It was a mixture of laughter and (good) tears on this father-and-daughter hunt.
I’m fortunate to live in one of the best places to hunt whitetails, northwest Illinois. Like every other hunting dad, I enjoy taking my deer home for my family to see and share in the joy of the harvest.
My daughter Keileigh is 10 years old and has been fascinated with my deer. Two seasons ago, she said she wanted to go hunting with me. I was able to harvest a few deer with her along, and we both enjoyed sharing the moments.
Keileigh has been shooting a BB gun and a .22 for a few years and is a very good shot. One afternoon we were at a friend’s house, and he was shooting his 20 gauge. Keileigh wanted to try it. I was a little afraid that it would hurt her, but she insisted. To my surprise, she said, “That’s nothing, Dad. It hardly even kicks.”
Keileigh’s birthday just happened to be about two weeks before the youth deer season. I bought her a 20 gauge and put a scope on it. We went out to the farm where I hunt, set up a few targets and reviewed all the safety aspects of gun handling. I was still worried about the recoil, but Keileigh pulled the trigger and nailed the bullseye. She said, “It doesn’t kick hard. I can handle this.”
She shot two boxes of shells, and every shot was in a 3-inch group at 50 yards.
Early in August, we went to my favorite hunting spot and hung two double stands. She helped me do the trimming and set cameras, and we spent countless hours driving all over the countryside scouting.
One of the double stands we put up was in my best spot for seeing deer. Although bow season was under way, I stayed out of the farm, hoping the first night of the youth season would be memorable.
When the day finally arrived, it was hard to tell who was more excited, me or Keileigh. We got to the Farm at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the mid-50s and slowly dropping the rest of the evening.
After the 500-yard walk to the stand, we got settled in. I ranged several landmarks as we talked about where I thought the deer were going to appear. I don’t usually get much action at that spot until around 5:30, so we had plenty of time.
Next we got out a pocket Yatzee game I had purchased prior to the hunt. I knew we might have a few slow hours and I wanted to keep Keileigh entertained and having fun. Plus it’s a lot easier for kids to be still and quiet when they’re not bored.
Keileigh enjoyed our epic Yatzee battle; her victory was at least in part because I was distracted trying to keep an eye out for deer.
There was a squirrel about 40 yards away, and I watched it climb down the tree, jump to the ground and begin pouncing through the leaves.
Keileigh got as stiff as a board, turned to me and said, “Dad, I hear a deer walking. Don’t move!” I was laughing inside, but it was great to see her get excited.
It wasn’t long before we had several squirrels around us, and Keileigh was jumping out of her seat thinking it was deer coming our way.
I tried to explain how the sound of a squirrel has a different rhythm from a deer, but I just confused when I said, “Although you know it’s a squirrel, always turn real slow to make sure. One day you will think it’s just a squirrel and it will be a deer.”
Around 4:50 p.m., four does stepped into our field and began feeding about 250 yards away. We watched them for awhile and Keileigh turned to me and said, “Dad, I’m only shooting a big buck.” I told her she could shoot anything she wanted to.
About 15 minutes later, two does popped out. The were visible only for an instant as they went quickly from the woods into the standing corn. I don’t think I could have gotten a shot even if I’d been hunting by myself.
About 10 minutes later, a 6-pointer stepped out at 60 yards. Keileigh said, “Dad, it’s a Chase.” We call all the little bucks Chases (my son’s name). All the big bucks are Dads, and all the does are Keileighs. “It’s a Chase, it’s a Chase.” She must of said it about 10 times.
I asked her if she wanted to shoot, and that’s when she got buck fever. The treestand started shaking, and I had to fight hard not to laugh. I was really enjoying the moment, but I didn’t want her to misunderstand and think I was laughing at her.
We finally got her gun up, and I was fighting laughter so hard I had tears in my eyes. The gun barrel was doing figure 8s and moving up and down and side to side, and the treestand was still shaking like we were in an earthquake.
The “Chase” finally went into the corn, none the wiser about its close call. Keileigh turned and said, “If he comes back out, I’m shooting him.”
About 5 minutes later, a shot rang out from the neighbor’s property. Then several does came into the field about 500 yards below us.
Now Keileigh turns to me and says, “I’m going to shoot the next deer that comes out.” I reminded her that she could shoot anything she wanted.
Five minutes later, the 6-pointer came running through the corn with another buck right behind. By the time Keileigh got her gun up, both bucks had gone into the woods. As I reached up to turn off the video camera, I saw movement in the view screen. I picked up my binoculars and saw it was a tail. The bucks were standing just in the brush on the edge of timber.
I told Keileigh to be ready because the bucks were still there. They were standing on the same trail the does used, and I thought for sure they were going to pop out and head straight back into the corn. They didn’t. I couldn’t believe it when the first one stepped out and began feeding our way.
The buck was only 70 yards away and coming right to us. Next, the bigger buck stepped out and followed his younger brother. I couldn’t believe this was going to happen.
My stand is about 10 yards off the field, so we had plenty of time to get adjusted and wait for the bucks to walk into the shooting lane. Then it all happened. The bigger buck got to 40 yards, and I asked Keileigh if she was ready. She said yes.
We had practiced the scenario about stopping a deer prior to shooting many times in the past. I grunted and stopped the buck cold. I told Keileigh to take a deep breath and squeeze the trigger. It felt like 10 minutes before the gun went off.
When it finally did, the buck mule-kicked and ran about 60 yards before stopping to look around. I could see blood coming out behind the shoulder. It was a perfect shot.
Where I come from, if you can put another shot into a deer, you do it, so I told Keileigh to shoot again. She connected with another solid hit, just a little farther back, and the deer ran out of sight.
Keileigh was is in tears of joy and happiness. She kept saying things like, “I got him! He’s going on my wall! I did it! He’s huge!”
None of that surprised me, but you could have knocked me over with a feather when she said, “Dad, I’m so excited I think I just peed my pants.”
I was laughing and crying and hugging her ... it was awesome.
I was speechless when we found the deer. I thought it was a nice deer for her first one, but I had no idea how big it really was. It dressed out around 280 pounds and scores in the 130s. If it hadn’t broken off two tines, it would have made it into the 140s.
I’ve taken some nice bucks and thought I could never have a better hunting experience, but I was wrong. That hunt with my daughter topped them all.