Tales
First Buck
Hayden is 15 years old and is a Junior at Justin Siena High School in Napa. He's had his license since he was 9 years old and just started deer hunting last year at Hedgepath. This was his first shot ever taken at a deer. It measured 19.5" and weighed over #150.
It was about 12:30 pm on Sunday and we decided to go back to camp, break down and head home with no buck. On the drive back, Tom asked Hayden and I if we wanted one more crack at an area we looked at early in the morning so we all agreed and veered left at the fork. Hayden and I are both new to Deer hunting but we starting to get he hang of it. Tom stayed at the bottom (easy part for the old man) of the mountain if we spooked anything downhill and Hayden and I made the trek up the hill. At the top, we discussed how we would make our decent. I took the first leg while Hayden was about a 1/2 mile up and over on the hill. The plan was to have me give Hayden about 20 minutes to get to his spot and then I would walk down 1/3 of the way and wait for him. I made the first walk down and was just about to settle down and wait for him when I heard the first shot. I quickly started looking for a deer to run my way as I was sure he missed and spooked the deer my direction. Within 5 seconds a second shot rang out and then 10 seconds later, a final shot to signal he downed a buck.
I was smiling ear to ear for my son but still had to make an uphill run about 1 mile back. When I finally saw Hayden, he was about 100yds from me and I started yelling to him if it was a good one. He had a slight smile and said it was a 3x2. When I got to the buck, I was very impressed by its size and thought it was pretty big for a 3x2. Hayden and I relished in his accomplishment for the next 30 minutes in a "father-son" moment a dad can only dream of. Definitely a moment we will never forget. We went over where he shot it and how far away it was. Hayden was sitting next to a tree and the buck jumped up about 70 yds away in a clearing, broad side to Hayden and looking away from him. He took aim, took off the safety when the buck finally looked Hayden's way but it was too late. He shot and dropped the buck there and it only moved about 7 yards from where he first fell.
Like I said before, Hayden and I are both pretty new at this but everyone who say the buck think it was regressing and was probably a 4x4 or bigger a couple years earlier. The Buck is being mounted and ready for us in about 6 months from now.
George K.