Scott and Logan made the trip down from Minnesota Friday afternoon for Logan's first deer hunt as the shooter. Logan has been tagging along on hunting trips with his dad and I since he was 2 years old and has been talking about shooting his first deer and coyote for about as long. Saturday, January 7th kicked off the second portion on the Missouri youth deer season and the three of us were tucked into ground blind near The Graveyard set on our Macon Co. farm.
We didn't have any deer movement in the area to speak of, but the nine turkeys and numerous squirrels and birds kept us plenty entertained during the sit. Logan was all eyes and ears hoping a deer would materialize, but it didn't happen. Scott did manage to catch up on some much needed sleep though....
Saturday afternoon good friend and fellow MissouriWhitetails.com member Rob Gerling met up with us and we headed up to Millard, MO to hunt his lease property Saturday evening. The land owner had seen 10-11 does and a big buck working up his south fence line pretty regularly during the past couple of weeks. We got the Double Bull brushed in about 90yrds up the south fence and went into town for lunch. Logan, Scott, and Rob were settled into the blind by 3pm, but not before Rob had to take care of a little business....
Once again the deer did not cooperate for Wee-man, but there was plenty of MarioKart and Yahtzee getting dominated in that blind from the sounds of it. They did have a giant owl attempt to join then in the blind...or at least they thought it was going to; Logan was pretty impressed with that! I headed up to the northwest side of the property to scout/bow hunt and had 7 does work through the area along with 17 turkeys I busted out of the field on my way in. Not sure we would have got a shot at the deer if Logan was with, but at least he would have seen some action...so goes hunting I guess.
Sunday morning all four of us headed to good friends and also fellow MWT.com members Randy and Jenny Walker's farm northeast of Atlanta, MO. They were gracious enough to allow us to bring Logan to their farm for the day, and what a day it turned out to be. I can't thank The Walker's enough for the generosity they showed Logan, he thought he was the King for a day!
Logan, Scott, and I slipped back into a shooting house over looking standing beans that were tucked in right next a 20 acre bedding area the Walker's had done some TSI work in the previous year. There were 5 does in the beans out in front of the shooting house when we entered the field. They moved off to the north as we approached, but not in too much of a hurry. It was way to early to shoot, but the bright moon allowed Logan to see them as they trotted out of the field and he was excited to see some deer.
After getting Logan settled into the Captain's shooting chair we sat back and waited for shooting light. Logan was busy playing Angry Birds around 7:20am when I caught movement about 55-60yards out in front of us. A yote was slipping through the beans headed east, but had no idea we were there. Scott got the .06 up on the window and Logan took over from there. Scott whistled once to stop the dog, but it only sat still for a brief second before moving on. Logan followed it for another 10yards in the scope before I whistled and second time. This time the dirty dog locked up and Logan didn't waste anytime laying the wood to it! The yote didn't even move and the with all the excitement and the look on Logo's face you'd have thought we killed a 160" buck!!!! It was a memory none of us will ever forget.
A little reenactment of the shot...
Logan after his first kill...
Randy and Rob had planned to call yotes around the farm during the morning using an e-caller. We'd heard the caller fire up and a few shots throughout the morning, but hadn't received any updates from the boys. So after taking pictures of Logan and his big kill, we headed up to the house for an awesome breakfast that Jenny had prepared. Logan wasn't very impressed with the dragging process, but he was a trooper and drug his prized yote a good portion of the way back...or so he says he did!
Randy and Rob got back to the house around 10am and they had a pretty good morning calling dogs also. One set produced three dogs that came in bounding over the CRP grass looking for the pup in distress they were hearing. Another set produced more dogs responding to the call. Randy took the first shot and hit the yote back and at about 150yrds or so on the run Rob straight skull capped it!!! Great shooting Chief!
The 2 yote killers...
Sunday afternoon we all walked Randy's trap line then Scott and Logan chased a few tree rats around before taking a little siesta. That evening Logan, Scott, and I headed back to the shooting overlooking the beans. The conditions were perfect, but the deer refused to cooperate again. We had a lot of fun joking around with each other and watching the other wildlife. As shooting light came to a close we sat back and enjoyed a great moon rising over the trees.
All in all it was a great weekend shared with family and friends. Logan is already excited about coming back down to MO for the November portion of the youth season this fall, and to collect on his bill from Randy and Rob; he said to "pay up boys, lessons ain't cheap"
I wanted to thank Rob and the Walkers again for giving up their time and allowing us to hunt their properties, it was beyond generous and greatly appreciated! You made Logan's weekend one him, his dad, and I won't soon forget...THANKS!!!!
