My daughter told me this year that she would like to hunt deer, bear and maybe elk. That was such good news that I immediately started hunting for a new rifle, her rifle, one she would take ownership in and hopefully get her that much more excited about hunting big game. A couple weeks and 4K later she is equipped with a rifle....
!!! Yes she is a little spoiled. It is a Savage Ultralite in 6.5 creedmoor, topped with a Nightforce NSX 5.5-22. A couple weeks later I have a custom load worked up and shooting 1/4" groups at 100 yards. As the weeks went by, she was shooting quite a bit. She got to where 300 yards was pretty easy. She even sent a few round down range at 450, but realized 300 was her max for this hunting season.
Well the bear has not gone so well this year for her (My son has shot 3...2 in WA / 1 in Alberta) even though she has put in some time hunting. Discouraged but still hopeful that deer would be different, she stayed positive. Opening morning of rifle came and she was up early without complaining....that's a feat in itself.
We have the luxury of hunting our families property and know there are quite a few bucks running around. A few are 3+ points and obviously she has set her eyes on those. Quite a few spikes and two points also so we are confident it will happen. She is burdened by school and limited with time so weekends really are all we have. My schedule limits some weekends so time is of the essence.
Opening morning comes and goes with quite a few deer in the food plots.....but no bucks. This was very weird given the fact we always have a few spikes in the group. Later that afternoon as we sit and watch the food plot and a few does, we notice on of our local spikes. He walks in about 100 yards out and starts feeding. We had about 90 minutes before dark so she decides to to just watch him, with hopes of one of the larger bucks coming in. About an hour goes by when she says, "Dad, I think I want to shoot that spike." I told her she could shoot any legal buck and never to be ashamed of it not being the biggest. I confirmed she wanted to shoot this buck and she said, "yes, it will be a great first deer." She followed up by saying it would also allow her to not miss any school next week, which her academics are very important to her.
She gets set up and waits very patiently for a good shot. The deer is slightly quartering away and I pick spot on its hide for an aiming point. We discuss it and she steadies herself for the shot. BOOOOMMMM.....the 6.5 creed barks and it is a perfect hit. The deer wheel kicks and runs 15 feet and falls over dead. High fives, Hugs, and lots of great emotions......
I think I was more excited than she was. She is on cloud nine....and is now talking about missing school in another attempt at getting a bear. I'm in.....lets "Give'r heck" and see if we can put this together.
Backstraps for dinner tonight....and in our family tradition, we always thank the hunter / huntress for providing great, clean food to the family.
PROUD DAD MOMENT.
