Tundra Tiger
AH legend
My youngest daughter drew a caribou tag for a local hunt. We flew out to a lake I've camped and hunted at many times through the years, in hopes of filling her tag. I have killed many caribou there myself. Yesterday she made good on filling her tag.
We are both ailing. She is recovering from back surgery, from having been in a plane crash in March. I have a couple of cracked ribs I picked up during moose season a couple of weeks ago. So the goal was something not too difficult and hopefully close to camp. (As it turns out, I wound up having to pack it over a half mile back to camp; the good news is that my whole body is so sore that my ribs are just low level background noise amongst it all)
We spotted a mature cow yesterday and set up a stalk. The cow was still maybe two miles out, but more or less headed our way. We put on a stalk to get the wind in our favor, and be in a good position for a possible shot. The cow turned skittish as she got closer. She could see our tents, and the wind was swirling. My baby girl made good on a shot at a little over 200 yards. It was not an easy shot, because the cow was jittery. She had to take a broadside shot while it was moving perpendicular to us (at dad's behest to shoot). But she put it down hard enough with the first shot, and was able to put in a finishing shot after that. Also, this was her first shot at game off a tripod. She has been practicing at the range getting ready for Africa next June.
Her excitement after the fact was incredible, and I realized later that she actually thought that we weren't going to get one. She has been floating ever since. Today I'll be putting away hunting and camping gear (next hunt: blacktail deer near Sitka in November) and tomorrow we'll cut up her caribou.
I am extremely blessed that my daughters not only love me, but they like me. They like doing stuff with me. And my youngest loves hunting. God has been so good to me, with the kids He entrusted to me.
Her rig: a Savage Axis in .308 in Muddy Girl camo. Ammo was handloads with 150 grain Partitions pushed by H335. Scope is a Weaver with pink accents, to match the rifle. Yours truly was toting my GBL as bear protection.
We are both ailing. She is recovering from back surgery, from having been in a plane crash in March. I have a couple of cracked ribs I picked up during moose season a couple of weeks ago. So the goal was something not too difficult and hopefully close to camp. (As it turns out, I wound up having to pack it over a half mile back to camp; the good news is that my whole body is so sore that my ribs are just low level background noise amongst it all)
We spotted a mature cow yesterday and set up a stalk. The cow was still maybe two miles out, but more or less headed our way. We put on a stalk to get the wind in our favor, and be in a good position for a possible shot. The cow turned skittish as she got closer. She could see our tents, and the wind was swirling. My baby girl made good on a shot at a little over 200 yards. It was not an easy shot, because the cow was jittery. She had to take a broadside shot while it was moving perpendicular to us (at dad's behest to shoot). But she put it down hard enough with the first shot, and was able to put in a finishing shot after that. Also, this was her first shot at game off a tripod. She has been practicing at the range getting ready for Africa next June.
Her excitement after the fact was incredible, and I realized later that she actually thought that we weren't going to get one. She has been floating ever since. Today I'll be putting away hunting and camping gear (next hunt: blacktail deer near Sitka in November) and tomorrow we'll cut up her caribou.
I am extremely blessed that my daughters not only love me, but they like me. They like doing stuff with me. And my youngest loves hunting. God has been so good to me, with the kids He entrusted to me.
Her rig: a Savage Axis in .308 in Muddy Girl camo. Ammo was handloads with 150 grain Partitions pushed by H335. Scope is a Weaver with pink accents, to match the rifle. Yours truly was toting my GBL as bear protection.