The day before deer season started (a Sunday), Dad, Elizabeth, Jennifer, and I took off to a near-by field to get in some target practice and sight in the rifles. We got our targets all set up and paced out before Dad realized that we had forgotten a very important aspect of the operation- the ammunition. I mean, we all had ear protection, multiple jugs filled with water for targets, two .22s, and two or three rifles of a larger caliber. So Dad had to drive back which was fine by us girls as we got to explore a near-by creek for a few minutes.
We had the rifle targets to the side of the truck and trailer spaced at 25, 50, 100, and 200 yards while those shooting the .22s shot off the back of the trailer at two jugs hanging in the bushes at about 20 yards. I'm putting this info here for those technical people!
Jenn and I were having a turn shooting the .22s when Jennifer (without thinking) shouted, "A buck!" I didn't believe her until I had seen this buck, walking down the hill behind our targets toward us! I had to holler at Dad and Liz becuase they couldn't hear me with their ear protection on and were just about to shoot. By the time Dad noticed what was going on, the deer was walking about forty yards away behind our targets before he ducked into some slight brush. Before we knew it, he had popped out and was walking between the 50 and 100 yard line!
Seeing as he was pretty tame, we followed him for a while, especially Jennifer. If that deer had waited until the next day to do that, he would have been a dead deer seeing as this is Jennifer's first year deer hunting and we all had deer licences!
Just so you know, Dad had accused me of missing all but one of the targets which I couldn't believe. I mean, I'm not in the sniper class by far, but I always hit what I shoot at. Turns out, I was right. Dad had forgotten that he had filled one of the targets with dirt so it didn't burst like the ones that were full of water and thus he assumed that we were all missing that target!
Then, about a week later, we were calmly sitting doing our schoolwork when Mom's phone started ringing. It was Dad. He was working at the garden when a deer ran past it towards the ravine that runs past our house. So Mom quick put on the orange coat and loaded up the rifle before heading to the back deck to wait for him to walk past. She didn't have to wait long. Once she shot him, he ran down the hill and across the road before she lost sight of him. When Dad and Mom went down there they couldn't find him for a while until Dad glanced up the creek. That buck had found an excellent hiding place. He has under the bank of the creek with the grass hiding him even more!
Mom had made the best possible shot that she could have made in that situation. A double lung and heart shot! All this with a .243 and in her pajamas and slippers! Go Mom- I love you!
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