Scored one with my hunting buddy
Posted: December 29th, 2014, 2:04 pm
I've mentioned in a few posts about my little hunting buddy (Mason- 6 years old) and the perseverance he has toward the sport. Mason has sat the stand with me almost every time I have gone this season, and we've seen quite a few does and small bucks that we've let walk. Friday, we slipped over to a buddy's farm in Gadsden County for what is becoming a yearly tradition to hunt for a couple of days. We walked in to our stand Friday afternoon and Mason was about to come unglued due to all the squirrels that we were walking past but I wouldn't let him shoot with his Chipmunk. I tried to explain we were after deer that afternoon and needed to be quiet. I think he was using the "a squirrel in the tree that I see right now is better than a deer in the woods that I might not see" frame of thought.
After getting settled in, we continued to watch squirrels in the food plot and I could tell Mason was about to vibrate out of his seat. I convinced him we would deer hunt this afternoon and the following morning, then chase the bushy tails mid-day the next day. At about 5:30, I caught movement at he far end of the food plot and nudged Mason and pointed that way. He whispered he couldn't see anything because of a tree that was in his line of sight. as soon as he said that, the deer cleared the tree and he saw it. I could tell with the naked eye that it was a decent buck with a tall rack. I glassed it and saw that it was definitely a shooter for this particular property as the hunting pressure on the adjacent property is pretty intense. I handed the binos to Mason and started to raise my rifle as the deer proceeded to walk straight toward us. It took a few minutes to get the gun up as the deer kept looking at the stand, then would go back to eating as I would slowly move. I eventually got him in my sites and almost right on cue he turned broadside at about 100 yards. The .308 found it's mark and the deer nearly flipped over head first and headed for the trees. I heard him pile up and then silence. We sat until dark, then walked down and found him about 20 yards into the trees. He had attempted to jump over a downed tree, but didn't have enough left in him. He was perched on top of the branches with his belly about two feet off the ground. When I first spotted him, I thought he was still alive and standing up, but he was very much expired.
Not the largest deer I have harvested, but it is an awesome reward to Mason and myself for his patience and understanding as to why we let all the little ones go. His excitement over this buck is absolutely infectious, and helps set this season as my best ever- simply because of the time we have spent together in the woods and on the water.
After getting settled in, we continued to watch squirrels in the food plot and I could tell Mason was about to vibrate out of his seat. I convinced him we would deer hunt this afternoon and the following morning, then chase the bushy tails mid-day the next day. At about 5:30, I caught movement at he far end of the food plot and nudged Mason and pointed that way. He whispered he couldn't see anything because of a tree that was in his line of sight. as soon as he said that, the deer cleared the tree and he saw it. I could tell with the naked eye that it was a decent buck with a tall rack. I glassed it and saw that it was definitely a shooter for this particular property as the hunting pressure on the adjacent property is pretty intense. I handed the binos to Mason and started to raise my rifle as the deer proceeded to walk straight toward us. It took a few minutes to get the gun up as the deer kept looking at the stand, then would go back to eating as I would slowly move. I eventually got him in my sites and almost right on cue he turned broadside at about 100 yards. The .308 found it's mark and the deer nearly flipped over head first and headed for the trees. I heard him pile up and then silence. We sat until dark, then walked down and found him about 20 yards into the trees. He had attempted to jump over a downed tree, but didn't have enough left in him. He was perched on top of the branches with his belly about two feet off the ground. When I first spotted him, I thought he was still alive and standing up, but he was very much expired.
Not the largest deer I have harvested, but it is an awesome reward to Mason and myself for his patience and understanding as to why we let all the little ones go. His excitement over this buck is absolutely infectious, and helps set this season as my best ever- simply because of the time we have spent together in the woods and on the water.
Awesome! Nothing like hunting with your boy. Before long he will be ready to shoot one. 
(using my shotgun case as a mattress to keep him out of the water sloshing around in the boat), consumed a bag of cereal, a granola bar, two oatmeal creme pies, a handful of trail mix, nearly a quart of Gatorade and I'm not sure how many tangerines. 
He never complained about getting wet, but he didn't take to kindly to the Bald Eagle flying off with our duck 
. In spite of everything, he was still proud to show off his banded 8 point ringneck rooster. (OK, so it wasn't banded but he still thought this was funny) 