about every night and she love to go trapping in the winter.