Andrew has been hunting hard as usual and I knew with his commitment it was only a matter of time before he would get his buck. Friday afternoon I got off of work and picked him up from school. We hustled to get ready, even applying this crazy smoke all over us, lol. We were settled in the blind by 4:30.
Around 4:45 I seen a deer coming and I told Drew to get ready. As it got closer we could see that it's a buck that Andrew had history with and he already knew that he was going to shoot him. When he got to 25 yds Andrew shot and the buck dropped in it's tracks! We hurried to get another arrow ready but his buck made it 10-15 yds over the hill before he could shoot again. After a short time all was quiet and we knew that he was done!
We were pumped and really couldn't believe what had just happened! It was still early and the thought of a double came to mind. We switched positions in the blind but we were whispering and just to excited to really "get into it".
After 15 min or so I said, "do you want to just get your deer?" Andrew never said let's go but I knew he couldn't wait, lol. So we began packing up and I looked out the window and here came another buck! I thought no way!!
He was coming straight to us and was going to walk through the blood trail of Andrew's buck. He stopped and put his nose up and I could tell that he could smell Andrew's buck, either the blood or his tarsal glands, but he knew something. He turned and was trying to find that "other deer", heck it was laying there dead about 15 yds away!
I would let this deer walk every day that I'm hunting by myself, but there was no way that I was going to pass on such a great opportunity that we had been presented with! I've killed my share of deer over the years and don't get me wrong, I still hunt the "big one", but I'm at the point where it's more about making memories and having a great story is what's important. I'm thinking, this is really going to happen!
He turned broadside and I used my son's bow and put a bolt through his lungs. He ran 75-100 yds and we heard him crash! I haven't used a crossbow for about 15 yrs, but it was just as fun, (don't tell my bowtech),lol.
I will never forget the excitement that my son and I shared that night and I know he never will either. That is what is most important!!
Taking one deer is quite a bit of work, but after dealing with 2 I feel like I went 12 rds with George Foreman, lol. There is only so much help that an 8 yr old can offer, and he tried but it was exhausting. We finally got them out and it was worth every second of it!
Looking back it was like this was meant to be. We had history with both deer and opportunities for Andrew to kill each one of them earlier. The buck that Andrew killed, he had actually hit 4 weeks prior. He shot high and gave him a hair cut. The hair had started coming back in. The buck that I shot, we had him at 10 feet the last time we had hunted that spot but Andrew never got a shot at him.
Now I know why things happened the way they did. I'm thankful for the opportunity that we had Friday night!!
