My son's first buck.
 

We hunted all day Friday. 25 degrees in the morning to a high of 62 degrees. Saw some turkey in the morning but season is over for them. Saturday morning we knew it was gonna be cold so we took extra layers. It never got out of the low 40's and it was windy. We got our blind set up just after Dawn and settled in. I had forgotten my grunt call but didnt' want to go back to the truck for it. We were set up in some mixed hardwoods...a few mature trees but lots of young trees and scrub. The longest shot you could pull here might be about 125 yds on the opposite hill.
We had decided to hunt the same spot he had taken a doe on youth deer day two months ago. That day, I had to wake him up to shoot the deer, but He got this one on his own. I have to sit with him due to his age. Bout ten minutes before. Maybe fifteen, I had seen a nice buck on the opposite hill. He couldn't see it. I put my crosshairs on it. Had just a moment but didn't want to do the shootin when he was there. Let it go. Then a minute or so later saw it head down the hill at an angle. It disappeared in the scrub. We sat for a while them heard some noise. I told him to grab his rifle. Told him if he saw it coming our way he could shoot it directly in the front of the chest (he has been practicing archery hunting for the last two years so I wanted to make sure he knew he didn't have to wait for a broadside shot.) He said " I know this".
He got his rifle up and Said. " oh my god, it's a giant buck." He told me to hold up the front of the rifle. So I held my palm up for a rest. I never saw the buck. Was more concerned with the rifle muzzle 13 inches from my face. He was sitting on my right. And the deer was on my 9 o'clock. He said the deer was looking at us. Getting a little nervous. He wanted to get a better angle. I told him if it was getting nervous to shoot the first good shot he had. He said said "this deer is gonna die". I covered my left ear and he said " say good night". He fired and I looked. It was on the ground moving its rear legs. He chambered another round but it never lifted its head. When he walked over to it he had to pull the antlers out of the ground. He said he shot and it lunged two feet to the left but just did a face plant and that was it. He also added that the antlers weren't as big as he thought. I told him I thought it was a fine deer. We gutted it, dragged it up jnext to our blind and waited a couple hours before heading out to the butcher and getting lunch. Then went back to the blind for the rest of the day.
I got to spend two days with my son in the woods. On the second day...He killed his first ever buck.
Exactly what I wanted for my birthday. Yep. My son killed a buck for me on my birthday. I have to say I was excited.

"Oh my god it's a giant buck". Lol. Been there done that. Great story!

thats awesome! congrats to u both!

Awesome buck! Congrats to your son on his first buck. Very important moment and some great memories.

nice deer!

Man DPV, you AND your son are having an awesome season! Congrats! I can't wait until my kids are old enough to hunt with me. Did you hunt Powhatan WMA? Saturday was a doe day...I'm assuming it was crazy busy.

I took my sister out to hunt for the first time. We went in blind to some private land belonging to a friend of hers (neither of us had been there). I figured hunting there would be better than Powhatan WMA on a doe day. I think I need a ground blind. I saw deer in the thickets with my binoculars but she moved a lot when she got uncomfortable, and I'm thinking they spotted her. We also had our hunt stepped on by DEER DOGS from adjoining properties. Go to private land to avoid this crap and it still happens. If it were my property the dogs were crossing onto, well...S.S.S.

How do you like hunting out of a ground blind? Is your vision limited?

Congratulations to your son! Nothing like that first buck. I hope to see my son (12) get one here in a couple of weeks.

He's on the board! That is a trophy to him and that is all that matters. Congrats to him and you for passing on the great tradition of hunting.:wink:

HAHA yea we have all been there... its a little harder to stomach when you do it with a Bow! :eek2:

Sounds like he had a great time, plus he learned about "ground shrinkage" first hand. Congrats!

Why let him kill something that small? It just teaches kids its OK to shoot anything that moves as long as it has antlers no matter how small it is. I was able to shoot a 173 point 7 point with a nice thick rack only 2 weeks into the season and have missed a big 8 and a 10 and let another 8 walk so its not like you have to waste 2-3 months of the season just to see a big deer. Hunting is about patience and also quality management of your deer. I didnt kill my first buck until I was 20 because I was taught to let anything 6 points and under walk but when I finally did it was a solid 8 pointer and well worth the wait.

Id rather wait a few years and say my first deer was a giant than have all my friends laugh at me cause I killed a 2 pointer. Just ask my brother because his first buck was about the sieze of the one n that pic and my parents actually mounted it and hung it at a farm we use to own with 5 other families. Every weekend we would have 8-9 friends over to hunt and they all laughed at him and gave him hell because of how small it was. Probably didnt help matters by mounting it in the TV/game room for everyone to see right next to my 8 pointer.

Shut the front door. And you know what that means. Idiot.

Too many "I's" in your response.:s8: The great thing about America is "we" can make choices and because some may see it differently, (doesn't make our choices wrong). This boy was happy and that is a good thing for HUNTING.

EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS IN HUNTING!

What a story! Good Job Dad, you couldn't ask for a better outing.

LOL

Good stuff right there. Love that story! :happy0001:
Congrats to him! IMO, that is THE perfect 1st buck!

I'm absolutely pumped for you and your boy. Good job dpv. We need more dads out there like you. It's definitely not the size of the antlers that make for a quality hunt and you proved that. It's too bad that some don't get it.

I appreciate all the positive vibes. Just wanted to share because it meant so much to me and I love reading about the great hunts others have.
I hunted 10 years before killing my first deer. Had to learn everything on my own and make all my own mistakes. And also develop my own judgements and values on what is and isn't acceptable hunting. Almost all of my hunting has been on public land. And on public land around here, if you can pass on a 6 pointer and wait for an 8 pointer I will kiss your ass in the public square. I have spent entire seasons and not seen a single deer. That is gun hunting. My preferred method. For bow or crossbow I can just walk out the back door about 40 yds and get into a tree and kill a nice 8 pointer. Time investment is not that bad and travel expenses are nothing. But I like getting out in the big woods.
In 2010 we met the land owners where we have been hunting this year. They offered to let us hunt. They have not let anyone hunt before. I didn't ask. They offered. We were not able to take them up on it until this year. They have suffered 60 grand in crop loss this year. It's a vineyard so they figure crop loss not in resale value of grapes but in lost wine production. Antlers are cool, but they are not the primary reason I hunt. With the exception of a gift cert for steaks that I added a few bucks to, I have not purchased red meat in over a year. I eat what I kill. It probably would still be cheaper to just buy the meat and have my weekends free but that isn't what I want. Both the freezers in my garage are full. I am giving the meat away now. Both to non hunters, and some folks who I know can use the meat. That little skull cap that was cut off and sent back to us from the butcher with the meat means a lot to me. It is a memory of a great time with my son, who killed a buck in fair chase. The antlers aren't a trophy. They are memento. A relic. I will remember that hunt every time I look at them until my feeble brain gives out on me and I can't recognize them any more. I do not have a problem with trophy hunters or hunters who are obsessed with how big theirs is and I don't worry that somebody will laugh at mine because it's smaller.....but then my family came over from Italy. We don't have to worry about that sort of thing.

Awesome story congrats, you gotta love there enthusiasm.

The blind is easier to set up than getting your stand up into a tree. Not easier to carry though because you also need something to sit on.
With my stand I bungee my pack to my stand and I can walk quite a distance without being fatigued. Advantage of the stand...vantage point. I think you can see farther. Advantage of the blind....it blocks the wind. The comfort level is way higher in the blind. I'm also in a pretty swank chair compared to the climber. If you set it up properly and use it smart it gives good cover. If you have all 4 sides open you are right in the deers line of sight and silhouetted.

congrats to you and your boy, i think that taking a doe or small buck as your first deer is just fine. it helps you better prepare your mind for when the big one comes by. New hunters can also lose interest all together if they wait for "years" to try to harvest a big buck. "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Spectacular!

Your son's smile says it all! Great story! Thanks for sharing it.

300# 8 Pointer, my Youngest's first Deer hunt with Dad
 

Hunting in Catskill, NY with my youngest son Stuart. His Uncle and cousins are hunting the same piece of property, exclusive rights on 75 acres carved out of NY State Forest.

After discussing it with him (Stu), we decided to go up when everyone else went elsewhere.

After dawn, we decided to continue climbing.
After reaching a draw where two ridges combine, he wanted to go left. I wanted to go right and up t tip-top. After discussing, we chose his direction. It was 12:30 or so and we decided to break for lunch at a boulder at the beginning of the 5th steppe.

Seated in close proximity, we were quiet, he chowing down on a sandwich and I peeling a hardboiled egg.
I heard a thud-crunch and just as I asked, "did you hear....", he says, "Uhhh, Daddy!"

I looked up and not 8 yards away is this massive gray ghost looking at us like we were aliens.

He froze, Stu covered his ears automatically, knowing what's coming next. I stood, grabbed my .30-30 and leaned forward.

The bucks boilerroom was behind a tree but he left me a shot at his liver/lung which I took. Albert (his later assigned nickname) hunched and jumped. Tracking him, I fired again after he cleared the tree, exactly as he started quartering away downhill, connecting both lungs and his heart with my 150gr. Silvertip.

I jumped out of our lunchspot to try for a third shot but there was only silence after he jumped off a boulder and crumpled 20 yards from where he took my last round.

As I returned, Stuart said, "I guess we have some work to do"?

So proud, brought a tear.

Of course, the rest was ALL work with that monster.

Nice story and congrats to your son! My first buck was a forkhorn and second was a spike. They came in 2010 and 2011 at the ages of 24 and 25. He did well and should be proud!

Awesome Awesome story.