We waited for about an hour and there was a visible rain cloud over his head inside that blind. When we decided to call it a morning we checked for blood and to both of our surprise there it was, I jelly like deep red splotch of blood on a leaf. The rain cloud instantly disappeared, and he wanted to track it right away, but I was able to explain that it was better that we back out and come back after noon. We went and ate McDonald's breakfast, hit up fleet farm, and went back out to the woods. The boy was itching to get after his dear. Before we started tracking u used a tip I heard from either Mark Kenyon or Tony Peterson from the wired to hunt podcast and took some toilet paper with to mark the trail because I figured with the way the blood looked it might have been liver. So we tracked and dropped a squared here and there and as the blood trail was drying up, I asked him to stay behind to mark the last place we had blood, I went forward and found nothing but as I turned around to come back I noticed a huddled mass across the creek pinned to a tree. I came back and gave him the biggest hug ever and pointed out his buck and the sheer glee on his face reminded me what hunting was all about. He wanted to run over to the deer but I reminded him not to rush up on a wounded animal. We got his buck after a 350yd track job, and he was so proud. But that didn't compare to the pride I had in him for sticking it out, busting his butt in the early season, putting in the work and capitalizing on an opportunity. So many great lessons learned that day not only by a new hunter for life, but for me as well. Lesson one, never expect things to follow the game plan 100%, lesson 2, always be prepared to have the crap scared out of you from an unexpected shot, lesson 3 always bring toilet paper

Love this! This is what it’s all about! 

Awesome story, congratulations to you both!

This was the first year our oldest boy was able to go on the youth slug hunt in Southern Minnesota. I asked if he'd be interested in hunting and he jumped at the opportunity, I told him ok, but if you are going to come hunting, its not all about the fame and glory of pulling the trigger, there's work to be done ahead of time. That boy took to the preseason set up like a fish to water, cutting walking trails and shooting lanes, setting out mineral in front of the trail cams, pulling stands and carrying equipment. He was all in. He's not very stout at all, and I was worried a shotgun might throw him off hunting because of the recoil. So I asked if he would want to use my AR pistol instead, he agreed. So we went out and sighted the gun in and practiced the shot routine and I felt confident in his ability to get it done come crunch time. First morning of youth opener, we had gotten out there at a good time, but my time management with another hunter was flawed and we were a little late getting into the blind, still plenty of time before shooting light, but I was a bit worried with how cold it was that the deer were already on their feet and feeding through the area. We got in the blind, got set up and comfortable, I pulled my phone out and put one ear bud in and gave him the other and we watched some low light hunting videos to pass the time coming up to shooting light. He kept stopping the video and whispering I think I hear something behind the blind. So as shooting light approached, I put the phone in my pocket and turned on the red dot and set the brightness dim so it wouldn't wash out his target, but bright enough to where he could see, just like we'd practiced. Just as I verified the sight was good to go, I looked up and saw a little forky 25 yds to our left, I slowly leaned back and handed him the gun and said there's a buck right over there, don't move. We'll he got so excited all he heard was there's a buck, so he scrambled to get his ear protection on and get ready, and the buck must've caught something because he squirted out into the field directly in front of us at 18 yds. He raised the gun up, I asked can you see him, I got a nod. I took the safety off and said ok safety is off, now rememb.... BOOOOM!!!! he let it rip, I jumped caught way off guard to look up at the deer and see a cloud of dirt and dust form behind the deer. The buck bolted from the field and I put the gun on safety. To me, from what I could gather he shot over the bucks back, and shortly after the deer disappeared into the woods he said I think I missed. I didnt say anything until he told me his first instinct, I could tell he was heartbroken, but said it happens, its the firsr hour, on the first day, of your first deer hunt ever, it's all good buddy.

First Deer Hunt: A Memory

Darrin D

Are you sure?

Whitetail Buck

Darrin D

Zach S

Tom D

Colleen (DaDuckLady) D

Joey R

Rachel N