My son has put many hours in stands the last few years and today it all came together. Buck fever finally didn't spoil my sons nerves and he sealed the deal with a heart shot. It was a special day.
I know you are into stories, so I will add a few more details to entertain you. I choose to hunt blacktails almost exclusively from some sort of stand. Obviously sitting can be difficult for most individuals and especially kids. This year I noticed that my son didn't have any complaints about sitting, which I was happy to see, as I know it pays off. The deer have been pretty active so my son has been seeing deer and hearing them grunt and bleat. Last Sunday evening he saw a nice buck but he couldn't get a shot as it was chasing a doe around and was always moving in the brush when he would see it, and then it got dark. On Saturday we put a new stand up in a spot that looked like it had a lot of promise. That evening he chose to sit in it and he spotted a nice buck, but again he wasn't presented a shot he was comfortable with and it walked out of the little window he could see it in. Sunday morning we walked in, in the dark, and he got settled. At first light he spotted his buck, but he didn't have any shot opportunities and it disappears almost immediately. He spends the next 10 minutes trying to find it, again with no luck, until he sees movement to his left. The buck had reappeared in a shot window. He wanted it to stop, so he made a grunt noise and the buck freezes and looks his way. This gives him his opportunity and he says he quickly shoots it in the boiler room.
Meanwhile, I hear a thwack and then the concussion of his rifle go off from about 400 yards away and boy am I thrilled. It brought tears to my eyes because I watched so many deer walk away from my son do to inexperience, the dreaded buck fever that won't let him have calm enough nerves to take an ethical shot and waiting for the perfect vitals shot that never materializes.
After about 5 minutes I head towards my son's stand and I give him a thumbs up and am smiling. His both hands up in the "I not sure gesture" takes a little excitement away and replaces it with nervousness. I ask him what happened and he tells me when he shot, it jumped and then took off. I didn't like the "jumped" on bullet impact, obviously he hit it, but how hard. I told him to get back in his stand and guide me to where it last was, but he said "no", he knew exactly where he saw bushed move. We headed over to the spot and there was his buck, stacked up right where he saw bushed move. His shot went right through the heart taking the top 1/3 off the heart. Even hit so hard the buck still ran about 60-70 yards up hill and there was no blood trail as the 140 Nosler Accubond didn't exit.
It was a thrilling day to see all my son's hard work finally come together with a successful finish. He doesn't think it is large enough, but I told him it is going to the taxidermist, my treat.
I am a very proud dad. He also shot that buck with a 280 Ackley Improved that he purchased from a member on this site. He then purchased a Nikon Monarch for the rifle's optics. He mows lawns, pressure washes and does odd jobs to earn money to purchase toys and tools for his hobbies and that makes the success that much sweeter.
