Hunting
Success Part Deux!
We went to the camp again this weekend and Ryan was able to bag his second deer, a small spike. He was so excited to shoot a buck.
When we got to our stand, we were there for less than 15 minutes when a doe entered the plot we were hunting. I told Ryan to get ready as a buck may be following the doe. Sure enough, less than 5 minutes later a 6 pointer showed up from the same spot where the doe entered. I told Ryan to get ready. He didn’t move. I slowly looked over and he was ASLEEP! 
I was able to wake him up but by the time he got ready, the buck had slinked back from the way he came. Fortunately, another deer, a spike, (actually it only had one antler, the other was broken off) came in the field. We waited and waited but no other bucks came. Finally a doe came into the plot. The spike (or unihorn as Ryan called it) saw the doe and started chasing her around the plot. Ryan and I laughed as we watched them for over 10 minutes. The buck would grunt and chase her but she was able to keep him at bay. When it got almost dark, I did let Ryan take a long shot a the spike which was about 50-60 yards away. He looked through the scope and pulled the trigger. All I saw was the flash from the barrel of the gun as the spike ran off. We got down and looked and almost immediately found blood and hair. We tracked it for less than 30 yards and walked up on his deer.
As we walked back to the 4-wheeler to go and get his deer, he told me “Daddy, do you know what my favorite part of hunting is? Spending time with you.” My heart melted. I am so glad we have the opportunity to spend this time together and look forward to the years to come with him, Bryce, and Deanna. I hope I never take for granted the gift of my family that God has provided.
Success!
This past Saturday Ryan and I were at our deer camp once again with the mission of helping him bag his first deer. The temperature was over 70 degrees! While it was not the ideal cold weather hunt we were both hoping for, we were going to take advantage of our time. We left before dawn and went to a deer stand. It was hot. Ryan took a nap for about 30 minutes while I watched and then I took a nap while he watched.
At 9:00 I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. It was a doe about 50 yards away. I handed Ryan his 7mm-08 youth model rifle. He put the rifle on the shooting rail, looked through the scope, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. I watched the doe drop. She didn’t move at all! We exchanged high-fives and went to check out his deer. When we got there, he stopped and prayed and thanked God for the day with his Daddy, for the gift of His Creation, and for the deer that He provided. It was a very special time.
We went and got the 4-wheeler, loaded the deer, and headed back to camp. All of the members were there to congratulate Ryan. He was on top of the world. We took lots of pictures and got to the business of cleaning the deer. It was 110 lbs, a good size doe for our area. He has already requested tenderloin for dinner and for Victoria to make lots of jerky.
It was a fun day and one that I will cherish forever!
December 13, 2008
After a bit of a break from blogging, I thought I would tell the story of this past weekend. Just Ryan and I went to the deer camp with the goal of helping him bag his first deer. We got up early on Saturday morning and went to a 2 man ladder stand overlooking a newly cut area of the woods. We did see three does skirting around the edge of the cut over, but they were way out of range for Ryan to shoot. I did tell Ryan to keep an eye out where we saw the does as a buck may be following them. We had a brief conversation about “what does the buck do when he catches them?” that embarrassed me quite a bit.
After some target practice at lunch, Ryan decided he wanted to hunt with a dear friend of mine, Mr. Greg Cox. Since Ryan was not going to be with me, I went to a new ladder stand that we placed earlier this season. At 3:30 a decent 8 point buck came around visiting his scrape line. I brought up my 45-70 and fired. He didn’t go far. Ryan was so excited that I got a buck (what did we do before text messaging?!?) that he didn’t wait much longer for a deer of his own. He and Mr. Greg came to help me retrieve my buck from the woods.
All in all, it was a great day with my son and spending some restful time in the woods. We will be off again this weekend to see if Ryan has better luck.
Open Day of Hunting Season
After the results of last week, I borrowed a 7mm youth rifle with a scope for Ryan.
I got up early on Saturday morning and went hunting by myself as it was balmy 21 degrees. I didn’t see anything. When I got back to the camp and had some lunch, I took Ryan to the target range. After just a few shots he was hitting within 2″ of the bulls eye at 75 yards, so he was ready.
For the afternoon hunt, we went to the same stand where he missed two does last week. Around 4:30, we heard deer coming. I looked through the woods and saw two large deer heading our way. It only took me a moment longer to realize that they were both bucks! I handed Ryan the 7mm-08 rifle and told him to aim for the chest of the largest one, an 8 point. He took a deep breath, took off the safety and fired. The deer’s back legs came off of the ground and he rolled over, but he immediately got up and took off into the woods. Ryan and I exchanged high fives, then went to look for his deer. I looked for quite a while and didn’t find anything. Some friends came and we scoured the woods for another hour with no sign at all.
We headed back to the camp and helped a friend with his successful kill (an 130lb 8pt), packed up and headed home. Some of our camp members are going to look for the deer today. Hopefully they will find the trophy for Ryan.
We’re one step closer to blogging about Ryan “bringing home the bacon” as it were. Stay tuned, I will update if there is more to share…
Update: Got word from a couple of guys at the camp. They went in with a dog and were able to find evidence he hit the deer in a couple of different places, but still could not find the buck.
Opening Day of Youth Deer Season 2008
After much anticipation, we left for our deer camp on Friday afternoon. The weather was horrible; wind and rain ruled the day. After getting lost on our way there, trying to take a detour for a bridge that was under construction, we did arrive around 7:00pm. Suffice it to say that I know a new way to get there now.
Ryan and I got up Saturday morning at 5:00 and quickly dressed in our warm clothes. It was a damp and windy morning, but thankfully the rain had stopped. We made our way to the shooting house and settled down for the morning hunt. We hunted until 9:30 and while we saw no deer, there were ample squirrel and turkey to keep us entertained.
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