This one has been a long time coming so please bear with me! Jenna started the week with finals in her second to last semester in Nursing School. She passed them with flying colors and since we had already decided to get her her Ohio deer license it was very fitting to give that to her this same week. Friday morning we purchased it and by 3:30 pm we were headed south to the farm. Allen was supposed to go but I think he got burned out on short quick weekend trips and also had a little cough that was bugging him so he opted out on this trip. Jenna and I talked and talked on the way down, don't think her and I had done that in years. In fact til this year it had been 8 years since she had hunted and the only buck she had ever killed was a spike. To say she was looking forward to this weekend was an understatement.
Saturday morning we woke at around 5 am, both exhausted from the ride but her excitement was building every minute as we got ready. We headed out to our one elevated shack blind, got in and got settled way before daylight. The morning sunrise was incredible and we were full of anticipation. We only heard one shot by around 8 am and not long after I turned my head and spotted our first deer for the day already in the field right near us, guess I should be fired for being the spotter!
Surprisingly that was the only deer we saw that morning. Around noon I walked back to the house to wait for a couple buddies to show up, Jenna walked with me for a little bit to stretch her legs. As we rounded the porch on the old cabin we spotted a doe out in the next field feeding. Well she spotted us too and a couple bounds and she was back in the woods. Jenna decided she better just walk back to the shack and get ready in case any deer were on their feet. I ended up taking my two buddies and one son over to the South end of our farm to hunt the cornfield. They had already filled their buck tags so they were looking for does. Got them pointed in the right direction and off they went, I returned to the North end and walked back out to Jenna. On the way I stopped to pick up an SD card from the camera next to the old cabin. Once back in the shack her and I started looking at pictures. Sure enough there were several nice 6 points and 8 points showing up and she was getting excited. The last couple days a familiar face from the sanctuary and South end of the farm was showing up, the Big 9! Jenna saw him and she was kind of freaking out saying she didn't know if she could shoot something like that because it would make her too nervous!
As we finished up that card I heard my buddy Pete shoot, must have been around 3 pm. He trimmed a small tree off that he didn't see between him and a doe. Was great excitement for him and his son Corbin though as they were out there more for the experience anyway. Around 3:30 I spot a deer in the far corner of the field we were on as it worked it's way onto the field. Soon I tell Jenna there is another one coming out and that it was a buck! Soon I said he's a big buck a real big buck!! As he walks onto the field I get binoculars on him and quickly realize it's the Big 9 we were just talking about minutes before. As soon as I tell Jenna it's the Big 9 she kind of comes unglued with nervousness....well me too!!! She keeps telling me she's shaking like crazy and didn't think she was going to be able to shoot. I grabbed the range finder and she keeps asking me how far...well if I could stop shaking I might actually be able to get the damn crosshairs on him to find out!! I had to hold it two handed from all my shaking to finally get a range.....105 yards! She tells me she doesn't think she can shoot, her crosshairs were all over him and she couldn't settle down no matter how many times I said take a deep breath
He was facing North and all I could think was he would continue to head that way which would put him further and further away. Soon he started turning though and was starting to angle in our direction. I had Jenna move to the next window and get ready however he was angled towards us some. He began trotting a little and again I had Jenna move to the window right next to me which put her at an awkward angle, barely on her seat now. He looked towards us a couple times and I thought for sure the gig was up, Jenna could not get him in the scope yet either! He began trotting again and then she said I'm on him get him to stop. I let out a meeewww and sure enough as soon as he stopped BOOM she didn't waste any time and smoke was everywhere!!! I'll be damned if his ass didn't hit the ground and he flopped over right there!! I immediately went into panic mode trying to reload the muzzleloader, something her and I laugh about as soon as either brings it up because we probably looked like circus clowns running in place trying to get everything and reload. It was all for show though as the buck did not move an inch from the time he hit the ground. Once we realized that was it, he was done, we celebrated like any dad/daughter would do on their first big buck. She was crying, I was crying, it was unreal the emotions both of us had!! The best hunting buddy a dad can have is their kid and this was one of the best moments of my life.
This was our view of him right after the shot.
First hands on him.........I tear up just looking at these. Boy was she so happy and emotional!
Saturday morning we woke at around 5 am, both exhausted from the ride but her excitement was building every minute as we got ready. We headed out to our one elevated shack blind, got in and got settled way before daylight. The morning sunrise was incredible and we were full of anticipation. We only heard one shot by around 8 am and not long after I turned my head and spotted our first deer for the day already in the field right near us, guess I should be fired for being the spotter!
Surprisingly that was the only deer we saw that morning. Around noon I walked back to the house to wait for a couple buddies to show up, Jenna walked with me for a little bit to stretch her legs. As we rounded the porch on the old cabin we spotted a doe out in the next field feeding. Well she spotted us too and a couple bounds and she was back in the woods. Jenna decided she better just walk back to the shack and get ready in case any deer were on their feet. I ended up taking my two buddies and one son over to the South end of our farm to hunt the cornfield. They had already filled their buck tags so they were looking for does. Got them pointed in the right direction and off they went, I returned to the North end and walked back out to Jenna. On the way I stopped to pick up an SD card from the camera next to the old cabin. Once back in the shack her and I started looking at pictures. Sure enough there were several nice 6 points and 8 points showing up and she was getting excited. The last couple days a familiar face from the sanctuary and South end of the farm was showing up, the Big 9! Jenna saw him and she was kind of freaking out saying she didn't know if she could shoot something like that because it would make her too nervous!
As we finished up that card I heard my buddy Pete shoot, must have been around 3 pm. He trimmed a small tree off that he didn't see between him and a doe. Was great excitement for him and his son Corbin though as they were out there more for the experience anyway. Around 3:30 I spot a deer in the far corner of the field we were on as it worked it's way onto the field. Soon I tell Jenna there is another one coming out and that it was a buck! Soon I said he's a big buck a real big buck!! As he walks onto the field I get binoculars on him and quickly realize it's the Big 9 we were just talking about minutes before. As soon as I tell Jenna it's the Big 9 she kind of comes unglued with nervousness....well me too!!! She keeps telling me she's shaking like crazy and didn't think she was going to be able to shoot. I grabbed the range finder and she keeps asking me how far...well if I could stop shaking I might actually be able to get the damn crosshairs on him to find out!! I had to hold it two handed from all my shaking to finally get a range.....105 yards! She tells me she doesn't think she can shoot, her crosshairs were all over him and she couldn't settle down no matter how many times I said take a deep breath
He was facing North and all I could think was he would continue to head that way which would put him further and further away. Soon he started turning though and was starting to angle in our direction. I had Jenna move to the next window and get ready however he was angled towards us some. He began trotting a little and again I had Jenna move to the window right next to me which put her at an awkward angle, barely on her seat now. He looked towards us a couple times and I thought for sure the gig was up, Jenna could not get him in the scope yet either! He began trotting again and then she said I'm on him get him to stop. I let out a meeewww and sure enough as soon as he stopped BOOM she didn't waste any time and smoke was everywhere!!! I'll be damned if his ass didn't hit the ground and he flopped over right there!! I immediately went into panic mode trying to reload the muzzleloader, something her and I laugh about as soon as either brings it up because we probably looked like circus clowns running in place trying to get everything and reload. It was all for show though as the buck did not move an inch from the time he hit the ground. Once we realized that was it, he was done, we celebrated like any dad/daughter would do on their first big buck. She was crying, I was crying, it was unreal the emotions both of us had!! The best hunting buddy a dad can have is their kid and this was one of the best moments of my life.This was our view of him right after the shot.
First hands on him.........I tear up just looking at these. Boy was she so happy and emotional!
