Headed down to a little valley somewhere in MT a week or so ago with some friends looking to fill our b tags on grain fed whitetail does and managed to get on to a place that sees little pressure. My father was able to join us. This was the first time that he and I have ever hunted together. Typical of a lot of families, he grew up thinking that hunting was what you did to put meat on the table, not to have fun, and when he got to a point where he didn't need to hunt for table fare, he quit. Store bought meat was viewed as social standing, and when you could afford beef, you were middle class. So, by the time I came along, he hadn't been out in quite a few years. I can only remember him bringing home an pronghorn doe once, and then he quit altogether.
He's been suffering some health problems lately: lost his right leg below the calf, still has back problems, plus we lost mom a few years ago after a long battle with ALZ (he was the primary care giver), etc so this was a pretty special time for us. He walked a couple of miles each day, slept like a kid, and had a good time. He didn't connect on his doe, but loved to be out, hunting again.
We were sitting in a little bowl, about 2 pm, while some friends worked the brush along the river bottom about 150 yards away. I had set my rifle down, and was anxious to have a doe bust through so the old man could connect and bloody his new rifle, an Alex Henry 450/400 BPE double that he'd been fawning over since the summer. He made a slight noise, and motioned to the brush, right at the time this little buck busted behind us. I was lucky enough to hit him on the run at about 100 yards, and dropped him hard. Given my poor shooting on any other day, this was pretty good shot, and I doubt I could repeat it. haha.
He's not a toad buck, just a nice fat youngster, but I was able to spend 4 days running around MT with the old man, when we could forget all that has happened in the last few years and just have fun, that makes this one a trophy for me.
He's been suffering some health problems lately: lost his right leg below the calf, still has back problems, plus we lost mom a few years ago after a long battle with ALZ (he was the primary care giver), etc so this was a pretty special time for us. He walked a couple of miles each day, slept like a kid, and had a good time. He didn't connect on his doe, but loved to be out, hunting again.
We were sitting in a little bowl, about 2 pm, while some friends worked the brush along the river bottom about 150 yards away. I had set my rifle down, and was anxious to have a doe bust through so the old man could connect and bloody his new rifle, an Alex Henry 450/400 BPE double that he'd been fawning over since the summer. He made a slight noise, and motioned to the brush, right at the time this little buck busted behind us. I was lucky enough to hit him on the run at about 100 yards, and dropped him hard. Given my poor shooting on any other day, this was pretty good shot, and I doubt I could repeat it. haha.
He's not a toad buck, just a nice fat youngster, but I was able to spend 4 days running around MT with the old man, when we could forget all that has happened in the last few years and just have fun, that makes this one a trophy for me.
