47th Year Birthday Present
Last Weekend - A guy comes by our tables and offers me a Browning BAR (Belgium Made too) 243 in excellent condition with nice Nikon scope. No one had given him his asking price yet. I pulled out 5 $100 bills and said I need it for my 9 year old boy. He took my offer and even gave me a box of ammo. He told me it was sighted in at 1" high at 100 yards. Hopefully I can now retire my boy's Mini 30 as his deer gun and go with this BAR 243 as I have been looking for.
Last Monday - I set up the target at 100 yards and shot. I was 1.5" high and on centerline. I let the little one shoot and he was .5" left and 1" high. I said no more shooting - that is very well sighted in.
This Past Weekend - We got up Saturday morning for the early youth hunt (Nov 10 & 11). It is my birthday so I want nothing more than for Davie to get him a deer. We were walking a trail around 8 am and looked into this field to see 5 deer and 10 turkeys together. I used his gun to look through the scope to see if any were bucks. There was one 4 point and several does. I told him the 4 point was too small and to take the biggest doe. I laid down in the trail and he put the gun on my back for support (that BAR is not very light). He told me I needed to be still since I was trying to look down-range and act as a gun rest and support. I got still and plugged my ears. He fired and I looked around to see nothing in the field.
He told me he held right on the front shoulders but could not say where any of them ran to. I was a bit ticked but held back since I knew it was a hard shot from a poor rest. We went down and looked in the field and found a good bit of blood. Now he was getting his confidence back. Out of 4 previous deer this was the first time we have had to track one of his deer. However, he learned a good lesson in trailing a blood trail. The deer had only run into the woods about 30 yards before dropping. He had made a perfect shot on the shoulder but the deer was not oriented broadside so the bullet went out behind the 2nd shoulder thus allowing the deer to run a bit before collapsing. He had killed a very big doe. We went back to where he shot it at and walked it off at 130+ yards and estimated it was about 120 lbs. He was so very happy.
Later that day he got a very nice spike in a stand at over 100 yards with that BAR 243. What a wonderful day. I could not ask for a better birthday present. He and I both believe in that BAR 243.
Last Monday - I set up the target at 100 yards and shot. I was 1.5" high and on centerline. I let the little one shoot and he was .5" left and 1" high. I said no more shooting - that is very well sighted in.
This Past Weekend - We got up Saturday morning for the early youth hunt (Nov 10 & 11). It is my birthday so I want nothing more than for Davie to get him a deer. We were walking a trail around 8 am and looked into this field to see 5 deer and 10 turkeys together. I used his gun to look through the scope to see if any were bucks. There was one 4 point and several does. I told him the 4 point was too small and to take the biggest doe. I laid down in the trail and he put the gun on my back for support (that BAR is not very light). He told me I needed to be still since I was trying to look down-range and act as a gun rest and support. I got still and plugged my ears. He fired and I looked around to see nothing in the field.
He told me he held right on the front shoulders but could not say where any of them ran to. I was a bit ticked but held back since I knew it was a hard shot from a poor rest. We went down and looked in the field and found a good bit of blood. Now he was getting his confidence back. Out of 4 previous deer this was the first time we have had to track one of his deer. However, he learned a good lesson in trailing a blood trail. The deer had only run into the woods about 30 yards before dropping. He had made a perfect shot on the shoulder but the deer was not oriented broadside so the bullet went out behind the 2nd shoulder thus allowing the deer to run a bit before collapsing. He had killed a very big doe. We went back to where he shot it at and walked it off at 130+ yards and estimated it was about 120 lbs. He was so very happy.
Later that day he got a very nice spike in a stand at over 100 yards with that BAR 243. What a wonderful day. I could not ask for a better birthday present. He and I both believe in that BAR 243.
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Happy Birthday, and congrats to the son on great shooting! 0 -
Congrats to you both...nothing beats a day in the woods with your kid. I am looking forward to next weekend with both of my sons doing a little whitetail hunting. 0 -
That's a present and a day he'll never forget! Good job, Dad. 0 -
Congrats to you and your son on a wonderful birthday. 0 -
Thanks for all the kind words. I still cherish the times I had with my dad when I was young. He will be 87 this Dec and still active hunting. He met us down at the hunting land and helped with the cleaning. My son and I will spend time with him hunting this coming weekend. He had triple by-pass surgery this past November and now he is ready again. God Bless him and all the Sons and Dads on GB. 0 -
Fine sentiments.
Good job by your Dad on you, and by you on your SON.
Doug0 -
Great story! I wish more dads would take their offspring out and introduce them to the joys of hunting and the wonderful serenity of the woods. 0 -
congrats on the birthday the & the 2 kills, sounds like the kid made some good shots. 0 -
Happy belated birthday. Congrats on a wonderful day spent with your son. 0 -
Congrads to both and please get a good pair of binoculars to use, I had a couple young hunters glass me with their rifle scopes[:D][:D][:0]. It doesn't feel to good to be looking at the business end of the Rifle.
I'm glad to see another young hunter out with his dad and enjoying the hunt. Cheers0 -
Nice story and Happy Birthday to you and congrats to your son. I also have a Browning BAR in .243 (Love mine too). 0 -
You are right about the binoculars. I have numerous pairs of fine binoculars but all of my hunting equipment is in the storage shed in a big box in the BACK. I did not realize that until late friday evening and was not going out there and plunder through it all. All we needed was guns-n-ammo and warm camo. We got by with bare minimums. As to sighting in on anyone, we do not hunt on open or public land. It is ours and there should be nobody on that 900 acres. If there was anyone, then they would be a POACHER.
Also, gun safety is our 1st goal. I would trust him with gun safety over many adults I have hunted with. He is a very responsible 9 year old. A month ago he used his money to buy a computer for his room instead of an electric guitar he wanted so very bad. I told him that was a very wise choice and one we were very prode of.0
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