First Deer: If She Hadn't Been Tied To The Stand, She Might Have Fallen Out Of It

The Little Admiral went hunting for the first time today, under instruction from her father. She's proven herself to be a good shot at the range, but we prepared her for the possibility that she might not even see a deer today -- the risk that any hunter takes. Sitting up in a two-man stand, they saw six deer stroll by just out of range before coming in to warm up and get some lunch. They went out again this afternoon, and were mightily bored for two hours. A doe came running past about 4 p.m., moving too quickly for a shot. A half-hour later, out came the six-point on the hunt, weaving back and forth looking for the scent trail. The Admiral raised her shotgun and, with the help of a few grunts from Dad to stop the buck in his tracks, took the shot. The buck went about 100 yards and dropped on the edge of the field, after a quick flash of the tail, making for an easy retrieval despite the lack of a blood trail.

After taking the shot, she couldn't remember hearing or feeling the gun go off, but she knew she'd pulled the trigger. She also got the post-kill shakes so bad that her Dad wouldn't let her try to climb down the stand right away, and took custody of her gun. After taking a few moment to catch their breath, they made a quick phone call to the Hunting Widow and headed for the field.

Having been up since 3 a.m., she's still waltzing around on the adrenaline. Oh, and she's named the buck "Roger." Get it?

Not bad for a rookie!

[whitetail]
[hunting safety]
[whitetail fever]
[first deer]