Sadly its over...but it was AWESOME!!!

[buck man]

Sadly it is over...but it was AWESOME!!!

Hunting season got off to a slow start for me because of stupid " recreational" injuries. (I separated two ribs and about tore my butt hole out on seadoos ). After healing I concentrated on the late bow season not so much for me but for my daughters. My five year old boy helped me hang stands this year and prep the sites. After that we hung the cameras and started gathering data. With the four point minimum now in place I told my girls not to be too picky. We try to only shoot 3 1/2 year old deer or older but for a 14 year old girl who has never killed a deer and had limited time to bow hunt because of school that was a pretty tall order! That brings us to Bradleigh my third oldest daughter of 6 to try her hand at bow hunting. She practiced for two years to be able to pull her 42# Rintec XL Hoyt and after 3d shoots and lots of practice at home she was ready and really excited.

On the second sit in the ground blind her opportunity came....17 yards at a nice 4x5 ......she missed, shot right over him and we never saw him again. She educated him. ( The buss driver even skipped some kids drops to get her home first to have more time in the stand...thanks S.G.). Well a couple days later the kids had a half day at school and that gave them time to get a real hunt in. So I had my 2 nd daughter Makayla get ready and I took her to one of my favorite stands and told her to keep me aprised. She climbed the 38' feet and got settled in. ( she is an accomplished hunter and archer. At 18 she has taken a 320 class bull, 5 1/2 foot black bear, and 5 bucks. Four of which were with her bow.. a Hoyt Avenger set at 52#.). I got in the truck and ran back to the house to get Bradleigh ready to go set in the ground blind. Just as we were getting ready to get in I get a text from Kayla that said she smoked a nice 5x5 and she could see her arrow covered in blood. So I told Bradleigh to be patient and I would be back as soon as I could.. she was a good sport. I got back to the stand and went with Kayla to get her arrow. She made a perfect quartering away shot at 20 yards and the buck only went 35 yards and tipped over ..love those 100 grain montechs! We quickly drug it out of the woods and to the truck and back home took some more pics and I told her she was on her own field dressing cause her younger sis and I had an hour and half of light left and had to drive to her blind quick! Bradleigh and I got settled in and got ready. In no time we had a small 3x4 come in and she decided it would be a great first buck. She drew on him but he spooked. Its tough on the ground! Well he settled down and came back but so did a mature 5x6 that I have watched since he was 2 1/2 and he is 5 1/2 now. The thing about this buck is he had nothing for genetics and he was a scrapper! She quickly decided he was the one. After what seemed like forever she was able to draw on him and make a great 22 yard shot. He was slightly quartering to us but she got one lung and liver and artery. He went 50 yards and we were able to watch him tip over. She and I both got a little emotional. It is such a joy for me to be able to share that with my kids and especially with daughters. So after many pics and high fives and texts to friends they now have a memory that will last a lifetime....I know I sure do!

PS I hunted for myself the last week and a half of late bow and passed on many decent bucks ,trying to get one of the four big bucks coming in at my various stands. Well this year it didn't happen for me so today I shot a big dry doe to end my season and as far as I am concerned it was one of my best ever and I can't wait to top it next year. Hope you enjoy the pics.

  There will be some trail cam pics in the cam forum

[buck man]

Here are the rest of the pics.

[scudmaster]

That is just awesome, I know the joy you must feel. My 12 year old got her first this year as well.  The 8 year old is chomping at the bit.  I hope to have that kind of day in my future.  Thanks for sharing and congrats to your daughters.
 

[jgrimes]

Great write-up buck man! Your girls are real fortunate to be learning the great sport of bow hunting from their dad. Really cool to see that they are having success with it as well. Great pics; especially the one of the two of them together. Congrats to you as well! There's always next season for that big guy. 

[UptheCreek]

I got 2 daughters as well and can't wait until they are old enough to hunt!  Nice job!

[h20hunter]

Doesn't sound like it really could have been better. I mean...sure....you could have shot a buck it sounds like  taking a nice doe and having the girls lay the smack down on the bucks sounds like a good way to go.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Great stories and pics!!  Nice work to all!!!! Gotta love a HOYT family too!!  

[400out]

  COngrats to you all and that pic with the girls is AWESOME! that going on the wall I hope 

[AKBowman]

One of the best posts I've seen on here in a long, long time.

Nice genetics on those WT's the girls got, heavy horned.

[PlateauNDN]

   Way to go dad!   You should be proud and great job!

[3nails]

 What a blessing, buck man!

[buck man]

COngrats to you all and that pic with the girls is AWESOME! that going on the wall I hope 

You bet they all go on the wall. Usually euro mounts though. Thanks for nice words guys

[halflife65]

How in the world did you get injured like that on a Seadoo?  Were you riding it in jail?

All kidding aside, it looks like you had a great year.  Congratulations!

[724wd]

sounds like a perfect season!  hunting kids are awesome!

congratulations to your family!    

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Sweeeeet! Nothing like getting the kids involved!