Any Youth Weekend success out there?
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:29 pm
How did the kids make out last weekend? My son is 15 this year so it was his last Vt Youth Weekend. We were struggling most of the weekend, only seeing one doe on Sunday morning that just wouldn't give him a clear shot. We did some scouting mid-day Sunday and decided to sit one of our stands until 4pm and make a move out to a field that the deer seemed to be using pretty good. I had seen deer in it during bow season, but the farmer had since spread manure on it and I wasn't sure if they were still hitting it or not. We took a chance, based on the sign, that they were and setup a couple of chairs in a clump of cedars beside a ditch between 2 fields.
At 4:30pm I saw a big doe ~130yds away, with 2 others behind her, that were making their way across an old overgrown field heading our way. My son got ready and it wasn't a minute later that the lead doe jumped the fence, pranced 50yds out into the field and stood there broadside looking the other way about 50-60yds from us. It couldn't have been scripted any better. My son squeezed off a shot with his Browning 7mm-08 and the big doe face-planted right there and was done in less than 3secs! I couldn't believe it, and the hugs and high-fives began. She ended up weighing 140lbs fully dressed! I'm sure this is the big doe that I saw several times during bow season that I was hoping he'd get a crack at. Gotta love it when a plan comes together. Any other youth success out there?
At 4:30pm I saw a big doe ~130yds away, with 2 others behind her, that were making their way across an old overgrown field heading our way. My son got ready and it wasn't a minute later that the lead doe jumped the fence, pranced 50yds out into the field and stood there broadside looking the other way about 50-60yds from us. It couldn't have been scripted any better. My son squeezed off a shot with his Browning 7mm-08 and the big doe face-planted right there and was done in less than 3secs! I couldn't believe it, and the hugs and high-fives began. She ended up weighing 140lbs fully dressed! I'm sure this is the big doe that I saw several times during bow season that I was hoping he'd get a crack at. Gotta love it when a plan comes together. Any other youth success out there?
And yes, this doe IS bigger than my son. He's tall and thin, maybe 120lbs soaking wet. This was actually his 3rd deer, so he's off to a great start with his deer hunting career. His first was a 10 point buck (8pt with double drop tines!) that he shot during regular rifle season off the same property as this doe. Then he shot a smaller doe last year during youth weekend, again with 1/2hr of daylight left on Sunday afternoon. He likes waiting until the last minute so he can get as much hunting in as possible (ya, right). I did tell him that he's gutting the next one, though! He's seen it done enough times now.