My Daughters first buck!

N

NETO

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LAST EDITED ON Nov-08-12 AT 10:21AM (MST)[p]Hey all,
I got my very first bull elk (see other post in the Monster Elk forum), and thought that was going to be the highlight of my hunting season. Well, I was wrong...my 16 year old daughter Whitney shot her very first buck on the evening of opening day of the general rifle hunt on the same public land we've been hunting for years! Her and I were driving along a dirt road on the mountain getting ready to head back to camp. Two small bucks ran across the road about 50 yards in front of us. They started heading up the hill into the trees so we slammed on the brakes and got off the 4wheeler. She grabbed her rifle and loaded a round into it while I was whistling trying to stop the bucks. She ran into the trees to try and get a clear shot at one of them. Both bucks had stopped some distance up the hill in the trees. Without even a dead rest (she said later that when the shot presented itself, there was no tree nearby, and she didn't have time to set up a rest...she's never done that before!) Whitney shot and dropped one of them on the spot with one shot from her .223! 75 yards, through the trees ,uphill, with no rest! She is awesome! All that range time paid off. This isn't her first big game, as she has taken a couple of doe antelopes before, and her and her friend (also a girl) were both featured on Adam Eakles show "Snapshot of the Week" last year with their doe antelopes, but this is her very first buck. This is by far the biggest highlight of my hunting season this year and I am really proud of her. She has put in (semi reluctantly I might add...she's more into boys these days...) hours upon hours of range time and has shot literally hundreds of rounds from her rifle. All of you fathers reading this with young sons or daughters know exactly how I felt. I took the head in to have it Euro-mounted, and I also took the hide in the have a blanket/throw made for her. It's cool as there is just a single bullet hole in it! Here are a couple of pics.

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Awesome!!!!!!! Btw, what gun/caliber does your daughter shoot? Good looking gun. I,ve got a 12 year old daughter that finished her hunter's safety this year and wants to hunt next year.

Thanks,
Jeremy
 
Thanks Jeremy!
Whitney shoots a newer Ruger Mini-14 stainless ranch rifle (only has a 16" barrel), in .223 caliber, with a Leupold 3x9 scope on it. The only modification I've made to the rifle was to send the trigger group out and have it lightened a little bit, and I've installed piston buffers in it.

When I first started taking her out a few years ago at age 12, she was very small (still is) and couldn't take the recoil of my father-in-laws 6mm, and could barely even shoot my .270. So I built this little mini-14 up as a hunting rifle for her and reloaded some premium bullets to use. It has absolutely no kick at all, is small and lightweight, and fits her perfectly.
With this setup, she needs to be under 120 yards or so, and needs to be very careful about shot placement. But since she is not scared to shoot the rifle, she has become a very good shot with it.
At the rifle range before the hunting season this year, I took both her .223 and my old .270 and had her shoot both. Even though she is bigger now and can actually handle the recoil of the .270...she still preferred the .223 for her deer hunt. She has a cow elk hunt coming up in about a month and she will be (reluctantly) shooting the .270 as the .223 just isn't enough gun for an elk!
 
Congrats on a great first buck! I like that last pic. She looks happy, dad looks happy, even the buck looks happy!
 
To me there is nothing better than to see your children succeed. Especially after they have put in the hard work and earned it. Congrats to you and your daughter.
 
Way to be a great dad. And don't worry her being in to the boys. Those boys are greatful to you as whoever she ends up with will have a lifetime hunting partner.
 

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