Wow! What a weekend! Everyone at the Barnes house is still cellebrating after the kids went 3 for 3 on the juvenile deer hunt!
Elizabeth and Molly have been looking forward to the hunt for quite some time. Luckily we didn't have any fights over who was going to shoot first since my dear friend Jeff graciously invited Elizabeth to hunt with him on his farm. He's got a great place to hunt so I wasn't surprised when I got the message around 8 Satursday morning. Elizabeth had scored on this great spike!
About that same time, Molly and I were watching 2 bucks in the field where we were hunting. It was extremely foggy that morning plus the bucks were nearly 100 yards away, so I really didn't think that we would get a shot. I was afraid that they were too far and the fog was really bad. I finally gave in to Molly's "can I PLEASE try to shoot one?!" and told her to just see if she could find the biggest one in the scope. A few seconds later she said "I've got it right on him! Can I shoot him?!!!" I gave in again "if you're sure you've got it on his shoulder..." BANG! She didn't waste any time! I knew that she had nailed him by the way he acted at the shot then he dropped after only about 10 steps!
9 points - her biggest buck ever!
I had been telling Stewart that we would go hunting Sunday afternoon. I told him that we would probably just sit and watch, but we might try to shoot one if it came close enough. He had been doing really well at shooting on paper, but I just wasn't sure that he was ready to kill a deer at age 6.
We finished up with Church and lunch plenty early on Sunday, so we decided to do a little more target practice. He did great - the best he'd ever shot, so I was feeling much better about our hunt. We finally got to the stand around 3. He played his DS for a few minutes, ate a snack, and was asleep by 4.
It actually worked out for the best since I'm not sure he could have stayed quiet for the entire time. I woke him up about 5:30, just before I expected the first deer to come out. They were a little late, but we finally had a spike come out about 6. We tried off and on for 10 minutes to get a shot at that spike. He just wouldn't cooperate! But, I was SO proud of the way Stewart acted! He didn't rush and make a bad shot and he didn't get frustrated. FINALLY, the buck walked out in the open and turned broadside. Stewart took his time and squeezed off a shot but missed. By this time a couple of does had come out into the field as well. Luckily, they didn't spook at the sound of his shot. So we got reloaded and he quickly found a big doe in the scope. I told him he could shoot whenver the crosshairs were steady on her shoulder. BANG! She jumped straight up in the air, ran about 10 yards, and collapsed. I grabbed Stewart, hugged him, and stared screaming "you got her! You just killed a deer! I can't believe it!!!"
I have never seen him so excited! He kept saying "Mommy is gonna freak!" and "let's make some jerky to celebrate!" I hope I'm blessed enough to share MANY more hunts with all 3 of my kids, but I think no matter what, this weekend will be hard to top!
