The story from my dad is that Grandpa and the boys had walked away from the blind and the kids had been making all kinds of racket. I could hear them laughing from 200 yards away. Grandpa had said "If you will be quiet we might still see a deer."
As if on queue a 2x2 mule deer buck walked out of the trees. 9yo had already taken a doe a couple of weeks ago so it was 7yo's turn. Grandpa was carrying the 7yo's rifle and said "Shoot him" and tried to hand the rifle to the big boy. The 7yo said "I left my ear protection in the blind and if I shoot him I'll be deaf for life."
Grandpa still had his ears on but by the time they transfered them to the 7yo the deer had walked into some more trees. Grandpa and the 7yo left the 9yo with instructions to stay put and cover his ears.
They were walking towards the deer with the 7yo in the lead and Grandpa following and carrying the rifle. They were looking for a place for the 7yo to rest his gun on when the deer looked towards them. 7yo never missed a beat - he just took a couple of steps to the side to put a tree in the line of sight from the deer and kept going with Grandpa following.
They got to a tree that had a low limb on it. 7yo said he could make the shot so Grandpa set the rifle on the rest and covered his ears. 7yo shot the deer. The first shot hit him a little high in the spine. The deer's back legs were paralyzed but he was trying to crawl off on his front legs. The big boy tried to shoot him again but between his excitement and the deer moving he missed so Grandpa walked up to the deer and finished him off with a .357 by shooting him in the neck.
We had left our rangefinders at home so we paced off the distance of his shot at 47 long steps. Call it 45-50 yards.
The rifle has a Colt Blue Label A2 carbine upper in 7.62x39 with a Trijicon Relfex 2 mounted on a carry handle scout mount. It has a Double Star lower with a Magpul CTR on it. I like the CTR because I can set the LOP for him and lock it in place so it doesn't rattle, and if I need (or want) to take a shot I can lengthen it and I'm ready to go. The strap on cheek rest is from Fulton Armory. The cheek rest is needed because of the mounting height on the A2 upper. I would have a flat top upper if I could but beggars can't be choosers. The ammo is Winchester 123gr. Power Point factory loads.
Now for the important stuff:
The boy and his deer.
He looks like he's thinking about what a beautiful animal he's just put in the freezer. I think I always get a look like that for a few minutes.
Now he has the smile back.
Here he is with my dad.
Here is a pic with me. I was handing him the rifle so we could get pics of him with it and my dad took this pic. I like it.
I hope your hunting season is going as well as ours this year!!
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