liltank
Well-Known Member
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!
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!
