Last year I took my son Jake rifle hunting. We had a giant two point muley at thirty yards but without that third point he was safe. Jake has had shots at coyotes, pheasants and has actually connected on a few ducks, but this is really his first solid success.
We left last Wednesday evening for Kettle Falls. My buddy and I manage a pay to hunt ranch over there called Gallo Springs. There is a website if you want to read more.
We arrived about 11:30 that evening and were up at 4 the next morning and in a box blind by 4:45. We had deer in and out all morning but they were not legal, not big enough or just outside of Jake’s effective 35 yard range. Most notably was a 4x5 that was scratching his ear with his hind foot at 45 yards. Jake was begging me to let him try but I made him pass.
The next day was mostly uneventful but on the third day I took Jake for an extended still-hunt (dark to dark). We jumped several nice bucks and a ton of does, shared a few meals and threw pine cones at each other over the course of the day. Late in the evening we sat on the crest of a small knob to rest. We had been there about two minutes when a two point browsed from behind some scrub brush. Then a 4x4 followed. As they fed towards us, I got Jake up on his knees and we discussed yardage and what to do if they got within range. It was about then the wind swirled and they busted us. Jake wanted to follow them and it took some convincing to get him to understand once they wind us they are gone. Jake saw two bucks coming in just then and was sure it was the same two. It didn’t take binoculars to see he was wrong- there was a 4x4 and another that I never got the chance to actually count the point but suffice it to say it was roughly twice the height and width. Unfortunately, it was de ja vu with the previous wind scenario. We decided the next morning we would put a ladder stand in this location and let it rest a day before hunting.
The following morning Jake walked the hour in, by himself, in the dark. That may not sound so daunting but to a thirteen year old walking a skid road in the dark, along a swamp, for an hour is a crazy idea. There are plenty of bears and cougars but the worst of it is his imagination of course. Two hours later I got a text saying he was too cold to stay out a second longer and I met him half way on his way out.
I got him back to the cabin, fed him and he took a two hour nap. He was back on the stand by one and it was about then I started out walking from the cabin back to his stand. It took me three hours to get there and now he was suffering from heat exposure and boredom. I had packed fresh clothes, used a whole bottle of water hosing him off and gave him some food. Add another half hours of horsing around with sticks water and pine cones again too. To counter the boredom, I took all of the M&Ms out of his trail mix and put them in the side pocket of his pants… I told him he can only take one nut at a time and has to chew them each twenty five times. Off he went again around 4 p.m.
We texted back and forth all evening. A couple does here and there. I scouted and pushed the adjacent draws in the hopes to get the animals moving earlier in the day and push a buck to him.
About seven, he text me that a 3x2 was just out of range but it was coming closer and he was pretty sure he would get a shot. Fifteen minutes later he sent “I HIT HIM! I HIT HIM! (he sent the same text three times)
I ran to his stand and stepped away. He said the buck was perfectly broadside and had his head turned away when he released, but jumped forward at the sound of the string. Jake thought he made a perfect gut shot as a result. It was just getting dark so we quietly went to the spot where the buck was standing, marked it and took a quick scan for the arrow, then we backed out for the night.
The next morning, we drove the Kubota out and started to look. We had good blood within five yards and had it on both sides of the trail. My confidence was building. About forty yards up the trail the blood stopped completely and we spent about 45 minutes on our hands and knees trying to figure out which of three possible routes it took to get out of the draw. I searched the perimeter of the draw for an exit trail to the wheat. As I came full circle to the opposite side of the draw, Jake held up the arrow; the missing piece of the puzzle. I was excited for that and started down hill. Seems while I was marching the perimeter, they had marked the blood trail with tape, a total CSI maneuver, and the tape showed the obvious… the deer had backtracked about fifteen feet and veered left. As I walked down the hill to see the arrow, I almost stumbled across his buck.
Pictures tell the rest of the story.
Attachments
Description: Jake asleep in the blind on day one after driving and three hours of sleep
Description: an evening blind. does and fawns all around. tried calling in a cotyote from across the field
Description: installed ladder stand
Description: walking in
_________________________
In the legend of King Arthur, the Fisher King was a renowned angler whose errant ways caused him to be struck dumb in the presence of the sacred chalice. I am no great fisherman, and a steelhead is not the covenant of Christ, but with each of these fish I am rendered speechless.