HuntingJudge
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2019
- Messages
- 95
What a great way to spend a couple days. Every year since my daughter was 11 and son was 10 they have loved the youth season, but it seems as they turn into teenagers our lives get busier and busier. We are in sports, keeping school grades up, and both my wife and I coach so there is not many hours in a day where we get to see each other. That is why the youth season is so important to us. My job allows me to take some time off and the kids are off school these two days, so with practices in the afternoon we have mornings to hunt and spend time with each other.
The first morning was a beautiful morning, we stopped by the local gas station and got a couple breakfast sandwiches and some snacks and were off to our usual spot. It has treated us well over the youth season usually holding a few bucks and a bunch of deer in general. My daughter was up first because she has the least amount of time and she is a meat hunter who wants to shoot the “first buck she sees as long as it has a good-sized body.” So, there we are after our ¾ mile hike in overlooking a big creek bottom. Right at light the deer started popping up and moving around, this was after my son had seen 10 different sagebrush “deer” that he had to have me look at before light. We watched a group of deer come from about 350 yards to 220 and I got her set up to shoot. She has a bad habit of trying to get out of the scope to see what is happening after the shot usually pulling her head. Even though I was talking her through it she did it and miss the first shot. Reloaded and hit the deer on the second, not great. We watched the buck bed down about a half mile away and put on another stalk. She shot the deer at about 50 yards and it was over deer down. We talked about her boyfriend, and school, and how sports have been going. We had the deer out, hung, and skinned by 2 p.m. We started taking deer selfies a few years back and the kids seem to love them they are their favorite hunting pictures, I think it is because we just have fun and is not as staged, but you can see the deer selfies in a couple pics I will post.
The next morning, I was having some anxiety about going, I wanted to get my son a deer and my daughter just shot up the place that had a bunch in it. The previous day we went and looked at another spot I hunt and there were 3 different groups of hunters in it. When I woke my son up, he said that he was just excited to go out and spend the morning with me. At that point I said lets just go back to where you sister shot her deer and we will see what happens. We got our breakfast sandwich and got to talking he told me he wanted to be in law enforcement when he grows up and what kind of officer he wants to be. He wants to go to school anywhere he can get a scholarship for football, and everything else that popped in his head on our ride out. We got to the spot and walked out crossing in the same tracks that we did the day before. Set up probably on the same hill as the previous day. Again, right at light deer started moving, I told him that there is a good buck down there and he should probably think about shooting it. This deer would be his biggest deer. My sons reply is “look at all the does out there”. Again, I told him about the buck that was now breaking the 200-yard mark coming closer. He said “man that is a big group of does” Then dad replied, if you are going to shoot this deer it will need to be very soon or we wont have a good angle on him. He got on the sticks shot his deer dropped him in his tracks and proceeded to watch the group of 30 does and smaller bucks run away. “Man that is a lot of deer in one group” he said. We walked back to the truck got the game cart and back at home by noon with the deer skinned
I have a two week deer hunting trip planned, with several friends. I have hunted all over this state and killed some amazing deer, but those deer, this trip I am going on does not even compare to the Thursday and Friday I spend on the Montana Youth hunt with my kids talking about life and seeing them smile.
The first morning was a beautiful morning, we stopped by the local gas station and got a couple breakfast sandwiches and some snacks and were off to our usual spot. It has treated us well over the youth season usually holding a few bucks and a bunch of deer in general. My daughter was up first because she has the least amount of time and she is a meat hunter who wants to shoot the “first buck she sees as long as it has a good-sized body.” So, there we are after our ¾ mile hike in overlooking a big creek bottom. Right at light the deer started popping up and moving around, this was after my son had seen 10 different sagebrush “deer” that he had to have me look at before light. We watched a group of deer come from about 350 yards to 220 and I got her set up to shoot. She has a bad habit of trying to get out of the scope to see what is happening after the shot usually pulling her head. Even though I was talking her through it she did it and miss the first shot. Reloaded and hit the deer on the second, not great. We watched the buck bed down about a half mile away and put on another stalk. She shot the deer at about 50 yards and it was over deer down. We talked about her boyfriend, and school, and how sports have been going. We had the deer out, hung, and skinned by 2 p.m. We started taking deer selfies a few years back and the kids seem to love them they are their favorite hunting pictures, I think it is because we just have fun and is not as staged, but you can see the deer selfies in a couple pics I will post.
The next morning, I was having some anxiety about going, I wanted to get my son a deer and my daughter just shot up the place that had a bunch in it. The previous day we went and looked at another spot I hunt and there were 3 different groups of hunters in it. When I woke my son up, he said that he was just excited to go out and spend the morning with me. At that point I said lets just go back to where you sister shot her deer and we will see what happens. We got our breakfast sandwich and got to talking he told me he wanted to be in law enforcement when he grows up and what kind of officer he wants to be. He wants to go to school anywhere he can get a scholarship for football, and everything else that popped in his head on our ride out. We got to the spot and walked out crossing in the same tracks that we did the day before. Set up probably on the same hill as the previous day. Again, right at light deer started moving, I told him that there is a good buck down there and he should probably think about shooting it. This deer would be his biggest deer. My sons reply is “look at all the does out there”. Again, I told him about the buck that was now breaking the 200-yard mark coming closer. He said “man that is a big group of does” Then dad replied, if you are going to shoot this deer it will need to be very soon or we wont have a good angle on him. He got on the sticks shot his deer dropped him in his tracks and proceeded to watch the group of 30 does and smaller bucks run away. “Man that is a lot of deer in one group” he said. We walked back to the truck got the game cart and back at home by noon with the deer skinned
I have a two week deer hunting trip planned, with several friends. I have hunted all over this state and killed some amazing deer, but those deer, this trip I am going on does not even compare to the Thursday and Friday I spend on the Montana Youth hunt with my kids talking about life and seeing them smile.
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