My boy's first deer

v8stang289

Twelve Pointer
I've already posted a couple pics in other threads. But I wanted to start its own thread to help me document it, and get some opinions from the collective knowledge of the forum.
For a little background
My son is 12, he's been shooting since he was 5 and going hunting with me for a few years now. For the most part he got bored fast and lacked the patience to be still enough for us to actually see something other than squirrels. Last season he got a little more serious about it so I picked up a Ruger American Compact in .243 for him and topped it with a Redfield revolution 2-7x33. I also got permission at the end of last season to hunt a new piece of land right next to the area I've hunted for years. It belongs to a good friend, but he had previously given another friend permission to hunt it, and as a gentleman's agreement we tried to stay out of each others way. But he moved and stopped hunting that area, which gave me free reign.
That field is usually planted with sweet potatoes or soybeans, and is semi-isolated, with very little pressure on the deer there. It's surrounded on 3 sides by hardwoods with plenty of oaks, has a wild grapevine at one end and the fourth side of the field is bordered partly by a cut down and another field with a stand of oaks and other hardwoods between them. There is also small creek that borders 2/3's of it just inside the wood line. Basically it has everything a deer needs. With multiple food sources, a water source, and several places to bed down without pressure.
This past summer I set up a 2 man tower stand in the corner of the field where the cut down meets the hardwoods. There was plenty of deer sign and scrapes so I set up trail cams to see what we had. In the first few card pulls I got some pics of a group of bachelor bucks, one of which was a decent 8.
Over the next month and a half I got several pictures of that deer, and my son was really excited about deer season.
We went out on youth day, and saw a few does with little ones, and a bear with 2 cubs, but unfortunately the bucks didn't make an appearance.
Then came opening day... In the stand before sun up, and around 7am I heard a diesel fire up, then watched as a John Deere entered the field and began mowing to prepare for picking sweet taters. Decided to head home and come back that evening.
We got back in the stand around 4 to settle in. a little after 5 a good sized spike came out on the other side of the field, and we watched him for about 25 minutes. He never came closer than 250 yds, and I'm not comfortable with Michael taking that far of a shot, so we just watched him graze until he left. A little after 6 a doe and her little one came out and we watched them for a while until it started getting dark. Around 6:45 I heard a deer coming in behind us through the cut down and the small stand of trees that separated it from the adjacent field, but couldn't see it through the trees and brush. I tapped Michael and whispered that I could hear a deer coming in, but wasn't sure if it would come to our field or head up to the other one where beans were planted on the other property.
A few minutes later, he was watching the field hard to see if anything else would come out, and I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A deer had stepped out in the path between the 2 fields, a little over 50 yards away. I whispered, Deer! Deer! and looked through the binoculars. As soon as I focused on it I said, "it's a big buck, take him!"
Michael got his rifle in position, clicked the safety off and fired. The deer took off stumbling hard, before looping around and heading back into the other field out of sight from our position. It was right at last legal light, and getting dark fast. we got down from the stand and went to where the deer was standing. Between the dark and the red leaves on the ground I couldn't find any blood. I could see where he'd ran into the field and doubled back since they'd just mowed it that morning, and I knew he'd been hit from how he was running. I told Michael to keep looking for blood and I began walking what I thought was the deer's path. I took a while but I ended up finding him down a ways about 10 yards inside the wood line. The 100 gn .243 took out both lungs but did not exit, and left no blood trail at all. I called for Michael and he came to me, certain he'd missed due to the lack of blood. When he realized I'd found the deer and that it was the 8 pointer we'd been hoping to get, he was ecstatic.
He helped me drag it out to the path (reminding me how out of shape I am) so I could go get the truck and we got a few pics.
Once we got home his granddaddy came over to see it help out with the skinning and processing. It was a nice moment, 3 generations sitting there, all sharing a common bond and excitement.
I can honestly say that after one day, my season has been made. It's funny because seeing my boy make that shot and get the deer he's been after means more to me than any deer I've ever taken.
It's not a trophy by a lot of standards. But it's a heck of a first deer and a pretty good deer for this area. 8 Pointer with 16.25" inside spread, and dang heavy lol.

Sorry for the extremely long post.
-Matt


I know the pics aren't the best, but how old do you think this deer is?

some of the trailcam pics

WGI_0008-1.jpg
WGI_0014.jpg
WGI_0016.jpg
WGI_0034-1.jpg
 
Last edited:

v8stang289

Twelve Pointer
Just to give an idea of the area, the pic is Aerial from a few years back, white square is cut down, Red is the stand, yellow is the deers path in, light pink is where he ran once shot.
Green is the spikes path, and the purple is where the does were.
aerial.jpg

when I found him
20201017_192215.jpg

One happy kid
20201017_192802.jpg

20201017_201910.jpg
 

Ceehawk37

Ten Pointer
Congrats to both of you! I’m not the best at aging but I’m thinking 3.5 or 4.5. He was old enough anyway and that’s one heck of a good buck.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
He's as old as he is ever gonna be....[emoji14]

From the trail cam pics I say 2.5 but could be older, either way congrats to your son. Thats a heck of a 1st deer!

Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
You got a hunter on your hands now....nice one for sure. Great write up too. My grandson took his first buck in 2014 while we were sitting overlooking a pasture one afternoon....using my 243 and a 100g Hornady....230 yard shot clipped bottom of his spine and dropped him. I was coaching him thru the shot telling him where to hold and like to shot over his back. Oh what memories He still talks about that today....congrat. to you and the kid.
 

buckshooter

Old Mossy Horns
Makin memories ! That's what it's all about. Both my boys are close to 40 now and their first deer memories are as fresh as this morning's sunrise.
 

v8stang289

Twelve Pointer
My wife picked the deer up from the taxidermist this morning. Since it was my sons first deer he put him at the front of the line so it would be done before Christmas. His 13th birthday was yesterday so we decided to go ahead and give it to him. I went home at lunch and hung it up, just to see if he notices when he gets home from school.

20201211_144522.jpg

20201211_144537.jpg

20201211_144547.jpg
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
My wife picked the deer up from the taxidermist this morning. Since it was my sons first deer he put him at the front of the line so it would be done before Christmas. His 13th birthday was yesterday so we decided to go ahead and give it to him. I went home at lunch and hung it up, just to see if he notices when he gets home from school.

View attachment 56606

View attachment 56607

View attachment 56608

He'll notice... I'll give you a Joe Namath guarantee on it !
Way to go, proud Daddy !
 
Top