Jake's Morning Hunt Day 2

We had high expectations this morning. The wind had died down from last night, but it was still extremely cold! We got the camo on along with the pumpkin colored vests and hit the trail! It was about 6:30am and still really dark, Jake has never been out early in the morning with us in the field before. This was a completely new experience for him. His only experience in the early morning was in the duck boat.

First Light!

Michael helped us get to our spot carrying some of our gear. This morning we had a pop up blind, two seats, a heater, cameras, and the muzzleloader! Michael then headed for the stand about 75 to 100 yards away. Jake didn't have a lot to say this morning, he was just watching the sun rise and mentioned how cool it was to see the sun come up while sitting out deer hunting! I think he's hooked on deer hunting! Just after day break we saw a deer off in the distance near the back barn of a neighboring house. A vehicle pulled into the driveway and spooked it off, it ran back in the field towards us! The doe made it to the fence row we were sitting in and Jake was all excited, he got set up and ready to fire. He asked me, "can I shoot it dad?" I told him no because it was still over 300 yards away from us! The doe jumped the fence and headed away from us, but Jake wasn't discouraged, he said, "That's the way huntin' goes sometimes." He has the right attitude!

Checking Out The Morning View!

It wasn't a half hour later, I had the video camera out and talking with Jake trying to capture some hunting video when he said, "dad don't move there are 5 or 6 deer behind us." I thought to myself, yea right, but then I asked myself why would he say 5 or 6? He must have seen something. So asked him if he was sure. He said, "Yeah, they're still there." So I put the camera away and crouched down on my knees and got him into position. By this time I could see the does he was talking about and they were only about 40 yards away! I let him swing the muzzleloader up over my shoulder for a steady shot and I plugged my ears! The deer jumped the fence behind us and stepped into the field we were hunting. They were angling away from us, but were only about 75 yards away now. I just knew the gun was going to go off at any moment, as I asked him if he could see them in the scope. He said, "Yeah, but I can't get the cross hairs steady on them. I had the scope set at 3x power since anything greater caused Jake to not be able to see in the scope easily. The deer were a little nervous and began to head out across the field. I could see Michael from our position and kept waiting for him to shoot one also, but the sound of a gunshot never came! He told me later he was waiting for Jake to shoot, he wanted his little brother to take one first! By the time he decided to take one, only the little ones were within range. Oh well that is why the call it hunting.

Looking For Deer!

Jake told me that he was sure that we would have been taking some meat home! Then he asked me "dad what do they call it when you get an adrenaline rush?" I told him that was getting excited and it was "buck fever". He said, "Then, I got excited!" Now I know he's hooked on deer hunting! That made my day! He once again said that he thought it was cool to just see the deer. He told me that we can't take home a deer everytime we go out. Like I said he has the right attitude!

Jake In His Hunting Hut

We lasted about 2 and a half hours this morning in about 15 degree temps. Mikey didn't make it quite as long as us, he lasted only about 2 hours before he got cold and headed back to the house. Sitting up in the air will definitely make you get cold faster! They had a great morning and they are still talking about it. I can't wait until the evening hunt!

Where's Mikey? Can You See Him?