My daughter's first deer! - Kansas

mcaustin

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My 11 year old daughter has been shooting archery for about 1.5 years with a local archery club and is a great shot. She hadn't expressed much interest in hunting until around April of this year, when she asked me out of the blue, "what draw weight would I need to hunt deer?"

I answered her "uhhh....more than you're pulling now. Let's talk to the shop owner next week when you shoot." The following week I chatted with the shop owner and we cranked up Claire's draw weight tp 26 lbs and starting making plans to see howuch progress we'd be able to make before the KS youth season (9/3-9/11).

I also started making back up plans, just in case it looked like we'd run out of time to come up with an archery solution for this year. Around mid-June, I asked Claire if she would be willing to hunt with a rifle this year and she said yes. With that, I started working with her shooting my short barreled and suppressed 300BLK using 110gr Barnes Tac-TX bullets. I've used this set up to take 2-3 deer when not bow hunting and that bullet is absolutely devastating.

Fast forward to last weekend, Claire and I had our first sit on Monday morning. Unfortunately, the only deer we saw took off before it was light enough to shoot.

So, we went back to our camper on our property to have breakfast, coffee and a nap (for me). After some fishing on the pond and lunch, we hit the blind again for the evening hunt. About an hour into the hunt, we saw two does walking through the woods and they came out right where we needed for a shot.

Claire confirmed with me which deer to take, and was rock solid. She made a perfect shot at 27 yards! We had a short track and found her doe in the woods. I asked my wife to take the truck to get ice while Claire helped me quarter the doe to get her bagged and into the cooler since it was still in the upper 70s as the light faded.

I'm so proud of Claire and this was one of the most fun hunts I've had! She practiced, studied whitetail shot placement, and learned her way around an AR in preparation on for this hunt. I've been showing everybody who would listen (and probably some who didn't) this picture all week and thought I'd share with you all as well.

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Well done and congrats to your daughter!! Her smile says it all.
 
Congratulations to you and your daughter. My 7 year old grand son killed his first deer last year with a cut down, downloaded 6.5 Grendel at 60 yards. This is so exciting for the kids and parents/grandparents.
 
Outstanding!!!
 
Congratulations. Great work! Your friend, Brian
 
Congratulations to you and your daughter. My 7 year old grand son killed his first deer last year with a cut down, downloaded 6.5 Grendel at 60 yards. This is so exciting for the kids and parents/grandparents.
I currently have an "extra" AR receiver that I don't really have any major plans for... if Claire stays into it, I may build that receiver out as a Grendel or 6.8. I suspect the Grendel may be better for a potential future pronghorn hunt.
 
Congrats! Love to read story’s like this.

Go with 6.8, it’s a great deer/pig caliber! Would probably go Grendel for Pronghorn, though.
 
That is awesome. Very glad to see young folks and especially young ladies want to hunt and enjoy the sport.
 
Great job! Tell her good shooting. These are memories that you'll both have for the rest of your lives. Important milestone for her.
Bruce
 
Good job to you dad!
Congrats to the huntress!
 
Thanks everybody! I had previously gotten her to go sit in a blind with me a few times and have been really resisting the urge to press too much to get her to hunt.

When she asked, I knew I had to jump on the opportunity and make it the highest possible chance of success! We thanked her, along with her doe, for providing us meat at dinner the other night to reinforce what she has done for us. I was also proud to see her thank her doe after we recovered her.
 
Congrats to you on your parenting skills, and to your daughter on her achievement. Picture speaks volumes for the both of you!
 

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