Here are a couple of pictures of my 10 year old daughter Merrit's first deer. Apologies for the long story, but firsts are always memorable.
It all started when Texas legalized crossbows. Merrit had an unpleasant experience with her .243 last fall (just a small bump on the noggin), and had sworn off of scoped rifles. I really wanted her to be able to hunt, and was considering a drop in caliber. The state of Texas came to the rescue when they legalized crossbows for the archery season...the perfect opportunity for her to shoot something that didn't boom and kick. We bought the bow, and practiced diligently for a few weeks. She could consistently hit a 2 inch bull at 25 yards, so we considered her ready. I built a ground blind 25 yards from a well traveled crossing, and got ready for the season.
When opening day came, we had plans to be in the ground blind for the evening hunt. Just before we left to go hunting she asked if she could shoot a couple of practice shots, and I said heck yes. On the third and final practice shot, we had trouble. The string on the crossbow broke just as she pulled the trigger. She was not injured or anything, but her heart was broken...she thought she had done something wrong. After convincing her that it wasn't her fault, I tried to find a replacement string in the area to no avail. Our long anticipated first hunt would have to wait a couple of weeks...at least.
Fast forward two weeks to this past Saturday. The crossbow was repaired (dad now inspects the string after every shot, and has increased her arrow weight above the minimum requirements) and Merrit was shooting bulls eyes again. We planned another evening hunt in the ground blind.
We were headed into the blind when we noticed movement. All heck broke loose as at least 10 deer blew out of cover not 10 yards from our blind....total devastation for both of us. I convinced her that we still might have a chance for the deer to come back in if we just sat still until dark. We settled into the blind, and she started to play a video game on my phone. Not 10 minutes later I heard movement behind our blind, and I motioned to her to give me the phone and get ready. A doe and twin fawns came right back by our blind at less than 5 yards...an amazing experience for a 10 year old. Another doe and fawn came through shortly after, and she tried her best to get a shot. Again, they would not stand still long enough, so we let her walk. Just as they were leaving the doe went on alert looking behind us. I knew something was coming down the tree row, and sure enough this buck appeared. I told her to get ready because he was going to come right down to where the doe and fawn were located. He moved in to survey the situation, and she steadied the crossbow on her shooting sticks. Just as he eased out from behind a sage brush, I asked her if she could see "the pocket". She said yes, so I took the bow off safety and told her to shoot when she was ready. At the crack of the crossbow, the buck dropped in his tracks!!! He went straight down in a pile! We immediately hugged, and I looked in her eyes as a tear began to fall. Tears of JOY...there is nothing better.
I went out to inspect her buck, and noticed that she had hit a little high and took out his spine. I quickly put another arrow in him to finish the deal, but he was definitely hers. First year hunting deer with old dad....first day actually hunting in the field....and first deer is a nice 9 point buck (he has a small kicker on his right brow tine that Merrit says is DEFINITELY a ninth point).
Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to posting her next deer....she wants dad to make some more german sausage, so we are on a quest to fill her doe tag.
It all started when Texas legalized crossbows. Merrit had an unpleasant experience with her .243 last fall (just a small bump on the noggin), and had sworn off of scoped rifles. I really wanted her to be able to hunt, and was considering a drop in caliber. The state of Texas came to the rescue when they legalized crossbows for the archery season...the perfect opportunity for her to shoot something that didn't boom and kick. We bought the bow, and practiced diligently for a few weeks. She could consistently hit a 2 inch bull at 25 yards, so we considered her ready. I built a ground blind 25 yards from a well traveled crossing, and got ready for the season.
When opening day came, we had plans to be in the ground blind for the evening hunt. Just before we left to go hunting she asked if she could shoot a couple of practice shots, and I said heck yes. On the third and final practice shot, we had trouble. The string on the crossbow broke just as she pulled the trigger. She was not injured or anything, but her heart was broken...she thought she had done something wrong. After convincing her that it wasn't her fault, I tried to find a replacement string in the area to no avail. Our long anticipated first hunt would have to wait a couple of weeks...at least.
Fast forward two weeks to this past Saturday. The crossbow was repaired (dad now inspects the string after every shot, and has increased her arrow weight above the minimum requirements) and Merrit was shooting bulls eyes again. We planned another evening hunt in the ground blind.
We were headed into the blind when we noticed movement. All heck broke loose as at least 10 deer blew out of cover not 10 yards from our blind....total devastation for both of us. I convinced her that we still might have a chance for the deer to come back in if we just sat still until dark. We settled into the blind, and she started to play a video game on my phone. Not 10 minutes later I heard movement behind our blind, and I motioned to her to give me the phone and get ready. A doe and twin fawns came right back by our blind at less than 5 yards...an amazing experience for a 10 year old. Another doe and fawn came through shortly after, and she tried her best to get a shot. Again, they would not stand still long enough, so we let her walk. Just as they were leaving the doe went on alert looking behind us. I knew something was coming down the tree row, and sure enough this buck appeared. I told her to get ready because he was going to come right down to where the doe and fawn were located. He moved in to survey the situation, and she steadied the crossbow on her shooting sticks. Just as he eased out from behind a sage brush, I asked her if she could see "the pocket". She said yes, so I took the bow off safety and told her to shoot when she was ready. At the crack of the crossbow, the buck dropped in his tracks!!! He went straight down in a pile! We immediately hugged, and I looked in her eyes as a tear began to fall. Tears of JOY...there is nothing better.
I went out to inspect her buck, and noticed that she had hit a little high and took out his spine. I quickly put another arrow in him to finish the deal, but he was definitely hers. First year hunting deer with old dad....first day actually hunting in the field....and first deer is a nice 9 point buck (he has a small kicker on his right brow tine that Merrit says is DEFINITELY a ninth point).
Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to posting her next deer....she wants dad to make some more german sausage, so we are on a quest to fill her doe tag.
