The boy's first deer!

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My oldest son has wanted to deer hunt with me for several years but he wasn't quite ready. He shots with me regularly and is a good shot, as good as me, when he settles down (the hard part). Before the season, he practiced several times with the muzzle loader (.430 Ranch Dogs cast soft with sabots). I mocked up a rifle rest similar to the one in the tree stand had him shoot off of it after a little jog to get his heart rate up. He seemed to do alright, so opening day we climbed the ladder and started his first deer hunt.

Near dusk, a group of 5 does came out in the far corner of the field, 200 yards off. We watched them eat and dart around for what seemed like forever as they slowly made their way towards us. With only a few minutes of shooting time left, they parked themselves on a clover patch the landowner and I planted several years ago. With two of them broadside at around 70 yards out, I gave my son the go ahead. The muzzleloader boomed and the deer took off for the woods. I couldn't tell which one he had shot at.

We gave it a while then went to the spot where the does were and found blood after only a few minutes of looking. Nothing heavy, just specks. We followed it 30-40 yards or so towards the woods but the trail stopped suddenly and we couldn't find anymore. I scanned the edge of the woods to see if I could spot her. With no luck, I phoned the land owner who has an Aussie Shepard that is a pretty good deer dog. We put the dog on the trail and he went to work. After a good bit of work, he picked the trail back up 150 yards or so away from the spot of the shot.

Continued...

[Silvercreek Farmer]

We worked the scant trail for a bit, but in the excitement (and lack of marking tape) we lost it again. After quite a while, I finally found it again and got the dog headed in the right direction. This time using an extra flashlight to mark our last blood. We tracked the deer for another 100 yards or so. The blood was still bright red, but was starting to look thinner. We eventually made it to the river that borders what is now his neighbors land. The dog was interested in going down to the river, but it was cold, the current fairly swift, and the bank steep, like a small cliff. We were now three hours in and assuming the deer had crossed the river to an unknown property owner's land. I called it off and we headed home. My son sick with disapointment. The next day the landowner, and good friend, let me know he went and looked for another couple hours after we left with no luck. It would be several weeks before I realized I had left one stone unturned.

We weren't able to get back out anymore during muzzle loader season, so we switched out for my trusty Vanguard 30-06 loaded with Lee 170s over 21 grains of 2400 for around 1800 fps. With less recoil, I knew it would help him shoot better. We got in several more practice sessions and hit the stand again on the rifle opener, but saw nothing. Due to holiday travel we weren't able to get back out until last night. I decided to switch things up and go to another friends property, one that hasn't been hunted at all this year. We got into the stand around 3:30 and started our hunt.

As usual all was quiet until the last few minutes of day light when a nice doe appeared, full broadside, about 60 yards out. My son was looking the other direction, and hadn't seen the deer, so I bumped him and gave him the go ahead to take the shot. The 30-06 barked, and the doe gave a nice high jump, giving me a good feeling about the shot. The doe took off for the woods. I listened for a crash, but heard none.

We gave it a while then climbed down, and went to the site of the shot. We found blood pretty quickly and started tracking. There were only specks, not buckets, but they were pretty consistent. This time we immediately deployed our strategy we developed last time. My son and I would stand by the last known blood and look for the next. If we didn't see any, he would stay put and I would venture forward looking for the next. Only when I had found the next would he come forward and mark the new spot. Using this method, we made our way into the woods. Just inside the woods we discovered she had jumped an old field fence so we crossed it and kept going. As the yards piled up, I started to worry, but we kept finding blood, with only a few turns that took us a moment to find. We pushed deeper and deeper in the the woods, heading downhill the whole time. The distance of a potential haul out growing in my mind. At one point along the trail there was a scratched up area in the leaves. My first thought was we bumped the deer and she struggled getting up, but now thinking back on it, I believe it was a buck scrape as there was not a lot of blood near the spot.

After 45 minutes or so, which seemed like eternity, my son spotted her laying in a small creek at the bottom of the ravine. We approached cautiously making sure that she didn't need a second shot, but she was stone dead. After a quick call to mom to share his success, we started the drag through the thick woods.

Our uphill drag would end up being around 200 yards, not as bad as I feared. And not too hard on a young man jacked up on adrenaline and conditioned from years of wrestling. (I helped a bit. After getting out of the woods we loaded it up, headed home, where he skinned it largely by himself, taking care to keep the hide in perfect condition for later tanning. When we found the deer, I thought the shot placement looked a little high and back, which was consistent with his small flinch as he was aiming for the heart. I thought a high rear lung shot may have allowed the deer to run so far, but the gutting revealed two center punched lungs with 2" holes. I couldn't believe how far she made it. After giving him the nod on his shot placement, we cut up the meat, got it all in the fridge, and hit the hay, both proud of our efforts.

Around this time, I realized I had made a mistake on the previous hunt. I should have made every effort to scramble down the steep bank and sweep with the light over the river for the deer. The current might have been enough to carry her away, but I should have tried anyway, owing to the stories I have heard of deer expiring in the water. Just never had it happen to me before. We have also been educated a bit on just how far a well hit deer can run.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

One proud young man!

[Hickok]

Congratulations!

This a day that will be forever remembered by this young man!

[cwtebay]

Great job!!

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[versa-06]

Thumbs Up to You & the Lad! May your hunting ventures together be many. Job well done.

[BJK]

Congrats! What a shame about the first one. Just chalk it up as a learning experience, no one is perfect. Something made use of it.

[dverna]

It is amazing that with holes in both lungs a deer can travel a long way. Good job tracking!!!

I double lunged a large 3-4 YO doe this year and she went 15 ft. I was surprised she dropped so quickly. I hunt with jacketed bullets (.308) so that may factor into it. But a buddy of mine has had deer go 100 yards after good hits with jacketed 130 gr .270's....you just never know.

Great story!!!

[SSGOldfart]

Congrats to both of you

[missionary5155]

Greetings and tell your son "Congratulations & well done" ! That is a fine photo of our young fellow hunter.
Sometimes that first corn cruncher is a tough one to harvest. The first one I wanted to fire our .58 Zuoave at only 20 yards away was saved by a passing auto that was down range about 70 yards.
The "ol 06" is always a fine caliber to choose. And for sure it was a huge learning experience to get #1 home and carved up.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Exit wound

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Entrance wound. Hit one rib on the way in but didn't seem to make shrapnel out of it.

[pworley1]

Congratulations on the deer and a great post. My son's first deer was much less eventful than yours, but I can still take you to the spot where he dropped in his tracks, and that was almost 30 years ago.

[marshall623]

Good job on staying on the trail , and congrats to your son on good shot placement. Those things have a will to live like nothing else . That first one he will remember always .

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[koger]

Awesome job! Making memories to last a lifetime.

[megasupermagnum]

Wow, that is by a wide margin the longest tracking job of a well hit deer with a well performing load I have heard about. She obviously had gravity on her side, but still quite amazing. If you had to guess, how long do you think it took her to get that far if she just kept running. 10 seconds, 30 seconds?

[trapper9260]

Happy for your son and you for finding the deer . You do not know at times how far a deer will go with some of the shots that should of drop them at a short ways . I had shot a doe yeas ago and it was through the heart and the deer went 100 yards. Good story and glad it work out. You both will not forget this hunt and now you got him hooked. Also learn from it. It is part of hunting.

[Thumbcocker]

Congratulations to the hunter. Good job by the mentor.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Wow, that is by a wide margin the longest tracking job of a well hit deer with a well performing load I have heard about. She obviously had gravity on her side, but still quite amazing. If you had to guess, how long do you think it took her to get that far if she just kept running. 10 seconds, 30 seconds?

At a full run, probably less than 30 seconds. No way of knowing how fast she was moving in the woods, but the blood was very consistent, never found a spot where it looked like she rested or slowed down at all. I've always figured a heart shot deer has a max of around 6-8 seconds in it.

[Midohhntr]

Congrats to your son! Yes heart shot and even double lung hits the deer can go a long ways. My big doe last year was punched thru both lungs with 45/70 lever revolution 325g from 85yds away and still went over 100yds.