Posted By: Curly
Illinois Youth Gun Season (First Buck) - 12/12/2017 5:01 PM
This might be a little off topic, but the boy is just not big enough to hunt with a handgun?.but soon
Flew my 11 year old grandson up from NC for a taste of the Illinois Youth Gun Season. He has taken some does with his x-bow, he was still in search for his first buck.
It was warm, windy and a thunder storm was moving in. We sat in the truck till it passed, the radar was good, so we set up on the edge of a freshly harvested bean field for an evening hunt. Within an hour there were 5 does feeding 50 yds from the stand, 4 more does and 2 small forks joined the other deer in the field. Now we have 11 deer within 50 yds. I told him no forks, he was good with that. The deer just kept feeding in the same area (almost an hour). Another buck walked out, it was a 70-80 class buck, I asked him if we should, he said yes. Then I see more movement in the thicket and out steps a bigger buck. Now we have 13 deer within 50yds of us, the 2 forks started jousting taking the attention of the other deer so we made the move to get into position. The Savage 220 20 gauge was in position, his breathing was loud and heavy, he squeezed. All the deer went one way after the shot but the buck turned and bolted back into the thicket where he first came from and disappeared. I asked how the shot felt, he said he was right on it. We sat in stand till dark, almost an hour, probably the longest hour of his life. He did all the tracking, I just sat back and watched the excitement of him finding the first sign leading to his first buck, a nice 10 pointer. He was definitely the happiest kid on earth. I was so proud of that young man. The deer dressed out at 178 lbs.
I will be flying up his younger brother next year, he is demanding one bigger than his brothers, the pressure is on.
Remington 260 gr. AccuuTip slugs.
Flew my 11 year old grandson up from NC for a taste of the Illinois Youth Gun Season. He has taken some does with his x-bow, he was still in search for his first buck.
It was warm, windy and a thunder storm was moving in. We sat in the truck till it passed, the radar was good, so we set up on the edge of a freshly harvested bean field for an evening hunt. Within an hour there were 5 does feeding 50 yds from the stand, 4 more does and 2 small forks joined the other deer in the field. Now we have 11 deer within 50 yds. I told him no forks, he was good with that. The deer just kept feeding in the same area (almost an hour). Another buck walked out, it was a 70-80 class buck, I asked him if we should, he said yes. Then I see more movement in the thicket and out steps a bigger buck. Now we have 13 deer within 50yds of us, the 2 forks started jousting taking the attention of the other deer so we made the move to get into position. The Savage 220 20 gauge was in position, his breathing was loud and heavy, he squeezed. All the deer went one way after the shot but the buck turned and bolted back into the thicket where he first came from and disappeared. I asked how the shot felt, he said he was right on it. We sat in stand till dark, almost an hour, probably the longest hour of his life. He did all the tracking, I just sat back and watched the excitement of him finding the first sign leading to his first buck, a nice 10 pointer. He was definitely the happiest kid on earth. I was so proud of that young man. The deer dressed out at 178 lbs.
I will be flying up his younger brother next year, he is demanding one bigger than his brothers, the pressure is on.
Remington 260 gr. AccuuTip slugs.
