Well hopefully I can say today started what will be a lifetime of hunting memories with my 8 year old daughter. She doesn't "hunt" yet but she's been talking about wanting to go with me for a while now. Today would be that day I've been waiting for for a long time. We made a bonsai run to SE WA last night after work. Got in around midnight. Kiddo said she wanted to wake up at 6 to go hunting, so that's what we did. Headed out and were out right after daylight broke over here. Didn't see any deer for the 1st 2 hours but we had fun anyway.
She was getting antsy around 9am so we headed back to the truck. Didn't want to make for a negative experience so when she was ready to be done, I would be too. Right before we left she had a ladybug land on her. We decided it would be good luck.
She said she wanted to drive around and look for deer. We spotted a flock of turkeys so we got out to look. In the same field I saw 2 bedded bucks in the middle of a stubble field maybe about a half mile away on land we had permission to hunt. . We looked at them for a while and I couldn't decide if 1-I wanted to shoot one and 2-was the kiddo going to be able to make it to them.
There was a big deep draw between us and the deer. We ended up going back to the house for a hot chocolate and a snack. After 30-40 minutes I talked her into going back to see if they were still there...they were and I figured out a reasonable way to get us closer without us having to cross that big draw. After 5.5 hours of sleep and a hike already in the books, I just don't think she could've pulled that off. I honestly didn't think we had a chance of getting a shot but we went for it anyway. About 1.5 hours later I was at 370 yards from them and could see one of the 2. Too far for me to shoot. We backed out and dropped down into a big draw where we could get closer. We popped out a few minutes later and I could see both bucks at 270 yards. I got the rifle set up on the bipod for what I thought might be a long time waiting for the bigger one to stand up. Next thing I know he stood up broadside looking at me. I was able to get a good shot into him and he went about 80 yards and tipped over. We had our thumbs up and hugs and watched him for a few minutes to make sure he was down. 30 minutes later we made our way to him.
Long range
"As he lays".
As he layed:
My kiddo with him.
Me:
I'd like to thank the private landowners of SE WA who allowed us to access their land. It was a great day with my kid I'll never forget.
