My Boys first buck!

liltank

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Central Pennsylvania
So I have to start out by saying how proud I am of my 10yr old. He showed patience and control when he put his cross hairs on fir for the first time. I have been waiting for the day I could take him out, and I couldn't be more proud.

In PA we have a mentored youth hunting program. It allows a child of any age that can shoot responsibly and handle a firearm. My boy has been shooting since he was five. I've had him out for a few squirrel hunts, but nothing more. They are allowed to shoot spring gobbler, squirrels, and deer. I am done now until doe season as I have to use my buck tag for him. It is well worth it!

I don't really have a great story (other than my son just shot his first buck in his first season!). It took me 8-10 years to shoot my first buck. Anyway, we got in the van at 6:07am. We drove to my inlaws property. We set up in our stand at roughly 6:35am. Legal shooting time starts at 6:47. That is about when it is light enough to see. We could here something sneaking through the woods. We must have seen at least a half a dozen squirrels. The stupid things were throwing us off with all the noise. I had to get him to sit still because his clothes were making a ton of noise. When he finally stopped moving we could see the deer.

Initially we thought it was a doe. We couldn't see any horns as it was still just starting to get lighter out. I pulled the rifle up and saw it had horns. I said, "Buddy, that's a buck, get ready." He got in behind the rifle. The deer had no idea we were there in the stand. It first stood behind a tree with a thick vine. He had a little better view than I did, but told him if he could get a shot to go for it. He said that he wanted to wait. The deer took a few more steps quartering toward us. I said, "there he is buddy, take the shot when you can." He said, "I'm going! BOOM!" Big ole fireball out of the barrel. I saw the deer hunch up like he took out the hart. Well because of the angle, he hit a little farther back that I would have liked. We had to track it about 400+ yards. It was about a 50-60 yard shot, but not too bad for a brand new hunter. He shot the deer at 7:15am. We were out of the woods at 8am. That is my kind of hunt.

Did I say I was a proud dad!:D
 

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Sounded like a great story to me. What is he shooting?
A short barreled .308 using 168 Nosler hunting bullets. Its a Winchester 670 long action that use to be my dad's 270. The barrel was toast, so I put a barrel that I had gotten free from a fellow church member. It's an 18" heavy barrel. It is fondly referred to as "Stubby". I'm using Alliant Power Pro 2K MR. It's velocity is right around 2570fps. He has shot with it before. This was the first time he used a full power load. I have loaded reduced loads in the past. He said he didn't feel anything. He said he was all jittery! I told him he had "BUCK FEVER!!":D
 
Liltank, check the regs for the mentored youth program. When your son got his mentored youth permit he got his own buck and spring gobbler tag. The only tags of yours he uses would be a fall turkey and he must use your antlerless tag if he shoots an antlerless deer. My son has also been a mentored youth here in PA for the last few years and he just shot his second doe ever on Monday. He will be back out with his Pap tomorrow trying for a buck.
 
So I have to start out by saying how proud I am of my 10yr old. He showed patience and control when he put his cross hairs on fir for the first time. I have been waiting for the day I could take him out, and I couldn't be more proud.

In PA we have a mentored youth hunting program. It allows a child of any age that can shoot responsibly and handle a firearm. My boy has been shooting since he was five. I've had him out for a few squirrel hunts, but nothing more. They are allowed to shoot spring gobbler, squirrels, and deer. I am done now until doe season as I have to use my buck tag for him. It is well worth it!

I don't really have a great story (other than my son just shot his first buck in his first season!). It took me 8-10 years to shoot my first buck. Anyway, we got in the van at 6:07am. We drove to my inlaws property. We set up in our stand at roughly 6:35am. Legal shooting time starts at 6:47. That is about when it is light enough to see. We could here something sneaking through the woods. We must have seen at least a half a dozen squirrels. The stupid things were throwing us off with all the noise. I had to get him to sit still because his clothes were making a ton of noise. When he finally stopped moving we could see the deer.

Initially we thought it was a doe. We couldn't see any horns as it was still just starting to get lighter out. I pulled the rifle up and saw it had horns. I said, "Buddy, that's a buck, get ready." He got in behind the rifle. The deer had no idea we were there in the stand. It first stood behind a tree with a thick vine. He had a little better view than I did, but told him if he could get a shot to go for it. He said that he wanted to wait. The deer took a few more steps quartering toward us. I said, "there he is buddy, take the shot when you can." He said, "I'm going! BOOM!" Big ole fireball out of the barrel. I saw the deer hunch up like he took out the hart. Well because of the angle, he hit a little farther back that I would have liked. We had to track it about 400+ yards. It was about a 50-60 yard shot, but not too bad for a brand new hunter. He shot the deer at 7:15am. We were out of the woods at 8am. That is my kind of hunt.

Did I say I was a proud dad!:D
Congrats to you both. Cherish it.
 
Liltank, check the regs for the mentored youth program. When your son got his mentored youth permit he got his own buck and spring gobbler tag. The only tags of yours he uses would be a fall turkey and he must use your antlerless tag if he shoots an antlerless deer. My son has also been a mentored youth here in PA for the last few years and he just shot his second doe ever on Monday. He will be back out with his Pap tomorrow trying for a buck.

Thanks guys. My brother and I did check the regs and you are correct. I can use my tag. So off to the woods I go tomorrow.
 
My daughter shot her first bull elk this year and the experience was awesome. Having her describe how her legs felt when she was standing up after first dropping her bull. The pride as a parent is something I will never forget. I'm sure you won't either.
 
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