We got his junior license at 9am when he turned 10 (well technically 10 years + 1 day, as his birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year and Service BC was closed on his birthday). We headed out and seen about ten mule deer does that morning. A week before, we set up a ground blind and the plan for the afternoon was to sneak into it and sit until dark. Hudson was pretty pumped to finally be the shooter!
We slipped up the hill towards the ground blind. I spot a deer standing just on the other side of the rise. We freeze and crouch down - the deer looked like it had something coming out of it's head, but there was some twigs in the way. I lift up the binos and the deer turned it's head and the twig moved with it - it's a buck! A little 2 point, missing his right antler . This buck is now named Twig by Zero
I whisper to Hudson that it's a buck, his eyes got wide and I help him quietly chamber a round. I crawled by him up the slow a few feet and set up the tripod for him to rest his rifle on. Twig by Zero was facing us, but now has turned broadside. He's getting nervous walks a few steps and is behind some brush 25 yards away. I was a bit dejected at the fleeting opportunity, but a second later a second buck walks right up behind his smaller buddy and is staring us down. I whisper to my son "here's another buck and he has both antlers" - my son sharply whisperers back "I want the one antler buck!"OMG kids...LOL I say "shoot this buck!" he gets the buck in his scope, which is facing us frontal. My kid has done really good playing the shot angle game on google images, looking at animals at different angles and his proposed placement is usually spot on. I just told him to center up the reticle on the front of the bucks chest and reminded him to sloooowly squeeze (he's not opposed to jerkin' the trigger hard sometimes at the range)
It seemed like a long time, but it was only a few seconds with the rifle barked. BOOM! Buck lurches forwards towards us a few bounds, then turns and peels off towards Twig by Zero. I yelled Reload, Reload! The buck is now out of sight. I spot a buck bounding out in the field, I raise binos and see it only has one antler. Twig by Zero! I scan left and see a deer down.
We shared a huge hug, tears of jubilation - "You did it buddy, you got your first buck!" - I make a phone call to Mama, put her on speaker phone and pass the phone to Hudson "Buck down mama, buck down!" the emotions were flowing!
The two bucks were literally 10' away from our ground blind LOL We walk up, more bucks scatter from not far away! he gets to lay hands on his first buck! Life is great
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