I do not have a big story to write as I usually like to have, just been super busy. I had 3 buddies with the same tag and they all were 1st time deer hunters. I had lots of spots picked out for them to go. They were not too concerned about killing bucks but more just wanted to enjoy the time off work in the outdoors. I was lucky to have my buddies son Chandler who was with me on opening day. He was willing to shoot anything with antlers. I took him in my #1 spot to look for one buck in particular and a few other decent bucks. It was hard to keep Chandler who is 16 interested for the day, I mean who wants to sit in one spot and look through binos all day??? Around 1030 that morning I found 2 of the smaller bucks I have been seeing in the area they were working their way to the bottom of the canyon so I told Chandler lets wait and see where they decide to go for the day. I was hoping the buck I was looking for was around as I have seen these bucks all together occasionally. I lost track of the bucks and just continued to glass. I decided that I would move further up the ridge I was on to get a different angle I only moved about 80 yards and continued to look. I struck gold and was able to see a buck feeding behind a tree. I was thinking I found the buck I have been looking for. Turns out it was not him but a buck that was much bigger. Here is a short video clip
https://youtu.be/mgfE5j1bX7Q
In my head I struggled with letting Chandler shoot this buck, since this buck was the biggest coues I have seen. I showed him the buck and he asked if that's a good buck, I chuckled and said he aint too small
I was having an internal conflict on what to do. I am by no means a selfish guy but I was struggling with this one. I was trying to explain to Chandler that this was a really good buck and he would have a hard time topping it. He really didn't seem to understand but someone who is completely new to hunting I could not blame him. I decided to let him shoot and told him if he misses then if I got the chance for a shot I am going to take it. It was 250 yards exactly. I had him get into a comfortable shooting position and then the wait for a good shot began. Multiple times we thought this was going to be the time to shoot and then the buck laid back down.
After an hour or so the buck finally gave a good shot opportunity. Chandler was calm and squeezed off a shot. He missed and I had no clue where the bullet even hit. The buck trotted to the right only 40 yards from his original spot. I got my gun quickly got into a prone position I located the buck and saw he was not that spooked. I waited for a broadside shot 2 minutes later I took my shot. He ran as fast as he could down the hill. I felt good about the shot but was not sure if I hit him. I got into my binos and was looking frantically. I did not hear anything and was getting worried we had lost that buck. Not too much longer I heard the "death crash". I told Chandler that buck is dead! It was the range of emotions we all love while hunting, the ups and the downs all crammed into a 5 minute timeframe. I am thankful Chandler was a really good sport about letting me take the 2nd shot, he told me that was awesome. I am glad he got to experience the adrenaline rush.
This is my biggest buck so far and was happy to have a 1st timer there with me. I was able to show him how to clean a deer and how hard of work it can be to pack it out.
