first time hunter

[second shot]

I had the great pleasure of taking my little brother out hunting his first time ever this year. He has never expressed any interest in hunting until this year. He let me know in May that he would like to try deer hunting and it was on. We were drawn for our first choice hunt and I was very excited to get him in the field. We were able to spend some time shooting to get him comfortable with the rifle, but did not have any time to scout.

 

For my part of the hunt I packed into an awesome area for Thursday through Saturday night with a friend. We saw lots of deer but only one I wanted to tag. Unfortunately he was able to give me the slip on Saturday afternoon so I came home empty handed. He was a great buck and I'm confident he'll be around next year, as this was the third year in a row I've seen and each year is better then the last.

 

Sunday I rested in anticipation of taking my brother out Monday and Tuesday. Monday morning came and found us sitting on one of my favorite hills. At 7:30 I glassed up two young bucks. Being his first hunt I told my brother anything with antlers should be wearing his tag. We watched for about 15 minutes as the two bucks turned into six! The smallest was a spike and the biggest about an 85" 3x3. I don't think my brother knows how lucky he was to see 6 bucks in a group on his first ever hunt, first ever day in the hills for that matter. The bucks were feeding pretty fast away from us so we made a long loop around the cut to try and head them off. We got to the perfect spot to take a shot and wouldn't you know it, no deer. The whole group was gone. We glassed for a bit and decided to head back to the truck to meet some other friends of mine that were hunting near by. They hadn't seen anything and decided to hunt another spot before they headed back to town. My brother and I hunted until mid afternoon until it got way to windy. We headed back to town to prepare for Tuesday.

 

Tuesday morning found us glassing the same cut but from the opposite side where the bucks were feeding the day before. By about 7:00 I'd located a couple doe but not much was moving. I started glassing farther out and spotted the back end of a deer bedded under a juniper about 550 yards away. Even though I couldn't see the head I just knew it was a buck. My little brother and a very good friend were there and we decided to move to a spot about 200 yards from the deer. The stalk was one. We made it to the hill and I peeked over the top and sure enough it was a young 3x3. I told my brother his buck was just over the hill. He told me I could shoot it, and I was tempted as it's hard to pass up any coues buck, but I was determined to make this hunt about my brother. The three of us crawled up to the top of the hill. My brother and I had our rifles trained on the deer while my friend watched through his binos. Then my brother started shooting. Shot one, buck stands up. Shot two, buck turns around, shot three buck stands still. Shot four, buck turns around. Shot five, buck stands still. Talk about buck fever!!!! It was all I could do not to shoot the deer myself as I was watching the whole event unfold in my scope. I told my brother to reload and that I wouldn't shoot unless the deer ran off. My brother, I guess feeling confident at that point, loaded one more round into his rifle. He took aim and the shot rang true. The buck did a complete back flip and was dead before he hit the ground. We then started all the hootin and hollerin that goes along with a young man getting his first deer. I couldn't have been more proud.

 

I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the whole experience of taking his first ever animal, cleaning it, taking it to the butcher, etc. By the end of the day though he was ready to put in for next year, so I think I've got him hooked on this crazy passion of hunting Coues deer. I didn't tag out myself, but I must say this is the most rewarding hunt I've been a part of!

 

I have to say thank you to my good friend who was on the hill watching the whole event unfold, and another buddy that was near by and came running once the shooting stopped. They made the task of getting this deer to the truck a piece of cake, and it's always a great time when a group of friends can help a young man take his first buck.

 

Thanks for reading

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Santana Outdoors]

 

Congratulations! Glad you had the opportunity!

[WHALE]

GOOD JOB ON HELPING YOUR BROTHER OUT. NICE BUCK.

[cohntr6]

Pretty dang cool!

Congrats to your brother!

And nice job adding another one to the ranks!

Jeff

[jamaro]

Awesome...

[WadeNAZ]

Thumbs up!

[bonecollector]

Congrats, sounds like you have a new hunting partner for years to come.

[SO I HUNT]

GREAT JOB AND WECLCOME TO THE WORLD OF HUNTING!

[boomsaki]

Nice buck well done!

[roninflag]

great story . nice buck. what gun and load?

[Coues&Bass]

GO CARDINALS!!!!!! Nice buck.

[CRAZYBUCK]

Sweet first Buck Congrats and welcome to the obsession

 

 

 

 

[stanley]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

S.

 

[justinspe25]

Cool story and nice buck!

[second shot]

Thanks for all the replys and for reading the story.

The rifle is a 1960's model browning 243, ammunition was 100gr winchester from Wal Mart. The rifle is a tack driver and this is the third deer we've taken with it in as many seasons.