My 14 year old was able to connect on her very first deer tonight.
What an amazing weekend and I am such an incredibly proud dad. A huge debt of gratitude goes out to our very own Mr. KDM (aka Pappa Smurf)for making this happen.
Words cannot fully describe the generosity that he has shown to us. For those of you who know or have met Kirk, you fully understand what I mean. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, you're missing out on an amazing individual.
I contacted him during the youth season to see if we could find her a buck but the deer didn't cooperate. But we had an amazing time together in the field. Since he and his family didn't have any rifle tags this year he offered us the opportunity to come back out during regular season. Friday we saw a few deer but nothing that came in close. Yesterday we saw quite a few deer but the one buck that came in range we passed on in hopes of a better one. This morning we saw a dandy of a buck but only for a few moments before he disappeared behind the draw. Saw a ton of does. Our initial plan was to hunt until noon or so since my daughter had a 4H meeting tonight but since it was such a nice day she decided to skip the meeting and try a different spot Kirk had. And what a great decision that was. Within 15 minutes of being in the stand she had a fork buck come out of the corn within 100 yds and meander over into the trees. Thankfully she passed on him and waited to see what else would appear. We had another really nice buck move through at roughly 300 yds but that distance is beyond her comfort zone so we just watched in awe of his size as he trailed a doe into the corn. Around 4 o'clock things really got crazy as we had multiple groups of 4-5 does coming into the trees and one of the last groups had this buck tailing them. The does eventually worked their way out of the trees and came out into the open area at roughly 200 yds. The buck followed soon after and joined the does which had worked their way to about 150 yds. He was quartering towards us and I was able to get him to stop right around that 150 yd mark. She put one round in the right front shoulder and it went through the heart and into the lungs. He ran a short distance and crumbled in the grass. Tears and hugs and high fives were shared between the two of us as we sat in the stand and took in what had just occurred.
As I sit here typing this I still cannot find the words to truly convey how much appreciation and gratitude her and I owe to Kirk. All I can say is this world is a whole lot better place with people like him in it. You made a young lady's dreams come true and memories that this dad will take to his grave. My hats off to you Kirk for the selflessness you show in allowing youth hunters these opportunities.
What an amazing weekend and I am such an incredibly proud dad. A huge debt of gratitude goes out to our very own Mr. KDM (aka Pappa Smurf)for making this happen.
Words cannot fully describe the generosity that he has shown to us. For those of you who know or have met Kirk, you fully understand what I mean. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, you're missing out on an amazing individual.
I contacted him during the youth season to see if we could find her a buck but the deer didn't cooperate. But we had an amazing time together in the field. Since he and his family didn't have any rifle tags this year he offered us the opportunity to come back out during regular season. Friday we saw a few deer but nothing that came in close. Yesterday we saw quite a few deer but the one buck that came in range we passed on in hopes of a better one. This morning we saw a dandy of a buck but only for a few moments before he disappeared behind the draw. Saw a ton of does. Our initial plan was to hunt until noon or so since my daughter had a 4H meeting tonight but since it was such a nice day she decided to skip the meeting and try a different spot Kirk had. And what a great decision that was. Within 15 minutes of being in the stand she had a fork buck come out of the corn within 100 yds and meander over into the trees. Thankfully she passed on him and waited to see what else would appear. We had another really nice buck move through at roughly 300 yds but that distance is beyond her comfort zone so we just watched in awe of his size as he trailed a doe into the corn. Around 4 o'clock things really got crazy as we had multiple groups of 4-5 does coming into the trees and one of the last groups had this buck tailing them. The does eventually worked their way out of the trees and came out into the open area at roughly 200 yds. The buck followed soon after and joined the does which had worked their way to about 150 yds. He was quartering towards us and I was able to get him to stop right around that 150 yd mark. She put one round in the right front shoulder and it went through the heart and into the lungs. He ran a short distance and crumbled in the grass. Tears and hugs and high fives were shared between the two of us as we sat in the stand and took in what had just occurred.
As I sit here typing this I still cannot find the words to truly convey how much appreciation and gratitude her and I owe to Kirk. All I can say is this world is a whole lot better place with people like him in it. You made a young lady's dreams come true and memories that this dad will take to his grave. My hats off to you Kirk for the selflessness you show in allowing youth hunters these opportunities.
