Great hunt with my son but....

[Swamprat]

No kill. And that's alright. 

Starting to think the kid has some sort of jinx with deer.  He's hell on pheasant and turkey but the almighty whitetail still eludes him. 

I had to work this morning so we planned an afternoon hunt. We were in the blind and ready at 1pm. Our scent was good, wind was perfect. Storm approaching tonight.  Moon app said good deer afternoon activity, etc.  All the ingredients for a successful day. Not a thing seen between 1 and 4.  Not even a squirrel.  

In the past we've passed on small deer, yearling deer, etc. He's 14 and no deer so we discussed it and any deer would be a green light  today.  Lol

At 405 a small Y buck cruises the edge about 50 yards away. Shows no interest in bait.  I grunt at him. He stops. Then continues. I do a couple bleats.  Got his attention. He leaves and heads into this pine thicket. 20 minutes later we hear footsteps to our right. I'm in the blind on the left and I can see the same Y buck standing there looking at the blind 20 yards away. He circled all the way around on us. Sneaky bastard. No shot for my son as he is tight to the right. Then the joys of public land sets in when 3 Enduro riders decide to ride the firetrail 60 yards behind us. Buck trots back into the pine thicket.  Uugghh. It's 440. My son says let's give it 10 more minutes. I do a couple of bleats. At 450 we hear footsteps... again to our right. He's coming, closer, closer. I peek out the 1" gap on the zipper.  He's 15' behind us. Got our wind and bounded away.  Lol. Me and my son both started laughing. 

Another memory with my boy. Priceless. 

Sorry for the long read. Had to share. 

Nick

Edited November 24, 2019 by Swamprat

[Hunter115522]

Sounds like a successful day either way!

[Bones]

You have a great memory to laugh about together years from now  I’d say that’s a successful hunt 

[JHbowhunter]

that's  a great hunt.  So many kids today get it too easy. Hell I took my son on two consecutive youth day deer hunts and he shot a nice 6 point then a mature doe the next year (ages 11 and 12). He has not wanted to hunt deer since - and now he is about to to turn 23. 

Just keep him interested.  It's even tougher now than it was for me over 10 years ago.  Just too many other distractions.    You get an A+++ in my book!

[Swamprat]

Just now, JHbowhunter said:

that's  a great hunt.  So many kids today get it too easy. Hell I took my son on two consecutive youth day deer hunts and he shot a nice 6 point then a mature doe the next year (ages 11 and 12). He has not wanted to hunt deer since - and now he is about to to turn 23. 

Just keep him interested.  It's even tougher now than it was for me over 10 years ago.  Just too many other distractions.    You get an A+++ in my book!

Yep. His younger brother (11) doesn't want to hunt right now. He's got football, karate, etc and hunting just isn't on the list right now and that's okay. Don't wanna pressure him.   

[Gobblengrunt]

That’s hunting.   Some great memories were made, that is what counts.  I hunted 4 years before getting a shot at a deer when I was young.  I missed a doe on “doe day” and cried thinking I would never ever shoot a deer, lol!

[Merkel]

Some of my best hunts with my son didn’t include shooting deer.  Glad you had quality time with your son.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Merkel

[hunterbob1]

Great share!!

[hunterbob1]

Brianboles any comment?

[Rusty]

Great memories Rat, that's what it's all about.  Kudos Dad!!   

[Grassmans]

Sounds like you had a great time with your son !!

[Mixbaghunter]

Nice hunt it took all 6 six years to get my sons deer a lot of the year no deer seen .he finally  connected last year on a doe. This year still not sure  he wants to go . See what happens. 

[JJoe]

Good day no matter what.. We passed a few does today and still had a blast...

[BowhunterNJ]

Great day and memories!  No worries with deer, just a matter of time. Took me a long time to get my first buck and didn't get my first doe until I could hunt ML.  Can still remember so many of those hunts with my dad, even if we didn't get a deer.  Lot more hunts in the future for you and your son, it'll all come together and be some awesome memories!

[LPJR]

55 minutes ago, Rusty said:

Great memories Rat, that's what it's all about.  Kudos Dad!!