LAST EDITED ON Nov-04-07 AT 00:33AM (MST)[p]I had a great hunt last weekend with the boys and the neighbors Roberto and Jose (Team Ranchitos). Little Kiko was able to get his first buck. I am very proud of him. Santiago, his younger brother is too. I can't count how many times he patted Little Kiko in the back and told him "You got your first buck". You had to be there. I get a lump in my throat thinking about it. I can't say he did not get excited. We all do. That's why we do this kind of stuff. All things considered, he was as cool as a cucumber.
Kind of a long story, but I feel it's worth sharing. It starts off with "Team Ranchitos" formulating a game plan led by Roberto and Jose Lavadie (thanks guys for being part of this). To cover as much time during the prime time hours, we split up. They go down one road and we down another. As the sun started coming up we all had our binos stuck to our eyes hoping to find a white rump, an ear twitch, or even better glistening antlers moving through the sagebrush.
It was not long before we were moving down this canyon when deer started moving up one side of the hill. We scanned over 12 does looking for some wood. Ah ha, there was a forken horn in the bunch. He would be perfect for Little Kiko's first buck. He would taste good too. By this time the deer a moving across the hillside pretty good now. I set the Stoney Points standing bipod up for Little Kiko to give him a solid rest. He finds the plumb forky in the scope and squeezes on the trigger of his mom's Browning A-Bolt 30.06. Instead of the familiar boom that I have heard this rifle produce time and time again, all that was heard was a "click", like a dry fire. I immediately told Little Kiko to "chamber a round". I thought he had chambered air and fired the upon a empty chamber. I replied to me that he in fact had chambered a round. This was confirmed when a cartridge was ejected onto the ground. I picked it up and put into my pocket. By the time all this happened, the buck bounced off over the hill not knowing how lucky he was with eight more lives in his back pocket. We gave chase but the buck was nowhere to be found. When we got back to the truck, it was time for me to go under the replay hood and try to figure out what had just happened with the miss fire. I pulled the cartridge out of my pocket and noticed the primer had been dimpled by the firing pin just like all the fired cartridges this rifle had ejected many times before. It must have been a dud round. A bad primer or something. It was factory ammo, Remington green box ammo that was pulled off the Wal-mart shelf a week before the hunt. The next thing I did was inspect the rifle. It seemed to be cocking the fire pin fine. I pulled the trigger on an empty chamber and seemed to be firing the pin. The next thing I did was check the ammo and rifle by chambering two rounds and making them go boom. They did. We were devastated. Sure the buck was no monster, but he would have been a great first trophy for a 12 year old.
We got back into the truck. No one said a thing for awhile. I broke the ice by telling Little Kiko that he would get another chance. The hunt was on again. I told him lets go down this road for a little bit and then we would turn back. Once in a while we stop and glass the hillsides for deer. Hopefully we will see one and put a stalk on. There was some urgency. Prime morning hunting was fading quickly.
All I kept saying to myself was to keep their hopes up. Make this fun regardless. Just then Little Kiko tells me to stop. He sees something in the tall sagebrush. All the binos come up. It's a buck standing about 400 yard away. I tell him we need to get closer for a shot. We stalk about two hundred yards closer and determine the buck is sporting a fork on one side and a spike on the other. Little Kiko tells me that he does not believe the buck is legal. I tell him, I think he is. We went back and forth a little on the subject. I can't believe it. I too doubt whether the buck is legal. Just then I remembered seeing a proclamation (big game regs) in the truck. I can't believe this. I am actually thinking of going back to the truck about 200 yards to read the bag limit rules. With that, I tell Little Kiko I will be right back. Not running as to not scare off the spork, but walking at a pretty good tilt, I finally get to the truck and take it apart looking for the dang proclamation. I find it and start leafing through the pages and find the definition for the bag limit for this hunt. It describes a FAD bag limit as being a legal buck having at least one forked antler on one side. I try to get back to Little Kiko as quick as possible. When I get back to him, I ask if the buck is still there. Little Kiko says yes, he's looking right at us. I tell him the buck's legal to take. The only hard part now, is that the buck is not offering a good shot. All we can see is his head, ears, and antlers sticking up above the tall sagebrush. Just then the buck starts getting the OH OH feeling and start turning around to where he was walking from earlier. That was a good thing because the sage was a tad shorter there. In short order, the buck had his vitals clear above the sage. Little Kiko was ready to harvest his first deer. At over 200 yards the first couple of shots missed their mark. The third shot hit home as the buck tried to get away. I am sure the glad the rifle went off. I can't describe the feeling I had when I saw Little Kiko jumping for joy and Santiago running to us. Santiago must of tripped and fell over every sagebrush on the way. I will tell you right now. There is not a better feeling, than to see you son harvest his first deer.
Kind of a long story, but I feel it's worth sharing. It starts off with "Team Ranchitos" formulating a game plan led by Roberto and Jose Lavadie (thanks guys for being part of this). To cover as much time during the prime time hours, we split up. They go down one road and we down another. As the sun started coming up we all had our binos stuck to our eyes hoping to find a white rump, an ear twitch, or even better glistening antlers moving through the sagebrush.
It was not long before we were moving down this canyon when deer started moving up one side of the hill. We scanned over 12 does looking for some wood. Ah ha, there was a forken horn in the bunch. He would be perfect for Little Kiko's first buck. He would taste good too. By this time the deer a moving across the hillside pretty good now. I set the Stoney Points standing bipod up for Little Kiko to give him a solid rest. He finds the plumb forky in the scope and squeezes on the trigger of his mom's Browning A-Bolt 30.06. Instead of the familiar boom that I have heard this rifle produce time and time again, all that was heard was a "click", like a dry fire. I immediately told Little Kiko to "chamber a round". I thought he had chambered air and fired the upon a empty chamber. I replied to me that he in fact had chambered a round. This was confirmed when a cartridge was ejected onto the ground. I picked it up and put into my pocket. By the time all this happened, the buck bounced off over the hill not knowing how lucky he was with eight more lives in his back pocket. We gave chase but the buck was nowhere to be found. When we got back to the truck, it was time for me to go under the replay hood and try to figure out what had just happened with the miss fire. I pulled the cartridge out of my pocket and noticed the primer had been dimpled by the firing pin just like all the fired cartridges this rifle had ejected many times before. It must have been a dud round. A bad primer or something. It was factory ammo, Remington green box ammo that was pulled off the Wal-mart shelf a week before the hunt. The next thing I did was inspect the rifle. It seemed to be cocking the fire pin fine. I pulled the trigger on an empty chamber and seemed to be firing the pin. The next thing I did was check the ammo and rifle by chambering two rounds and making them go boom. They did. We were devastated. Sure the buck was no monster, but he would have been a great first trophy for a 12 year old.
We got back into the truck. No one said a thing for awhile. I broke the ice by telling Little Kiko that he would get another chance. The hunt was on again. I told him lets go down this road for a little bit and then we would turn back. Once in a while we stop and glass the hillsides for deer. Hopefully we will see one and put a stalk on. There was some urgency. Prime morning hunting was fading quickly.
All I kept saying to myself was to keep their hopes up. Make this fun regardless. Just then Little Kiko tells me to stop. He sees something in the tall sagebrush. All the binos come up. It's a buck standing about 400 yard away. I tell him we need to get closer for a shot. We stalk about two hundred yards closer and determine the buck is sporting a fork on one side and a spike on the other. Little Kiko tells me that he does not believe the buck is legal. I tell him, I think he is. We went back and forth a little on the subject. I can't believe it. I too doubt whether the buck is legal. Just then I remembered seeing a proclamation (big game regs) in the truck. I can't believe this. I am actually thinking of going back to the truck about 200 yards to read the bag limit rules. With that, I tell Little Kiko I will be right back. Not running as to not scare off the spork, but walking at a pretty good tilt, I finally get to the truck and take it apart looking for the dang proclamation. I find it and start leafing through the pages and find the definition for the bag limit for this hunt. It describes a FAD bag limit as being a legal buck having at least one forked antler on one side. I try to get back to Little Kiko as quick as possible. When I get back to him, I ask if the buck is still there. Little Kiko says yes, he's looking right at us. I tell him the buck's legal to take. The only hard part now, is that the buck is not offering a good shot. All we can see is his head, ears, and antlers sticking up above the tall sagebrush. Just then the buck starts getting the OH OH feeling and start turning around to where he was walking from earlier. That was a good thing because the sage was a tad shorter there. In short order, the buck had his vitals clear above the sage. Little Kiko was ready to harvest his first deer. At over 200 yards the first couple of shots missed their mark. The third shot hit home as the buck tried to get away. I am sure the glad the rifle went off. I can't describe the feeling I had when I saw Little Kiko jumping for joy and Santiago running to us. Santiago must of tripped and fell over every sagebrush on the way. I will tell you right now. There is not a better feeling, than to see you son harvest his first deer.
