Becca and I headed for the house with a nice tom turkey in tow. After taking care of the bird, we grabbed some lunch and relaxed for a couple hours.
We returned to our blind by 4pm. It was HOT. 83 degrees and BUGS galore. Japanese beetles invaded the blind and kept landing on us. Knats were also buzzing around and biting us. Its hard to be still with bugs around but thankfully the blind covers most movements.
Time passes slowly as we wait for that magical time of the day as the sun sinks low and the deer often begin to move around.
About 5pm we hear something to the right and a little behind the blind. Becca spots them...TURKEYS! We thought they would be gone for the day but here they were, heading into the cornfield on the opposite side of us from earlier that morning. As we watched them, we heard something straight behind the blind and we turned to look. There stood a huge tom on the hillside. Becca said "I think hes bigger than yours!" And he might have been bigger but I already had my bird. Besides, it was time for a deer, not another turkey.
We watched as the tom slowly wandered off and on the other side of us we could see cornstalks moving as the turkeys were feeding in the corn.
We had some other entertainers besides the turkeys. Squirrels were busy running back and forth carrying corncobs back to their homes on the woods. They looked pretty silly considering the cobs were almost as long as their own bodies as they carried them in their mouths.
The sun was getting low now and I whispered to Becca that we could see deer at any time.
6:30pm - Becca was just sitting, occasionally looking out the windows and I was just sitting looking out from one window to another.
My position in the blind, directly behind Becca, gave me a slightly different view than she had so I saw it first...something was coming along the edge of the cornfield to our right, heading our way. A DEER! I put my hand on Becca's shoulder and whispered that I thought a deer was coming. Wait, no, thats a turkey. No, wait, that is a deer.
Sunlight was still filtering low through the trees and was making things hard to see clearly. It was reflecting off the mess on the windows. I slowly stood up to use the upper window without the mess. Yup, it was a deer. Stopped at the moment on the edge of the cornfield, facing our blind, about 50 yards away. ALREADY IN RANGE! My heart was pounding as I whispered to Becca to get her gun, take it off safety and slowly stand.
The deer started walking again, slowly heading straight for us. Closing the gap. I cautioned Becca to raise her head and gun SLOWLY above the window edge. The deer stopped and looked our way. I told Becca to FREEZE!
The deer put its head down and Becca raised the gun and got ready.
I whispered to her, explaining how to take a chest shot. She knew how to take a broadside shot but I wasn't sure she was going to get one of those this time.
The deer started slowly walking again as Becca got ready to shoot. The deer was now about 35 yards away and closing.
Becca whispered "I can't find her in the scope!" The deer kept walking and I was starting to panic. I was whispering something, I don't remember what, when the deer stopped, turned broadside, turning slightly to look back the way it had come.
With no warning that she had now found the deer in the scope, the next thing I heard was "BOOM"! as Becca fired and left my ears ringing!
I watched the deer vanish in the trees tail down. A few seconds later and not far away at all, I heard crashing in the brush.
Becca said "I think I missed". I said "I don't think so" and I grinned at her.
We radioed my husband at the house that Becca had shot a doe. We told him we were going to wait a bit, just in case, before going to check on it. Besides, there was still a little daylight left and a buck might just wander out yet.
Light was almost gone when we saw it. A huge bodied deer walking parallel the hillside behind the blind. Becca got ready in case a shot presented itself. We couldn't see its head but due to its body size we thought this was likely a buck. We waited, hoping he would show himself, until light to shoot by was finally gone. Ah well, time to check on the doe.
We packed up our gear and headed for the house to get our big flashlights. My husband was waiting and ready to go with us.
We quickly picked up the trail and soon found the deer. If it had been a snake it would have bit us! We had walked just past it and it startled us when we did see it. I was standing right beside it! It hadn't gone 50 yards.
We exchanged high fives and congrats with Becca on her first deer. It turned out to be a nice nub buck taken with a perfect shot from a .243.
First hunt, first deer, and a ton of memories that will last a lifetime. Becca hates cameras and so the pics that will be posted soon won't truly reflect her happiness. But thats OK. I saw the wobbly gun as she prepared to shoot, I saw the grin after the shot, I know her heart was pounding, I saw her face when we found her deer and I know shes one proud young deer hunter. Shes ready for another!
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