Abby's first deer!

Freddy · Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:37 pm

I'm hoping to get Abby to sit down at some point and write up a story but here's my version-

Abby is too much like her Mom and didn't want to hunt in the cold Saturday morning so I left all the area around the Treehouse undisturbed. No shots close and I saw a couple does and a few turkeys that morning from another stand. The Treehouse had very little pressure during ML season for this exact purpose. I think we hunted it maybe three times and saw several deer each sit. The acorns are starting to thin out and I was hoping they would be hitting the wheat, oats, and clover. I was honestly thinking she would get a shot at a buck, but she's been adamant about wanting to shoot a big doe. She's obviously been around Dale too much and I'll have to work on that. Haha!

I'll take a step back and talk about her rifle... Back in the summer I bought a little Rossi Trifecta with the 20 gauge barrel, a .22 barrel, and a .243 barrel. Abby's a little bigger now, but the recoil of the .243 still worried me a bit so I pulled the old switch-a-roo again, and whether it's right or wrong, it's proven its effectiveness for her deer rifle and turkey shotgun. I setup the .22 rifle and the .243 rifle the exact same. Abby got dialed in with the .22 and was shooting less than 2" groups at 50 yards with it. She really enjoyed shooting cans full of soda or water bottles and actually started trying to shoot the tops off the water bottles. She was really shooting well but I didn't want to let her shoot the .243 because of the "flinch" factor. So... I got the .243 dialed in while she was playing Barbie or something and she continued to practice on and off with the .22.

Youth day came and went with a close call but no shot on a nice buck. She actually thought about shooting the ML and I set one up with a lower powder charge, but she elected not to try it. She would just wait for regular rifle season.

When we climbed in the Treehouse Saturday evening I had the sandbag setup in the window and we practiced aiming at different spots in each of the fields. She seemed very confident she could hit about any deer we could see. I was watching her and she was steady as a rock. In my mind I felt comfortable with her taking a 100 yard shot with no problem.

The Treehouse is a great place to take kids... and fidgety people. Haha! Abby did some reading and played on her DS a little but I was impressed with how she "hunted". I told her it was her responsibility to watch behind me so I wouldn't have to turn around. Quite often she would look up and scan the hillside behind me. She is growing in that regard. I told her that about the time the sun went behind the mountain the deer should start moving. We were just tearing in to a pack of nabs when I caught movement in the woods on the other side of the far field. I grabbed the binos and told Abby "There's a deer!". She immediately wanted confirmation on what they (it ended up being 3 of them) were. I told her it was 2 big does and a small doe. She said "I'm going to shoot one of the big ones!" They were in the far plot about 130-140 yards away so I told her to just be patient that they had been working from that field into the closer field. After a few minutes the biggest lead doe starts heading for the gap to come into our field. I asked Abby if she was ready to shoot one and she said "Yes!"

We opened the windows and got the sandbag and gun setup and ready. The other 2 deer made their way into the field and the smaller one started feeding but the 2 biggest does were intently watching up in the woods. Abby said "I don't know which one to shoot!?!?". I told her either of the 2 on the left and the one that was broadside would be her best shot if she wanted to shoot now. She was already in my lap and she grabbed the gun and got sighted in on the doe. Then she said "Dad, I'm nervous about shooting." I told her to take a deep breath, to take her time, and that it was up to her. I then told her when she was ready I would pull the hammer back. She sighted in a little more and I asked if she was steady. She replied "Ok, I'm ready". I said to just take her time and squeeze the trigger, squeeze the trigger, squeeze the trigger. I'm trying not to breath since she's in my lap and then she pulls out of the gun and looks at me and says "Are you ready?" Haha! I said "Yes. Go ahead when you are ready and squeeze the trigger." If you ask Abby what's the most important thing when shooting she will say "Safety 1st and squeeze the trigger". :-)

The moment when she's aiming and I'm waiting for the shot always seems like an eternity. It did on her turkey, seemingly every squirrel she shot this fall, and most of the time shooting targets. However, she's really intent on picking that spot and squeezing that trigger. It almost kills me, but I'm proud that she is taking her time and making the best shot possible. She understands the consequences and takes it serious. I'm really proud of that as well.

The bullet she is shooting in her .243 is 80 grains so I was figuring on any shot that the deer would run, we would have to take some time, then track it up. Much to my surprise when she shot the deer dropped right in her tracks. Abby looked at me with this face of like "Wow! She didn't run ANYWHERE!". I don't remember her exact words but I think it was something along the lines of "I got her! She fell right there!" I tried to keep my composure and had her reload and watch the deer through the scope to make sure she didn't get up. After a couple seconds she slides me the gun and says "You need to do this... I'm shaking too much!". After I confirmed the deer wasn't getting up her next words were "Can I call Mom?". We dialed Amy up and they chatted for several minutes and Amy decided to head that way. Abby kept saying "Dad, Look at how much I'm shaking". And she was... her hands were just shaking like you wouldn't believe. We gathered up all the gear and started to climb down. As we approached the deer Abby was nervous but I made her approach the deer from the back, poke it in the rear end and then touch the deer's eyeball. Abby then proclaims "She's dead".

The next thing Abby wanted to know was where she hit the deer. The shot was just a touch high but within a couple inches of where she had learned to aim. It was a great shot that I ranged at 96 yards. We talked quite a bit and tried to re-live the entire episode again. I asked her if the gun kicked or anything and she said she didn't feel a thing. On the walk out we talked about it some more and then she wanted to call Mawmaw and Mr. Dale. She talked to Mawmaw on the phone but Dale wasn't available. When we got back Amy had arrived and her and Abby walked back to the deer while I went to get the camera/etc. Pictures taken and stories told we loaded up the deer to take it around to show it off. I wanted to let the deer hang so I decided to gut it and Abby was very helpful and not disgusted by it (It certainly wasn't the first one she had seen that done too). We had a great anatomy lesson and she asked a million questions. We even went back yesterday to check out the gut pile to see what was eatin/etc.

What a great afternoon and a great experience. All I can say is "Well done Baby Girl, Well done!" I'm one proud Daddy. She now says she is ready for a buck. Take that Dale!! :-)

Hope each of you have a great season and thanks for letting me share!

Abby's first deer!

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