So far the 2010 deer season has been exciting and successful. Friday night my youngest son and his college room mate came home. This is the first year in 4 years they have been able to hunt Opening Day of Rifle season. They both wrestled for 4 years for UW-Whitewater and always had a tournament on Opening Day. That’s the problem with having a coach from Illinois. He doesn’t understand the sanctity of Opening Day! Now that their eligibilty is used up, they are free to hunt. 
My son Dave and his buddy Kyle had hung stands the weekend before in an area that usually produces for us. I had decided to hunt my bow stand that I’d had numerous encounters from this year. My BIL would be across the draw from me and my daughter, Alayna would be on the same hillside as Dave and Kyle.
Saturday morning found us climbing into our stands at 6:15am. I had a light north wind, which was perfect for my stand location. At 7:30 I saw a deer coming down the draw. I saw antlers as he made a rub approximately 90 yards away. I knew where he was going to cross my shooting lane. I held the crosshairs on the opening and when I saw him I voice grunted him to a standstill. The 25-06 barked and sent 120 grains of Trophy Bonded Bear Claw through both lungs. At the shot he ran straight up the hill for about 100 yards before crashing into a brushpile. He was a little smaller than I had hoped. He was a 2.5yo 7pt with a 14″ spread. I’m proud of him for the fact that I had missed him during bow season but made up for it with the rifle. The miss with the bow is another story in itself!
By 11am my BIL and I were getting hungry, so we drove across the valley to meet up with the younger half of our crew. Dave and Kyle were down to the truck when we arrived. Dave told me he had shot a buck. He told me he thought it was an 8pt when he shot it, but when he saw it it was a little 6pt. BIG LIE! We walked around the truck to see a 149″ 9 point with tons of mass. Dave had a doe and a fawn come through at 9:30am. He thought that if the doe had her fawn with that there was no way she was in heat and wouldn’t have a buck trailing her. He decided to take her. Just before he pulled the trigger, here’s comes the big buck grunting with every step. He put the 300WSM on an opening and waited for the buck to enter. At the shot the buck collapsed. Our experience with any of the WSM calibers is nothing short of AWESOME! This buck, along with every deer my daughter has shot with her .270WSM have been 1 shot, instantanious kills. No tracking what so ever.
When Dave had a chance to really study the deer, he was so shook up he couldn’t climb out of the stand for about 10 minutes. Every time he tried to climb down, his legs shook so bad he had to sit down!
Later in the afternoon Kyle had an opportunity to take a doe. He’s never hunted during rifle season, so he was happy to take her. He’s been successful bowhunting, and hunted some with a shotgun, but this was his first rifle kill.
Sunday’s weather kind of put a damper on most of our hunting plans, so after a few hours in the fog we went home to butcher our deer and listen to the Packers clean house on the Vikings!
Hopefully the weather will improve for Thanksgiving and my daughter will have a chance to take a deer. She’s been very lucky on Thanksgiving by taking an 18″ 9 point, a yearling 6 point and a doe in 4 years of hunting Thanksgiving afternoon. Hopefully this Thanksgiving will have the same result.
Regardless of the size of the deer we shoot, I am always grateful for the opportunity to share the woods with my children. As I get older, I realize that togetherness is what really matters. Now that they are all grown adults, it seems like time spent together is more precious every year. I am very grateful that God has blessed me with children who share my passion for the outdoors and look forward to many years in the woods together with them.
Kudos to you for bringing the family together once more.