He’s 14 now and they live in Washington. Last year his older brother (who is a lot more non chalant about deer hunting) killed his first buck. Maddox and I had some serious ups and downs. Several encounters slipped through our fingers. His trip ended with him hitting a buck that was never recovered.
It was a long flight home for him…
This year he couldn’t make it for opening weekend. I jockeyed a day of my archery rutcation around and worked Friday so I could hunt Monday with him. I wanted to be with for his first kill SO bad.
That morning I messed up and made an error on a 205 yard shot. No wind and we were laying prone. I misjudged the depth of a deer’s chest cavity. (His buck was 14”… I was thinking more like 16-17”) The end result was a brisket hit. The buck mule kicked and I thought he smoked him. We got permission and gridded the neighbors property and nothing! Not even a single drop of blood.
I told Mad dog he needed to understand that he made a PERFECT shot. I told him I should have had him aiming higher and to turn the situation into confidence knowing he was dead on for a crazy long shot. He seemed to accept that. I said “The next buck that comes in, you’re going to smoke him. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
And I truly believed that. Of course, I was hoping the shot would be closer and much more manageable.
Monday evening means the last chance I get to hunt with him. We had a decent little 2 yr old buck show early.
The bedding area was next to a river and it was long and skinny. A mixture of cattails, canary grass, shatter cane, and water. We needed the buck to head our way at least 100 yards, but all he did was move laterally and stay in the cover.
Finally at last light the buck turned and headed our direction. “Great… another long shot.” I thought to myself. I knew Maddox could do it. And I knew the gun certainly could.
I ranged him at 175 yards
Keeping that morning’s error in mind, I told Maddox to put the crosshairs right on the top of his back.
“Are you steady?!”
“Yeah!”
“Ok, shoot whenever you’re ready.”
Seconds later the bolt action 20 gauge barks and the buck lurches forward. “YOU HIT HIM!!”
The buck took off on a hard sprint. With him being 0 for 2 on hits and recoveries I fired a low odds round to try and knock him down but I missed.
Seconds later I saw him start to wobble. “He’s gonna go down!!” Then he wiped out. I absolutely lost it. “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT MADDOX!!” I think I had an F bomb in there as well
“That was a long shot! You smoked him!” There was lots of high fives and fist bumps.
Maddox didn’t say much he just smiled ear to ear. This was his first whitetail and first buck. We walked over and admired his kill.
“He’s big.” Were Maddox’s first words. “You’re dang right he is. That’s one heck of a first buck!.”
I then left him alone with his deer and went to retrieve some stuff out of our blind. I wanted him to have that alone time to admire it and really soak it in uninterrupted. I text my dad “BUCK DOWN” and he called immediately. He didn’t even finish his hunt
He was just as excited as we were and headed strait for the truck with 15 minutes of prime time left. When I got back I said to Maddox “I think I might even be more excited than you are!”
He assured me I wasn’t. The buck had a bunch of blood on his side and around his mouth. I cleaned him up really good and we got some awesome sunset pics.
Look at that shot placement. 1/4 of the way up, right above the elbow. Lights out. It was a hunt I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.
As an added bonus he got to whack a coyote at 65 yards while hunting with my Dad Wednesday morning. He made another perfect shot. The kid can shoot!
EDIT! My dad just sent me this. 1st goose!!
Send that thing to the museum! 
