1. It's called hunting for a reason.
2. Sometimes deer just don't come within range.
3. We all want a buck, but sometimes you just don't see one you can shoot.
4. Use the bathroom before you go to the blind.
5. Make sure and check for deer before you leave the blind to pee!
6. Deer don't always come out where you expect them to.
7. On the last day of the hunt, any deer is a good deer.
8. While the .223 works for deer it just doesn't always leave a good blood trail.

I took my ten year old step daughter hunting in Oklahoma on a four day hunt. The whole way down on the drive she talked about shooting a buck deer. I told her we'd shoot one if we saw one, but that it might not happen. She was just adamant about shooting only a buck first and then moving on to does.

Well as luck would have it the only live buck she saw never got closer than 400 yards. I've worked with her out to 200 but not any further, and even she said it was too far away. So she passed on it only to have the guy who invited her down to shoot that buck. Then the only other buck she saw was shot by our other buddy's son who was hunting with us.

She learned that she should use the bathroom before going to the blind in the morning. Dad learned that even though he is frustrated with her needing to pee, that he should make a thorough sweep of the area outside the blind before letting her go pee. She lost the opportunity to shoot one of six does as soon as she stepped out, because I didn't bother to look. I'm sure if she had known there was some deer out there she would have been able to hold her bladder long enough to shoot one.

She also learned that on the last day of the hunt a doe is a great trophy. She finally connected about 5 pm on the last night of the hunt. We had spent most of those four days wasting time talking about random things but one thing I did was discuss shot options and where I wanted her to shoot. I told her I wanted her to aim for the shoulder this year as last year she shot a little far back, and I discussed about quartering towards and away shots vs. broadside shots.

About ten minutes before the shot her deer came out with two fawns. The fawns went to grazing the field right away but it took a long time for the doe to put down her flag and relax. She wasn't in position for the shot as they came out on my right side and she was on the left watching the bigger game trail. Because she had to shoot across my body, she wasn't able to use her Bog Pod shooting tripod I'd got her. She just rested the forearm of the stock on the blind window and her elbow on my thigh.

The doe was quartering towards us on a pretty extreme angle, so I asked her where she was going to put the bullet. She said I'm aiming for the shoulder like we talked, and then said the bullet should come out by the last rib. I said good girl, when your ready take the rifle off of safe and make the shot. She pushed the safety forward and shortly after that there was the sound of the rifle going off.

I could see the bullet impact the doe, and she jumped straight up in the air. When she came down her leg buckled and she nose dived into the ground. I said good shot! Then the doe got up and started to run, and I yelled reload, we might have to shoot again. My daughter was fumbling with working the bolt, so I lost sight of the doe as I turned to reach for my rifle. When I got my rifle out the window I couldn't find the doe in my scope. Well even though my daughter fumbled with the reload she had kept track of the doe, I was looking for signs of blood or hair to find a trail to track. While I was searching my daughter walked right over to her doe.

When we found the doe right before dark I was surprised to find not much of an entrance wound and no exit. This is the second year she has used the .223 and the 55 grain TSX bullet on deer. It's hard to argue with the success she has had with it but I wasn't impressed with the lack of any blood to track. I wasn't able to be with her last year for her first doe, so I don't know really how the bullet performed last year. However I do know she shot the doe twice last year and only once this year.

Picture of the entrance wound.



The happy huntress!







Her final words on the hunt was, "A doe beats no deer at all, thank you for taking me hunting Chad!"

Congrats to you both!

Thanks for the report. Congrats!

Congrats.

The 223 doesn't leave much of a blood trail sometimes its just drops. I usually have to comb through the hair to find the entrance hole. This has been discussed a thousand times though lol.

Tell her Ted and Tricia think she's a killer

Lots of good lessons learned there, especially considering that 2031 is 18 years from now!

Taylorce1

Congrats to your daughter. Her smile tells the whole story.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
Lots of good lessons learned there, especially considering that 2031 is 18 years from now!

Good thing I don't have to wait until 2041 for the next hunt then!

Fixed it.

Wonderful! Congratulations to both of you.

The shot was a textbook, quartering towards heart shot!

Congrats again you two! Anyone interested in the Holiday doe season? Might be making another run!

Music to the ears:

quote:

...thank you for taking me hunting...

Congrats to all.

quote:

The doe was quartering towards us on a pretty extreme angle, so I asked her where she was going to put the bullet. She said I'm aiming for the shoulder like we talked, and then said the bullet should come out by the last rib. I said good girl, when your ready take the rifle off of safe and make the shot. She pushed the safety forward and shortly after that there was the sound of the rifle going off.

I was so glad to see Taylorce1 let his daughter take the quartering shot. It is deadly and can cause huge tissue damage. Waitng for that broadside shot is a waste of time and can cause the loss of the shot period if the animal never turns broadside. With a litte education about anatomy even kids should be able to make it. These outdoor TV shows just drive me nuts when they wait for the animal to tun broadside when they are presented with a completely makeable frontal or quartering shot.

Mark

I think she deserves a new rifle...260 rem at least

The best threads on any forum are the ones with kids! Nothing better than getting a kid into the outdoors

quote:

Originally posted by Mike_Dettorre:
I think she deserves a new rifle...260 rem at least

She has a custom .250 Savage, I just didn't have time to get her comfortable with it. It was just a time problem with me spending almost a year away from home. Plus a M700 Classic in .300 Savage for when she's ready to chase elk.

Congrats to the young lady!!!

great shot, great family tome together in nature, congrats to two hunters!!

Hardy congratulations. And she's right, a doe or any deer is better than none. Now, that's a real hunter talking.

quote:

She has a custom .250 Savage, I just didn't have time to get her comfortable with it. It was just a time problem with me spending almost a year away from home.

And I was just getting ready to say, I think I see a .243 Win in her future (a pal's wife uses it for whitetails with great success in a Rem BDL).

Congratulations to you both! There is nothing like sitting next to your kid while he/she shoots their deer/turkey/antelope/elk.