Post your stories and pictures from this weekend's 2007 Youth Deer Hunt here...

Good luck to all the youth hunters and their mentors, and may you all have a safe, enjoyable hunting experience!

get those pictures up on the success, I'll let JKD tell the story of the Switzerland County youth hunt..............

If I forget anything {trying remember names and what happened on Friday after all that happened this weekend is somewhat difficult} or leave out a name, let me know and will edit accordingly... here we go... pics coming shortly

Well, the Switzerland Co. Youth Deer Hunt 2007 was a great success, with 4 of 5 youth hunters taking does over the weekend!

Three of the boys were veterans of last year's monsoon, and must have earned some positive karma weatherwise, as this weekend was as perfect as it could have been for this time of year - winds down south were calm, temps in the 50's overnight and 70's during the day, clear skies... the weather was not going to interfere as it had last year.

The hunters and their dads/mentors arrived Friday evening, and the early arrivals had a noodle stroganof {venison or elk?}, before getting gear arranged for the next day or renewing friendships from last year. Everyone gathered for a group meeting around 9pm to discuss rules, safety issues, hunting area assignments, and to distribute the contents ot wvwhitetail's youth hunter care package {thanks WV!} consisting of a camo cap, deer scent, and surgical gloves for each youth hunter. Afterwards, the kids {the pack had gathered and socializing had begun} departed for the living room and tv, telling tales and games. The old timers headed out to the back porch for a beverage and chitchat, and plans for Saturday morning. Ths kids hit the sack around 11:00 or so, and the adults started calling it a night around midnight, although some refused the call and held a bull session until 0130 or so... I'm not sure who was more keyed up for morning - the kids or the adults...

Alarm was a rude awakening at 0530, and soon the scent of Bill Myers' camp biscuits and gravy filled the house with a beckoning aroma. 0600 breakfast and gearup at 0630 and the gang dispersed to their assigned areas.

The sky was clear, temps around 55 with a very slight WNW wind {<1-3mph}, and the nearly still full moon was still high overhead, making it light enough to see to walk easily.

Although Chris {now 13 starting his 3rd deer season and 2nd youth deer hunt} and I had brought a popup blind, we had not had time to set it up Friday evening, and opted to pack in folding hunting chairs and set up a field expedient ground blind. It was as calm and quiet a morning as I've ever seen, and I thought to myself, boy if we don't hit some deer in this weather, something ain't right... we tucked our chairs beside a junction of two trails which paralleled a ridge saddle, with a ravine in front of us {to our west}, just inside the tree line. I put Chris in front of me to watch the trails, and I was in a position to turn and/or stand if needed to check the open field area behind us.

As dawn came, we began to hear the creatures of the woods stir, with crows firing up, squirrels barking, and occassional turkey sounds... but no deer yet... around 8:00 or so, BOOM to our SW... and then silence... then BOOM to the NW... and about 20 minutes later... BOOM to our east {at this point, Chris turns to me and raises his arms as if to ask, "why are there deer everywhere but where we are...???"

Finally radio traffic that only one of the shots has been from our kids {others were from an adjoinging property owner also sponsoring a hunt}, but first look was that it was a miss, but would confirm. Later, another shot, and one of our group {Bradley?} had scored the first doe of the hunt.

Around 9:15 or so, we had seen no deer in our area, so I tapped Chris on the shoulder and whispered it was time to take a stretch break, partake of jerky and "Dew", and consider our options. We decided to move further down the ravine to a position where we could see to the bottom, as Chris had heard movement earlier below that he thought was a deer. We found a spot to sit on a downed log, as the angle of the hill made it difficult to stand for any period of time, especially for older legs and those who are "ankle challenged"... around 10:00, we caught a glimpse of a deer body moving rapidly through the foliage on the bottom edge of the far side of the ravine... we saw deer parts, but no chance whatever of a shot... a few hits on a fawn bleat were to no avail... by 10:45, having seen nothing else, we decided to grab our chairs and pack on the way back out to the truck and still hunt along the trail which led into our assigned area... we left our chairs on the trail at one point, and took off on a promising and well-worn deer trail running past a small watering spot to the NE.... we found a bedding area, lots of deer scat, tracks and sign, and made it a learning session for Chris in seeing sign... it was at this point that his young eyes spied a couple of turkey feathers {one tail feather and one wing}, and he stuck it in the back band of his orange cap, and I followed suit, and we stood grinning silently at each other, as we were now the SeekemDeer Tribe... :-}

We still hunted on down a trail, with our caps now adorned with new plumage, and as we neared the top of the ridge line and began to see down into the ravine beyond, Chris tapped my arm and pointed to a large mature doe just clearing the bottom heading away from us and preparing to climb up the next hill... no snort, but she was clearly moving away from us... I grabbed the fawn bleat and let out a mournful locate request, but she wouldn't pause to look back at us... we finished our loop and headed back to the trail and the truck for lunch...

The teams reassembled at the CP for a lunch of grilled venison braughts and chips, and tales of the morning hunt... lots of deer seen, and one shot taken missed, another youth hunter took a young doe, several teams passed on questionable shots, and we came back to find the one deer hanging and being skinned out.

After lunch, the kids took some target practice with .22's and after a bit, I set up a target see-n-shoot with an added 1/2" orange stickon bull for Chris at 50 yards to re-check the zero on his Optima 209 Magnum .50, which turned out needed a tweak after being hauled half way across the state... Chris sat in a camp chair and put the Optima up on his shooting sticks... first round 3" low right at 4:30... adjustment made... reload, and he took his time... next round through the bullseye... I told him, "Good shot... now let's reload and see if you can do that again..."

Next shot punched the remainder of the orange stickon out of the bull... the two holes overlapped... Chris was grinning ear2ear... "Great shot," I said, "now we just need to get a deer in front of you and this gun..."

After some relaxing and discussions of tactics for the evening hunt, we headed back out around 4pm, and Chris and I were posted in the same area where the first doe had been taken that morning. Joe walked us to the site, and Chris and I made our way downhill about 25 yards from the vehicle path. As we moved down to a pair of small downed trees, we spotted a mature doe moving up the ridge about 60 yards to our south. The foliage was thick where she walked, and no shot op again.

Chris took a seat straddling one of the logs and I sat on the ground uphill from him about 20 feet from him. We sat for about 45 minutes, and after seeing nothing moving through, I decided to walk back up to the top and look for the doe tracks on the path, thinking that with the afternoon heat, she might have laid back down. I thought if we could find where she re-entered the woods, we might be able to work the wind and sneak up on her. I told Chris the plan, and to sit tight for a minute, and that I would be right back. As I neared the top, I looked back and could still see him... I turned my head back to the path and stepped out of the tall grass into the path... and right in front of the doe, who had been walking north along the path and behind us {sneaky female was trying to scent check us}... she was 10' from me... with two early fawns with her... DOH!!!!!

She wheeled 180, flagged/snorted and ran about 20', turned 90 right {west} back into the woodline and down the ravine, with the two fawns in tow... I quickly turned and took 5 steps back to the ridge top, ready to yell at Chris to watch for her, and I thought she would cross his LOS to his left, and a possible shot...

What happened next was completely improbable... I had clear line of sight to Chris, when suddenly I saw the mature doe run right behind him... she had turned another 90 degrees and was now running north along a small trail which took her right behind his log... then one of the fawns JUMPED IN FRONT OF HIM AND ACROSS THE LOG HE WAS SITTING ON!!! The third fawn ran around the end of the log... none of the deer had seen him!

At this point, I could no longer see the deer as they moved to our right, but could still see Chris clearly... he pivoted on the log clockwise, slid off onto the ground, raised the Optima and in the next second... BOOM!!!! The .50 spit fire and smoke, and the crack echoed in the ravine...

I yelled to him if he'd got her, and he was looking up at me pumping his fist, and said, "OH, YEAH!!!! SHE IS SO DOWN!!!!!"

As I came down the hill the 20 yards between us, he pointed back north, and said, "That stupid deer is still standing there..."

I looked right, and saw the mature doe standing there some 30 yards away looking back at us, along with the other spring fawn. What had happened was that since the big doe had gone behind him, Chris saw the two deer jump in front of him and in the heat of the moment, had assumed that all the deer were the same size. He hadn't seen the big doe until after he had taken his shot. He had made a clean kill with a broadside shot through the shoulder, and the smaller doe was down about 10 yards from where she had been hit. The .50 245gr powerbelt had folded her up on the spot, and she had rolled dead downhill.

As we got to his deer, he realized her size, and said that had he seen the big doe at first, he would have taken her instead. He felt bad about the situation, but I told him that part of hunting was that some times things happen very fast, and even adult hunters in that situation can mistake the size of an animal. It was a legal deer, and she was an early fawn, so she was as good size as any her age could be. I told him this was a learning experience, and not to get down on himself. "You made a perfect shot in fast moving situation, waited for the deer to stop before shooting, and hunting is a real world deal, and things don't always turn out like we first thought. You did a good job and you learned something and that's what counts. Now let's drag your deer up the hill and get her on ice..."

We got her up the hill, and as we were field dressing her, BOOM!!! We heard radio traffic that Jacob, had gotten one too... We loaded up Chris' deer, radioed back to the house that we were heading to the check station and hit the road...

We pulled into the Shell station in Vevay, and with all the gear and gun in the truck, I told Chris I would watch the stuff, and for him to go in and check his deer. About 5 minutes later, he came out with his metal tag, and as we put the band on his doe, he laughed and told me that the lady at the counter had asked, "Mr. Carter, where did you take the doe?" Chris replied, "Carter... My name isn't Carter... it's on the license..."

She had seen IDNR Director Carter's name printed on the license, and was ready to check the doe in under that name... LOL!!!

We grabbed some ice and headed back to the farm to finish cleaning his deer. After we got his and Jacob's deer cleaned and iced, we cleaned up for Bill's evening feast... grilled squirrel, baked rabbit & gravy, biscuits, baked beans and green beans... what looked like enough food to feed a small army, was no match for 5 hungry 11-13 year olds and the adults. I mean camp food just doesn't get any better than this, and there was plenty for all.

With full stomachs, we settled in for the evening, and the days stories were told of the three does taken that day. As the kids went to their "den" in he living room, the adults adjourned to the porch for a strategy session for the one remaining youth hunter who had not yet taken a deer. Phillip's dad had been unable to make the weekend due to a work emergency, but a family friend and hunting buddy, Scott, was there as Phillip's mentor for the hunt.

I suggested that Scott take him to the same area where Chris had taken his deer, as I thought the mature doe would likely be searching the area the next morning looking for her missing young one.

Sunday morning at breakfast, Phillip had his game face on, and he and Scott headed out by 0630 to the spot where Chris and I had been the evening before. As Bill and I drank our morning coffee and watched the sun come up and a group of turkeys cross near the house, we heard a shot ring out around 8:15, and after a few moments, the radio crackled with news that Phillip had scored his doe! As others had gone out squirrel hunting, I took my truck down and picked up Scott and Phillip and their harvest, then took Phillip into Vevay to check in his doe.

Back at the house, four adults and three kids skinned and quartered three deer in about 30 minutes or so, and had everything packed in iced coolers and ready for the road. Gear was packed, fare-thee-wells were made, and by 1pm or so, all headed home with fresh venison and great memories of a great hunting weekend!!!

Thanks again to JB for hosting us all, Bill for the great food and working with the kids on the target range, and to WV for the gifts for the kids!!

As we were driving home, I could tell that Chris was replaying the hunt in his mind, and he said, "I'm never going to shoot another deer this size again if I can help it..." I told him that true hunting isn't about whether you take a trophy-sized animal, and that he had learned an important lesson this weekend.

"Some adults never learn what you learned on this hunt, and you did a great job hunting, made a great shot, and we've got fresh venison in the cooler... I'm proud of you, and we've got the whole season in front of us..."

What a Story...Good job guys!!!

Congrats, guys!!!

We come home empty handed satuday. We were in the blind about an hour and a half, and I could tell the boys (especially my 6 yr old) were getting antsy, so I broke out the secret weapons - GameBoys. I started to film them intently doing whatever it is they do on those things, and just happened to see movement out of the corner of my eye.... two does at 25 yards.

By the time we got the games down and the gun up, they were in the brush and my son said "Dad, it's not a clear shot". It was hard to let them walk, but I'm proud of him for making the right decision. Guess he learned something in that hunter's ed class!

Congrats to all the youth hunters success.
Can't wait to see the pics. WV

Hey JKD, tell your Son congrats and not to be ashamed at all of that deer. Best eating there is.

Congratulations to all the young hunters. I am glad to hear the weekend went so well.

Originally posted by kevinhunter in the 2006 thread...
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9/29/07 Sat. 6:50pm Hunter Van Arsdale
10yrs. old
Knight 50 Cal. Muzzleloader
53 yrd. shot/ double lung/ only went 40 yards
Clay County IN

Grea story, and great hunt! Tell Chris congrats, Kirk!!

Congrats! Great story!

Great job again kirk Glad Brew quoted it so it was on there twice LOL

Originally posted by huntergreg in the photo gallery...

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Hunted Minnehaha FWA Saturday and Sunday morning with my 10 year old daughter. Didn't see any deer, but had one snorting at us about 6:30 Sunday morning.

Thanks for the comments, guys... much appreciated!

Yes, I couldn't be prouder of Chris, and all the kids not only at JB's, but all the kids on here and other sites.

I continue to be amazed at the maturity and hunting ethic shown by these youth hunters! I think this is a great program, and if the first two years are any indication, the future of hunting in Indiana is in good hands...

After the monsoon last year I knew we couldn't have worse weather. We had a great group of "hunters" in camp, there were no adults and no children we were hunters/conservationist.

I marveled at the lack of competition between the hunters. When one was successful all were congradulating the hunter.

Yes JKD, our future is bright with these type hunters.........

We even witnessed some homework being done in the "down" time!

I would be nice to see a few more deer camps start next year....... get those kids together folks.

Looking forward to the pics from the hunt. My son, Bradley, had an awesome time getting his 1st career deer. He's still talking about it.

Well, after jkd’s GREAT narrative…not sure there is much I can add! It was a beautiful weekend, incredible accommodations & hospitality, and a great experience for all…young AND ‘old’!!!

Joe…many, MANY thanks once again!!

Besides that…as they say – pictures are worth a thousand words:

Enjoying the scenery…(big doe)


Enjoying the scenery …(does)


Enjoying the scenery …(does)


Enjoying the scenery …(lunch time)


Enjoying the scenery …(hen)


Not so enjoyable (sick deer)…


MUCH better thing to see (triplets!)


Lifetime friendships & hunting buddies being made …

Pass it on…


Pass it on…


The smiles say it all! (Jacob & Chris)


The smiles say it all! (Phillip)

Very nice. Thanks for posting them. It was good to meet all of you.

Brian

here are a few pics I received


The crew......hunters that is.............LOL



evenings were time to relax



The arsenal.........



if we aint huntin we are shootin.....



I don't think they can see me....



At my best.....supervising.....lol

Just getting over here to post this ... I've been way too busy this week.

Saturday morning I took my oldest daughter, Trevor, on her second youth hunt. Last year at 7 years old, she missed a doe on the opener. This year at age 8, she was out for redemption. We went to a new property that I have acquired and looked promising. About 1/2 hour before shooting time, we set up the Double Bull blind on the edge of a bean field tucked near a corner in the woods line. The wind was perfect and the location gave us a great vantage point over a small pocket of beans that were still green. We settled in for the wait. Trevor took several small cat naps while I kept watch.

At about 30 minutes into legal shooting time, I saw a lone deer pop out of the woods about 60 yards away. I told Trevor and she immediately locked in on the deer. I helped her get her gun up on the shooting stick, checked the red dot scope for power, and told her to wait. The young deer ran right up to us, stopping at 12 yards facing our position. I told Trevor to center the dot on his chest (the deer was facing us), but to wait to see if it would turn. The deer figured us out and did the foot stomp, so I knew our window of opportunity was slipping fast. I asked her "do you have the dot on it?" She said "yes". I said "shoot" .... BOOOOOOOM! The deer flipped over on it's back, stumbled to it's feet, and then snow plowed for maybe 15 yards in the beans and laid stone cold dead.

Trevor and I hugged, laughed, high fived, I'm pretty sure I teared up, and just celebrated in the blind. I told her I was so proud of her and told her to go get her deer. The moment was so perfect, watching your young daughter walk up and run her hands through her first deer ever. The deer was a small button buck. The excitement in Trevor was priceless. She kept saying "he's beautiful!" and "this is the best day of my life" over and over. She told me "thank you dad, you're the best". I told her, that I was the one that should be saying "thank you!" The moment was one of the greatest feelings I've ever had as a dad. I'm so proud of my little girl.

After some hero pictures, I did the honors of field dressing the deer, while she held the legs for me and I explained how the inner parts of the deer worked. She was fascinated with it. Then we loaded the deer up to check it in and then off to show Mom and get it butchered due to the warm temps.

I just might be one of the few that has a button buck on the wall.

I am so proud of Trevor. A deer with a muzzleloader is quite an accomplishment for an 8 year old. I'm so proud of the way she handled herself and how she seemed to understand the magnitude of what she had done.

Being a dad just flat ROCKS!

Thanks to everyone who posted pics from the 2007 youth hunt. Looks like a great time!

JB -

When he got home, Bradley mentioned something about a turkey hunt at your place in the spring. Is that right? About what time would you post the details?

Thanks to all the youth hunters,Jacob,Phillip,Chase,Chris and Bradley for the thank you letter.I hope you all had a great hunting experience and continue that experience the rest of your lives. WV

Awesome Derik great story. I think you need to make your own thread so everyone sees it.

Thanks 911.

You know, I've killed a bunch of deer over the years, killed some cool stuff in other states, hunted in several places, and just plane had fun ... but NOTHING ... I mean NOTHING ... beats the rush, the joy, and the pride that came with being a part of my daughter shooting that button buck. My single most favorite day in the woods ever!

Passing it on ...

I can't wait for the opportunity to do this with my youngest daughter in a couple years as well.

My congrats goes out to all the dads, grandpas, uncles, and other mentors that took a youth out this past weekend ... whether they scored on a deer or not ... the time in the woods with these kids is absolutely priceless. They are our future and there is no greater joy in passing on what we do to the future generation.

BoB I will post info in the very early spring about the youth turkey hunt. You just have to watch this site and "hunting with kids".

DEC;

I remember my son's first kill and it was awesome as well. This past weekend as I watched 5 young hunters enjoy a deer hunt and congragulate each other on success or a shot I marveled at the lack of competiton it was all about the hunt.

I would also add(without starting an arguement) that not one youth hunter or dad mentioned or complained about not being able to shoot a antlered buck, they were deer hunting.

DEC,
Ditto........ I have more fun watching my kids hunt than ANYTHING.... Great stories guys...... Joe, Great job on the youth hunt. Your not as bad as everyone says you are.
But all the votes aren't in just yet!.....

CONGRATS TO ALL THE YOUTH HUNTERS! Tell all your friends what a great life long sport this is!