H82Miss
Member
It’s been a tough hunting year for me. I haven’t had much success, mostly because I’ve been working a lot and have just lacked the motivation to get my lazy old body outside. Wednesday evening when my wife suggested I take my 13 y/o daughter out deer hunting I figured I had better do it. Mrs. H82Miss mentioned that my daughter (CantMiss) told her that “since dad hasn’t shot anything all year, I better show him how it’s done.” Game on!
We got a late start Friday morning because CantMiss had to be at school at 0700 for basketball team pics. Jjess met us at our place at 0845, we loaded up and headed out. Our plan was to head to a familiar trailhead, ride the Hondas a couple miles in, and shoot a nice juicy doe.
We arrived at the trailhead to find dense fog with visibility less than 100 yards. Undeterred, we piled in the SxSs and made our way up the snow covered trail. Once on the ridgetop we had hope to be above the fog line. Nope, still couldn’t see more than 100 yards. This might be a little harder than we thought. We remained positive because the trail was absolutely covered in deer tracks. We continued down the trail hoping to find a spot that offered some visibility. Suddenly Jjess stopped his SxS and jumped out motioning that he had seen some deer. By the time CantMiss and I got out, they had disappeared into the fog. We snuck down the trail on foot for a couple hundred yards but could not find them. Jjess suggested we try blowing a fawn distress call. He said he had seen some YouTube video were a guy said “if you’re not calling them in this time of year, you’re wasting your time” or something to that effect. It was too foggy to spot and stalk so I figured it was worth a try. Jjess produced an open reed call from his pocket and handed it to me. We got CantMiss set up on the shooting sticks and ready to go. I did my best impression of a scared, lonely, injured fawn off and on for about 5 minutes. Nothing.
We headed back to the 4-wheelers and continued down the trail. I was still optimistic. There was so much deer sign we were bound find one. We found another pull off with a trail that headed down a long finger ridge. We walked a couple hundred yards down the ridge to a little knob with small drainages on each side. It looked like a great spot, but we still couldn’t see very far. We decide we’d try the call again. We figured maybe we’d call in a coyote or mtn lion.
the deer came in to the bottom of the drainage, center of pic
Again we got CantMiss set up on the shooting sticks and I began to blow the call.
About 30 seconds into my calling CantMiss taps me on the shoulder, points toward the bottom of the drainage and says “there’s one daddy.” Holy smokes, it worked! A nice juicy doe stotted around the corner of the finger ridge on our left and started up the middle of the drainage. She stopped quartering to and staring at us at 135 yards. “Get on her, take your time” I said. “Take the safety off” Jjess whispered. “It’s off, I’m ready” she replied. “Take the shot when you feel”.….BANG!!! The report of the rifle interrupted my instructions. I watched through the binos as the deer was clearly hit and dead on her feet. She ran 20 yards up the side of the drainage only to face plant and slide back to the bottom. “You got her!” we cheered. Jjess and I could hardly contain our excitement while CantMiss remained calm as a cucumber. We walked down the hillside to find a heavy blood trail that led CantMiss a short distance to her piled up deer.
High fives, hugs, and many pics ensued.
Rifle specs: Bison Armory SPR 18” 6.8 spc upper, Burris 3-9x40 in Larue mount, NFA lower with Geiselle SSA-E trigger, LaRue Risr on Magpul CTR stock
H82Miss, CantMiss, Jjess
We field dressed the deer, dragged her up the hill, and loaded her onto the 4 wheelers. We made it back to the truck, loaded up, and headed home.
It was a great day. I’m thankful for the time I got to spend with my daughter and glad she showed me “how it’s done.”
the call that made it happen, unknown make and model
Thanks for reading
This post is nominated for Hunter of the Month. Sorry, the nifty little .gif isn't rotating, so all you see is "Nominated" for now.
We got a late start Friday morning because CantMiss had to be at school at 0700 for basketball team pics. Jjess met us at our place at 0845, we loaded up and headed out. Our plan was to head to a familiar trailhead, ride the Hondas a couple miles in, and shoot a nice juicy doe.
We arrived at the trailhead to find dense fog with visibility less than 100 yards. Undeterred, we piled in the SxSs and made our way up the snow covered trail. Once on the ridgetop we had hope to be above the fog line. Nope, still couldn’t see more than 100 yards. This might be a little harder than we thought. We remained positive because the trail was absolutely covered in deer tracks. We continued down the trail hoping to find a spot that offered some visibility. Suddenly Jjess stopped his SxS and jumped out motioning that he had seen some deer. By the time CantMiss and I got out, they had disappeared into the fog. We snuck down the trail on foot for a couple hundred yards but could not find them. Jjess suggested we try blowing a fawn distress call. He said he had seen some YouTube video were a guy said “if you’re not calling them in this time of year, you’re wasting your time” or something to that effect. It was too foggy to spot and stalk so I figured it was worth a try. Jjess produced an open reed call from his pocket and handed it to me. We got CantMiss set up on the shooting sticks and ready to go. I did my best impression of a scared, lonely, injured fawn off and on for about 5 minutes. Nothing.
We headed back to the 4-wheelers and continued down the trail. I was still optimistic. There was so much deer sign we were bound find one. We found another pull off with a trail that headed down a long finger ridge. We walked a couple hundred yards down the ridge to a little knob with small drainages on each side. It looked like a great spot, but we still couldn’t see very far. We decide we’d try the call again. We figured maybe we’d call in a coyote or mtn lion.
the deer came in to the bottom of the drainage, center of pic
Again we got CantMiss set up on the shooting sticks and I began to blow the call.
About 30 seconds into my calling CantMiss taps me on the shoulder, points toward the bottom of the drainage and says “there’s one daddy.” Holy smokes, it worked! A nice juicy doe stotted around the corner of the finger ridge on our left and started up the middle of the drainage. She stopped quartering to and staring at us at 135 yards. “Get on her, take your time” I said. “Take the safety off” Jjess whispered. “It’s off, I’m ready” she replied. “Take the shot when you feel”.….BANG!!! The report of the rifle interrupted my instructions. I watched through the binos as the deer was clearly hit and dead on her feet. She ran 20 yards up the side of the drainage only to face plant and slide back to the bottom. “You got her!” we cheered. Jjess and I could hardly contain our excitement while CantMiss remained calm as a cucumber. We walked down the hillside to find a heavy blood trail that led CantMiss a short distance to her piled up deer.
High fives, hugs, and many pics ensued.
Rifle specs: Bison Armory SPR 18” 6.8 spc upper, Burris 3-9x40 in Larue mount, NFA lower with Geiselle SSA-E trigger, LaRue Risr on Magpul CTR stock
H82Miss, CantMiss, Jjess
We field dressed the deer, dragged her up the hill, and loaded her onto the 4 wheelers. We made it back to the truck, loaded up, and headed home.
It was a great day. I’m thankful for the time I got to spend with my daughter and glad she showed me “how it’s done.”
the call that made it happen, unknown make and model
Thanks for reading
This post is nominated for Hunter of the Month. Sorry, the nifty little .gif isn't rotating, so all you see is "Nominated" for now.
