On another thread there is a big discussion about long rang shooting as seems to happen every so often.
It got me thinking about a story I will share with you all. I will say up front this in NOT a thread about if long rang shooting and weather it should or should not be a part of hunting.
On to the good stuff. So my oldest son is 12 and it is his first year he is able to actually shoot on the hunt. He puts all the time in during the off season scouting, backpacking and shooting to be ready for the hunt. We find a deer that I figure will go at or over the 200" mark. I claim right then and there it is "his" deer and plans are set forth to try and make it happen for him his first year of hunting! Now of course I had a lot of people telling me I was nuts to make the plans of my 12 year old son to try and take a 200" deer his very first year. I heard all the regular things you would expect about ruining him and such. What most of those people failed to realize is the amount of time and effort he had put into a hunt like this. I would dare to say way more time and effort most grown hunters have put in!
Anyway part of him getting ready was to shoot A LOT that summer. He was very proficient at 800 yards hitting a 12" plate 9 out of 10 shots! As the hunt neared we both felt his effective distance was 700 yards and in. I am telling you I felt so confident at him shooting at 700 yards I would have put good money on him against much more seasoned hunters.
So anyway fast forward to the hunt. Opening morning is a compleat sh1t show with people shooting all over and around us at smaller bucks... Haha welcome to public land hunting. So no sighting of the buck we were after that day.
Day 2 we go right back to our spot to look for him again and guess what I find him in about 15 minutes! He is feeding towards us at about 900 yards. We start setting up and getting ready. At about 820 yards he turns and starts heading for his bedding area directly away from us. At one point I have a rang on the deer and it is about 850 yards if I remember right. Scope is dialed up, and Kade (my son) is down on him with a rock solid rest. I give him the go ahead if and when he feels comfortable. After what seems like forever he looks up at me and says,"dad I just don't feel confident in the shot. I can't hold perfect on him at this range".
I ask Kade if he wants me to take the shot or if he wants to try a sneeking on him in his bedding area. Now he and I had already both discussed during the summer it was going to be next to impossible to put a sneek on this deer where he beds. He opts for the sneek! We are off!!
Long story even longer.. Ha we end up bumping him out of his bed at about 100 yards and just before we are able to get a shot at him. We still hunt him down through the basin he lives in and end up finding him at about 40 yards. Kade can't see him because of being vertically challenged at the time and it is now or never! I shoot the buck and the rest is history.
Later that year Kade killed his first deer at 480 yards at a 35 degree angle up hill with a game warden standing right next to us taking pics of him while he did it! After it was all said and done I ask him if he was nervous expecially with the warden standing right there. His response was,"no dad why would I be? I have prepared for this".
He learned a lot about hunting that year. Mostly that it doesn't always work out the way it was planned.
I learned even more about my son!
So anyway let's hear a few more stories about how proud you other hunters are of you children in the field
It got me thinking about a story I will share with you all. I will say up front this in NOT a thread about if long rang shooting and weather it should or should not be a part of hunting.
On to the good stuff. So my oldest son is 12 and it is his first year he is able to actually shoot on the hunt. He puts all the time in during the off season scouting, backpacking and shooting to be ready for the hunt. We find a deer that I figure will go at or over the 200" mark. I claim right then and there it is "his" deer and plans are set forth to try and make it happen for him his first year of hunting! Now of course I had a lot of people telling me I was nuts to make the plans of my 12 year old son to try and take a 200" deer his very first year. I heard all the regular things you would expect about ruining him and such. What most of those people failed to realize is the amount of time and effort he had put into a hunt like this. I would dare to say way more time and effort most grown hunters have put in!
Anyway part of him getting ready was to shoot A LOT that summer. He was very proficient at 800 yards hitting a 12" plate 9 out of 10 shots! As the hunt neared we both felt his effective distance was 700 yards and in. I am telling you I felt so confident at him shooting at 700 yards I would have put good money on him against much more seasoned hunters.
So anyway fast forward to the hunt. Opening morning is a compleat sh1t show with people shooting all over and around us at smaller bucks... Haha welcome to public land hunting. So no sighting of the buck we were after that day.
Day 2 we go right back to our spot to look for him again and guess what I find him in about 15 minutes! He is feeding towards us at about 900 yards. We start setting up and getting ready. At about 820 yards he turns and starts heading for his bedding area directly away from us. At one point I have a rang on the deer and it is about 850 yards if I remember right. Scope is dialed up, and Kade (my son) is down on him with a rock solid rest. I give him the go ahead if and when he feels comfortable. After what seems like forever he looks up at me and says,"dad I just don't feel confident in the shot. I can't hold perfect on him at this range".
I ask Kade if he wants me to take the shot or if he wants to try a sneeking on him in his bedding area. Now he and I had already both discussed during the summer it was going to be next to impossible to put a sneek on this deer where he beds. He opts for the sneek! We are off!!
Long story even longer.. Ha we end up bumping him out of his bed at about 100 yards and just before we are able to get a shot at him. We still hunt him down through the basin he lives in and end up finding him at about 40 yards. Kade can't see him because of being vertically challenged at the time and it is now or never! I shoot the buck and the rest is history.
Later that year Kade killed his first deer at 480 yards at a 35 degree angle up hill with a game warden standing right next to us taking pics of him while he did it! After it was all said and done I ask him if he was nervous expecially with the warden standing right there. His response was,"no dad why would I be? I have prepared for this".
He learned a lot about hunting that year. Mostly that it doesn't always work out the way it was planned.
I learned even more about my son!
So anyway let's hear a few more stories about how proud you other hunters are of you children in the field
