I love to see the kids out, and especially being with them to relive my own hunting childhood. So, I'll start, but lets see some more youth hunts:
Iowa Youth Deer season opened Saturday for any youth under age 16. My son is too old now, so I have been taking my nephews the last few years. I'll try to make this short... Sat. am my brother sat with his 2 youngest boys in a groundblind with one gun, (kids can use bow, muzzleloader, or shotgun slugs) and I took the oldest boy (Sam, 15) to a tree on the other side of the farm 1/2 mile+ away. I sat on a ladder stand and he was above me on a hang-on stand. He passed on a small buck and about 8 does and fawns. We were getting close to calling it a morning when I heard him stand up. The buck was already 25 yards away and snuck in on us. He scuffed the tree with his bow, the buck looked up, but then continued walking.. Sam drew, bleated to stop him, and released the arrow , all in about 3 seconds! I leaned around a branch to see the arrow hit the buck right in the front shoulder. It ran off hard and disappeared into the thick stuff in 30 yards. Well, we waited a while, then snuck out the back way to go get his dad and brothers. We found the buck only 75 yards from where he shot it. One awesome morning!!
So, we hurry to get the deer home and boned out on the 75 degree day. Late afternoon, we go back out. I take the middle son, Ian, age 13 to the far end of the farm again. He is not strong enough to hold the muzzleloader steady in a treestand, so we go to where I often see deer coming from the neighbors property into the land that I hunt. We get on a hillside with trails below us, and tuck in under a cedar tree and cut some branches to make a blind in front of us... 20 minutes before end of shooting light, here comes a buck, headed right at us...(he would have gladly taken a doe or any deer that wasn't a yearling) we are both breathing heavy and shaking
unfortunately the buck was quartering toward us, just before it would disappear behind some more cedars and never be seen again, I told him to shoot. ...lesson learned... As the smoke from the muzzeloader clears I see the buck running and bouncing off, with his tail in the air. I thought for sure he had missed the 50 yard shot. We go look for blood and find some right away, and back out... I'm thinking any hit other than guts would have gotten a better, more promising, reaction from the buck... Ian didn't take into account the angle, and barely caught a couple ribs on the near side, ..and back.. yuck.. Well, we waited until morning and found him dead, 20 yards past where we last saw him bouncing away. One lung had a hole in the end of it, but the rest was guts...I'm glad we didn't push him right away that night. Anyway... Another great buck and a fun weekend for the boys. The 10 year old, Joe, didn't take a shot, but passed up a tiny forkhorn buck and some small does. He wanted to shoot a big doe, but none came in that didn't have real small fawns with them.
So, after all that , here's the pics. I hope the rest of our seasons go so well! I still have a neighbor kid to take yet in the next few weeks before the adults get to start hunting.
Thanks for letting me share, Lets see some more!
Clayton
Iowa Youth Deer season opened Saturday for any youth under age 16. My son is too old now, so I have been taking my nephews the last few years. I'll try to make this short... Sat. am my brother sat with his 2 youngest boys in a groundblind with one gun, (kids can use bow, muzzleloader, or shotgun slugs) and I took the oldest boy (Sam, 15) to a tree on the other side of the farm 1/2 mile+ away. I sat on a ladder stand and he was above me on a hang-on stand. He passed on a small buck and about 8 does and fawns. We were getting close to calling it a morning when I heard him stand up. The buck was already 25 yards away and snuck in on us. He scuffed the tree with his bow, the buck looked up, but then continued walking.. Sam drew, bleated to stop him, and released the arrow , all in about 3 seconds! I leaned around a branch to see the arrow hit the buck right in the front shoulder. It ran off hard and disappeared into the thick stuff in 30 yards. Well, we waited a while, then snuck out the back way to go get his dad and brothers. We found the buck only 75 yards from where he shot it. One awesome morning!!
So, we hurry to get the deer home and boned out on the 75 degree day. Late afternoon, we go back out. I take the middle son, Ian, age 13 to the far end of the farm again. He is not strong enough to hold the muzzleloader steady in a treestand, so we go to where I often see deer coming from the neighbors property into the land that I hunt. We get on a hillside with trails below us, and tuck in under a cedar tree and cut some branches to make a blind in front of us... 20 minutes before end of shooting light, here comes a buck, headed right at us...(he would have gladly taken a doe or any deer that wasn't a yearling) we are both breathing heavy and shaking
unfortunately the buck was quartering toward us, just before it would disappear behind some more cedars and never be seen again, I told him to shoot. ...lesson learned... As the smoke from the muzzeloader clears I see the buck running and bouncing off, with his tail in the air. I thought for sure he had missed the 50 yard shot. We go look for blood and find some right away, and back out... I'm thinking any hit other than guts would have gotten a better, more promising, reaction from the buck... Ian didn't take into account the angle, and barely caught a couple ribs on the near side, ..and back.. yuck.. Well, we waited until morning and found him dead, 20 yards past where we last saw him bouncing away. One lung had a hole in the end of it, but the rest was guts...I'm glad we didn't push him right away that night. Anyway... Another great buck and a fun weekend for the boys. The 10 year old, Joe, didn't take a shot, but passed up a tiny forkhorn buck and some small does. He wanted to shoot a big doe, but none came in that didn't have real small fawns with them. So, after all that , here's the pics. I hope the rest of our seasons go so well! I still have a neighbor kid to take yet in the next few weeks before the adults get to start hunting.
Thanks for letting me share, Lets see some more!
Clayton
