I have been blessed with a grandson, Dylan, that loves the outdoors, shooting, and hunting. I've been carrying him deer, turkey, and pig hunting since before he could walk. He was shooting 22s before he was three. He called in his first gobbler at three, killed his first deer that same fall. He's killed two more deer, he is now seven.

I took him to a friends place west of Bankhead National Forest in north Alabama for the youth hunt. It has great genetics and is super managed. He usually hunts with a 223 single shot, but this morning he wanted to carry a youth 243 Rem 700. Glad he did.

We hunted hard, actually trying for a doe because the buck standards are very high here. Saw some nice young bucks, which he correctly aged. Almost made a good set up on a doe, but saw us at the last second and bailed.

Near 11am, we stopped and I decided to rattle some, as these deer rut in Nov. I saw a deer approaching, saw BIG antlers and told Dylan to get ready. At 25 yards he made a good back edge of shoulder shot. The buck, jumped, staggered and fell inside of twenty yards. I figgered the deer at 145, pushing 150, and five years old. I got the age right....

pic dosen't show body size good, he's right at 230 pounds....




That drag and load darn near killed an old man(me). I'll be glad when Dylan is bigger and can help. He was more excited at putting meat on Mimis table that the size of the antlers. Thats a 162 on the eight main frame with a couple of extra stickers.....

Really great buck and really good job by that young man and his Grand Dad. Congratulations to both of you.

very nice buck

WOW

His hunting future is doomed!. He'll be expecting to shoot a bruiser like that or better every time now.

Nice buck and a very happy hunter. Congratulations

he really isn't into antler size...but he does understand letting young bucks walk to get older/bigger. He nailed the age on a two year old nine point that came by early in the hunt.

He really likes putting meat on the table, pig, deer, he dosen't care which as long as we eat.

I'm taking him hog hunting later this month....says he's going to use his new hog sticking knife...we'll see.

Sounds like that boy is on the right track, in more ways than one - Congratulations to him on his deer and his overall hunting ethics...and to all those who are helping him to achieve the same!

Congrats to Dylan on a great buck..and an Attaboy to you for taking the lad hunting! We all need to be recruiting new hunters...and it looks like your recruiting job with Dylan has been pretty easy!!

Z

Congratulations to you both, well done.

Very nice buck!!!

Congrats!!! The smile on his face is awesome!!!

Great job Grandpa! Congratulations to your grandson on a monster buck!

Outfreakingstanding! These are the best kind of threads! Congratulations to you and Dylan

you know Drummond, he'll be ready for one of yer big Muleys before long....

That is the way to ensure the future of our way of life. A gun in hand by 3! Congrats and thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by DTala:
you know Drummond, he'll be ready for one of yer big Muleys before long....

You bring him out anytime! Open ended invitation

Drummond, one of the things I taught him from the start is to appreciate a landowner that lets you hunt/fish on their place. We had to go by the owners place to let them see the deer and for Dylan to offer some of the meat to them.

Last year fishing on a friends place near the house we caught 6-7 nice eating size channel catfish. As we got ready to leave Dylan told me we had to go by Johns)owner of lake) house and see if he wanted some of the fish we caught. All on his own.

DTala,
You certainly are doing a good job with that grandson of yours !

Please tell him congratulations on a dandy buck.

Awesome buck

I hope he has a couple more big ones like that left in his long future

Congrats to both the young and "older" man.

Absolutely Outstanding!

Darned nice!

That Boy is lucky his Paw Paw takes him hunting.Congrats to both of you!!!

quote:

Originally posted by DTala:
Drummond, one of the things I taught him from the start is to appreciate a landowner that lets you hunt/fish on their place. We had to go by the owners place to let them see the deer and for Dylan to offer some of the meat to them.

Last year fishing on a friends place near the house we caught 6-7 nice eating size channel catfish. As we got ready to leave Dylan told me we had to go by Johns)owner of lake) house and see if he wanted some of the fish we caught. All on his own.

This is the way my dad brought me up as well. Somehow the lessons I learned while hunting seem to impact every area of my life. Tell your grandson that I look forward to meeting him on a mule deer hunt one day and thanks for sharing the stories and pictures

This is AWESOME!!!
Congrats to the both of you!!!

Look at the smile in the young man's face.. Tells you everything ..

WOW!! That's a great buck! Funny, I first looked at the pics before reading details and the first thing that came to mind was Bankhead; not sure why (of course I think Alabama when I see you post), but I spent a couple of seasons collecting samples from Bankhead hunts and something about your grandson's buck reminded me of those bucks.

I remember one very cold morning when I gutted something like 40 deer; it was sooo cold the blood would freeze on my hands when I pulled them from the cavities.

Congrats to you both!

WOW!!!!Congrats to the young hunter!!! Lifetime buck!!

quote:

Originally posted by Antlers:
WOW!! That's a great buck! Funny, I first looked at the pics before reading details and the first thing that came to mind was Bankhead; not sure why (of course I think Alabama when I see you post), but I spent a couple of seasons collecting samples from Bankhead hunts and something about your grandson's buck reminded me of those bucks.

I remember one very cold morning when I gutted something like 40 deer; it was sooo cold the blood would freeze on my hands when I pulled them from the cavities.

Congrats to you both!

the Bankhead area is a unique place for sure. It has some of the biggest, gnarly antlered bucks in Alabama. It was stocked in the late 40's with Michigan deer that pretty much remain pure, rutting in Nov, a month or two ahead of the rest of the state.

Bigger than any whitetail I've ever taken! Makes me kinda jealous! Excellent job to the young man!!!

Graybird, he's been at it a long time I hunt that place as a guest and I killed this buck there six years ago when Dylan was 18 months old. He was in the ladder stand with me when I killed this 168" nine point.

Young man has got a bright future in front of him! You've done well, grandpa!!!