Well after getting in quite a few hunts and passing nice bucks... she finally got a crack at a real good one and made it count !! We have tons of trail cam pictures of this buck but only one daylight picture of him... Britney and I spent a lot of time before her Youth Season trying to get her in a spot so she could kill him with bow. Had him at 50 yards once and then I really blundered. One afternoon hunt we where sitting in a pigweed patch guarding a trail on each side of it. I saw him coming and he was heading to my side so I had her sneak over through the pigweeds so she could get a shot. Plan worked perfect until he decide to back track and go around the pigweeds to the other side !! There was no way she could sneak back over so all we could do was watch him walk 8 - 10 yards by her spot. I wanted to shoot myself. She took it good and didn't fire me !!! Yesterday afternoon she wanted to go back in after him. She took the bow and rifle with the plan of shooting him with bow if in bow range and rifle if too far out. We got setup and waited and waited. It was a very slow night. Since I could only watch and not hunt since she was youth hunting... I setup about 10 yards away from her to get a better look at the area so I could warn her he was coming. The plan was for me to sneak back over to her when I saw him. With about 10 minutes of legal shooting time left he popped out of no where. The wind had died so I didn't dare sneak back to her. I could only watch and trust she had listened to all the things I had taught her over the last few years. She did not disappoint. I signaled her, he was coming. She got ready with bow. He was heading right at her when he turned at about 50 yards and started walking broadside. She slowly sat the bow down and grabbed the rifle. I am freaking out quietly. She pulls up and lowers the rifle. The morning rain and high humidity had the scope fogged up. The buck is starting to walk away as she wipes the lens on the scope. I am freaking out worse but still quietly. I felt helpless since I couldn't help her. I am watching her and watching the buck. He is out to 70 yards now. Time is running out and the buck is walking away. He is starting to quarter away at a pretty good angle. We had gone over shot angles for the last two years so I wasn't too worried about that. She pulls up and squeezes off a shot. Right as the rifle goes off, he steps down in a dip. Down he goes. I thought she spined him. I am really freaking out and now not so quietly. I run over to her as she is jacking in another shell. She pulls up and waits. He doesn't get up. We walk over to him as he is taking his last breathe. We stand there looking at him and I am reliving the hunt realizing how well she handled herself. Her shot angle was right on the money. She hit high but under the back bone. Took out his liver and top of the left lung. It was just a great moment with her as we looked down at her buck. The story doesn't end here but this is getting long. We had a heck of a time getting him out of there and I found out why when we weighed him at home. Dressed out, he tipped the scales at 214 lbs. Just a great buck all the way around !! Here she is with her first rifle buck... Tim
