tanclan4 Report post Posted January 2, 2012 I was waiting for my daughter to write this up but she decided to let me do it. The excitement started when we found out both my critters were drawn for whitetail in my home unit. Then I found out my brother drew the same tag as well. Scouting started after my early bull hunt, which was in another thread and successful as well, and we were finding deer from the get go. It was a long wait but after trips to the range and trips to the field the day finally came. Turkey day was quick and as soon as we were done eating it was time to head to grandmas house to get ready for opening day. My son was sick and would miss opening day which was a bummer but my daughter was going to be the one to pick up the slack. First day was slow and a bit windy but we found a button buck and watched him for awhile. My brother was hiking to another ridge and we made our way over to the small buck i set the sticks up and put the rifle in the "Claw" amd clamped it down. My daughter made some final adjustments and I told her to just keep an eye on him for a bit. I asked her if she could see antlers on him and she told me he had little antlers but she didn't mind because he would be real good eating dad. I ranged him at 150 and told her to take a shot when she was ready. She told me she had him and asked if she could shoot, I gave her the go ahead and "boom" dang it she missed. I asked her what happened and she said she thought she hit him. I told her she missed and she was bummed. The deer popped up again further up the hill but was too far for her to shoot so we just watched as he made his way up the hill and over the top. "Its ok dad, i'll get the next one" thats my girl. We hooked back up with my brother and his buddy who also had a tag and decided to check another area before lunch. Well that area was full of people so we headed to town to eat lunch. We ran into my cousins who also had a tag(arizonaelitefreak) and they told us they thought they had a deer down so we headed out to help them find it. We started our hike and we all split up to search for the deer. My daughter is a trooper and hiked her butt off. We jumped a deer on our way to where the deer was when my cousin shot but didn't get a good look at it. We searched for blood in the area he took a shot but didn't find any so we knew it was a clean miss. Day one in the books, deer 1 hunters 0. Day two and my daughter was too tired and decided to stay in with mom so we headed out with my brother and his buddy. My son was still sick so it wasn't looking good for him because I didn't want him to miss school,he wasn't making the best grades he could so school was priority for him. We headed to a spot where we had glassed deer earlier and found deer right off the bat, does, dang it. The spot we wanted was taken so we moved to the other side of the ridge where I knew the deer were bedding down. Well, as luck would have it we spot a buck where we knew hunters were and just as we did the shooting began. Not sure if they got him but when we saw him they were missing. We watched two bucks beat out of there and noticed a doe bedded above them so figured she was a hot doe and those bucks didn't want to leave her. Sounded like the hunters climbed up higher and got another shot. Dang it, too many hunters. Day two, deer 2 hunters 0. Day three and my daughter was ready, yes, this time it was my brother and daughter, no son as he was still sick and my brothers buddy had to go back for a day. We went into an area we knew held alot of deer and found more hunters. Dang it! We were glassing a hill side and had two guys get dropped off below us and started hiking up the hill we were glassing. Nice! We concede the hill for safety reasons and head into what is referred to most people as "the manzanita carpet area" while moving up to a ridge to start glassing I spot a deer two ridges over. Its a buck, nice 2 point with a big body. I asked my daughter if she wanted to try to get closer and she said " lets go dad". My brother and I knew we had to beat brush and decided to head to a ridge which would put us what we thought would be a couple hundred yards from the buck which was perfect for my daughter. We get to where we need to be and get ready to start making our own trail in the manzanita. No easy task as it was thick with manzanita but it was windy and the deer wasn't going anywhere so I figured we had time and no need to rush through this stuff. We were in about 225 yards after about 30 minutes and had brush moving right in front of us, a deer, I set the sticks up and my daughter gets ready. Watch the brush and wait to make sure its a buck. The deer pops out 30 yards and is looking the opposite way, doe, no wait a spike take it. Boom, the deer hunches and I say, you hit it. We make our way to where we last saw him and found good blood then the manzanita opened up to a draw and my daughter says, there he is,no its a bigger one. My brother gets ready and , boom, deer down. We make sure hes down and continue on my daughters blood trail. We find the spike standing under a juniper and, boom, deer dispatched. Two deer down within 100 yards of each other and within 5 minutes of each other. Wow, crazy, and the work begins. My boy never got to make it out and was bummed but was glad his sister filled her tag and can't wait to eat some sausage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerstar2013 Report post Posted January 2, 2012 Great Write up! And Congrats to the hunters sounds like it was a blast! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tanclan4 Report post Posted January 2, 2012 Thanks soccerstar, it was fun as always when hunting with family. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted January 2, 2012 Congratulations on all the family success!! don't forget to enter them in the coues Buck contest! http://www.coueswhitetail.com/Coues_Buck_Contest_2011/coues_buck_contest_2011-12.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted January 2, 2012 It's never too late to share a great hunt. Congratulations, and thanks for posting! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azphil Report post Posted January 3, 2012 Congrats - it's great getting the family involved in the outdoor experience. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted January 4, 2012 i know my eyes ain't what they used to be, but in that last photo, is it a cute young lass with a whitetail buck and a javelina lookin' over her shoulder? Lark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues 'n' Sheep Report post Posted January 4, 2012 Simply Awesome! Congrats to you both! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
izquik72 Report post Posted January 4, 2012 Great story. Congrats to your daughter Looks like you are doing very well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
