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My boy doubled on deer yesterday!
Took my boy hunting yesterday evening to a friends place. It was January 10th, 80 degrees, and we were wearing shorts!!
We set up in the same dilapidated Blind I shot my deer with last week using the CVA Scout Pistol.
A storm front was moving in but I hoped it would miss us or we’d beat it. Wrong on both counts.
The clouds rolled over us as the sun set. Bringing thunder and lightning as light faded and deer approached the field. I willed them to hurry up and cross the property line as rain drops began to fall. The compromised state of the blind with one side missing and holes in the roof soon cost us our dry state. But, the deer had crossed into the pasture and we were working hard to get a shot.
A big doe was blocked by that pole on the right of the above picture. The SAME pole that had given me trouble last week. It’s like they knew! Finally, as rain began to fall harder, a yearling to the left of the pole turned broadside and I told my boy to take that one.
Looking directly over his right shoulder like a good spotter, I watched his shot drop the deer in it’s tracks with a cloud of mud and dust at 88 yards! The big doe ran to the left and stopped in the middle of the field.
We reloaded and I moved the Spec-Rest to the blind opening on the left. I located the doe in the dim light with minutes of legal time remaining. Oriented the rifle and told my boy to take her as well. At the 130 yard shot, I saw dirt kick up behind her and she lept into the like a Springbok pronging. Hit the ground running and collapse after a 30 yard death race.
Pouring rain now, we high-fived, grabbed our gear, and sprinted for the house. Making it just in time for the hail to start falling. We decided to wait and retrieve the deer after the hail storm.
I shot my first deer at the age of 13 after hunting them since I was 6. My boy is 13 and with that double.......has shot a total of 13 deer to date! Thirteen by the age of my first! That’s four so far this year. And......the season ain’t over! He’s becoming quite good.
I am a proud father.
On our way to the ranch to hunt, he asked if he could try a Monster (energy drink). I told him, if he short a deer this evening, he could have a Monster. But, I didn’t want him jacked up on liquid speed before the shot. Well, he got his drink afterwards.
"To Hell with efficiency, it's performance we want!" - Elmer Keith
Replies
140gr Hornady A-Max
Muzzle Velocity: 2,615 fps
88/130 yards broadside
Heart Shot x2
Entrance Deer #1
(Deer #1 Bottom / Deer #2 Top)
Deer #1
congrats to the both of you. Fine shooting by the young man!!
He’d never fired that .260 Remington before. I just let him dry fire it a couple times before we went hunting. Just like he did with the .308 Win on his last deer. No questions. Just dry fire and go.
Pretty much what I tell anybody who comes to me with questions of "Should I buy this?" or "Should I modify that?" It's all proper grip/position, use of sights, and trigger control. Get all of that down, have a gun that's mechanically good to go, that kinda-sorta fits you like you're a member of the same species of animal that designed it, and things like grip shape and trigger weight mean little more than SQUAT.
Consequently, I worry a lot more about reliable mechanical functionality and serviceability of design than I do crap like "finesse". If you need finesse to hit things, your technique probably sucks.
Glad to see that "Baby Carlos" is coming along. With all that quality meat he's stacking up in the freezer, you should probably feed him at least one McDonald's hamburger just so he can have the well-rounded life experience.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
At your boys age, I had never even held a real gun yet. He has become quite the shooter.
Does he process his own deer yet?
I’m spoiled. We only eat Axis and pig for the most part. 🤓
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
HOWEVER, I do have a mean/mischievous streak that developed when I was a little older than your kid. If I was repeatedly making heart shots, maybe getting a little cocky about it, and getting ribbed by my dad about blowing up heart meat, I'd probably brain one on my own initiative just so I could say "NOW will you shut up about the heart meat??"
Beware the machinations of a small boy's mind.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
"The Un-Tactical"