redline410
New member
Sports has condensed my girls fall break into a whopping 5 days and even though this was their first deer hunt, going to california ranked pretty high on the things to do list as well. they came to a little compromise and gave two days to the hunt and three to the beach- seemed fair to me......
with a limited hunt we hit the places we knew would offer the greatest area to glass. unforunately, over the past few years the deer in this spot have moved higher and higher up the mountain. they still wander down to the base on occasion so I was hoping we would get lucky..... after a half hour or so my dad tells me he's got two bucks sparring and one looks decent. just the tilt of his tripod had my legs hurting and when I was able to pick them up I really had my doubts either of the girls would be able to close the gap. after some deliberation my oldest daughter, Adrianna, was game and wanted to give it a go.
Adrianna ready to get after it with a little support from her sister Ashlynn and cousin Kyle
Needing to cut about 600yrds off the playing field we found a spot that would put us close. her and I worked our way down into draw and found that the hunting gods had built her a shooting platform in an absolutely ideal spot. Putting my pack on a rock and clearing some wayward limbs she nestled in behind the rifle with the nerves of an assassin. I gave her a range and told her to lay the cross hair across the top of the bucks back. after what seemed like an eternity, the .243 popped, the buck kicked like a mule, took a few steps and tipped over. I came out from behind the binoculars to tell her great shot and she was sitting up rubbing her forehead. the extreme uphill angle put enough tilt on the rifle that it gave her a little kiss on the eyebrow.
Adrianna ready to head up the hill to get her prize. the red circle is her bucks final resting place.
the pain was short once she knew her buck was down. a little fist pump, a big hug and we waved for the rest of the crew to come on down. It was as about as miserable of a spot as there is in this state to have to fetch up a deer. The loose rock and ridiculous incline made for a slow trek up and a trecherous portrait studio but we did what we could to memorialize the moment and slid back dow the mountain to to get little sis a deer.
Dree and her prize coues.
I told her I dont think I could have made that shot at her age.....the kid is ice cold
And one with grandpa
A second buck proved to be a little more difficult. we had a 2pnt mule deer cross the road in front of us as we were heading to a new spot but he was "too little" so we continued on to a peak that would give us a great view of many surrounding cuts and draws. As the afternoon wore on we found two of the biggest coues bucks I have personally ever seen on an island mountain and the nearest we could get was north of 600yrds. Hoping they stick around until archery season.....
We saw a ton of doe and the kids had fun so I don't think Ashlynn is losing any sleep over not harvesting a deer....and besides, I think the knot on her sisters eye made her a little nervous. I was so proud of those girls- we had a blast. putting one on the ground was just a bonus.....
with a limited hunt we hit the places we knew would offer the greatest area to glass. unforunately, over the past few years the deer in this spot have moved higher and higher up the mountain. they still wander down to the base on occasion so I was hoping we would get lucky..... after a half hour or so my dad tells me he's got two bucks sparring and one looks decent. just the tilt of his tripod had my legs hurting and when I was able to pick them up I really had my doubts either of the girls would be able to close the gap. after some deliberation my oldest daughter, Adrianna, was game and wanted to give it a go.
Adrianna ready to get after it with a little support from her sister Ashlynn and cousin Kyle
Needing to cut about 600yrds off the playing field we found a spot that would put us close. her and I worked our way down into draw and found that the hunting gods had built her a shooting platform in an absolutely ideal spot. Putting my pack on a rock and clearing some wayward limbs she nestled in behind the rifle with the nerves of an assassin. I gave her a range and told her to lay the cross hair across the top of the bucks back. after what seemed like an eternity, the .243 popped, the buck kicked like a mule, took a few steps and tipped over. I came out from behind the binoculars to tell her great shot and she was sitting up rubbing her forehead. the extreme uphill angle put enough tilt on the rifle that it gave her a little kiss on the eyebrow.
Adrianna ready to head up the hill to get her prize. the red circle is her bucks final resting place.
the pain was short once she knew her buck was down. a little fist pump, a big hug and we waved for the rest of the crew to come on down. It was as about as miserable of a spot as there is in this state to have to fetch up a deer. The loose rock and ridiculous incline made for a slow trek up and a trecherous portrait studio but we did what we could to memorialize the moment and slid back dow the mountain to to get little sis a deer.
Dree and her prize coues.
I told her I dont think I could have made that shot at her age.....the kid is ice cold
And one with grandpa
A second buck proved to be a little more difficult. we had a 2pnt mule deer cross the road in front of us as we were heading to a new spot but he was "too little" so we continued on to a peak that would give us a great view of many surrounding cuts and draws. As the afternoon wore on we found two of the biggest coues bucks I have personally ever seen on an island mountain and the nearest we could get was north of 600yrds. Hoping they stick around until archery season.....
We saw a ton of doe and the kids had fun so I don't think Ashlynn is losing any sleep over not harvesting a deer....and besides, I think the knot on her sisters eye made her a little nervous. I was so proud of those girls- we had a blast. putting one on the ground was just a bonus.....
