Father/Son First hunt-Had to tell the story!

[Freedom in theSkies]

Well, My son(11) and I went for our first deer hunt this morning, and we did'nt even get to the area I had planned for us to sit in on the side of a large field. It was about 10 minutes till first light, and Mr. Buck came up behind us about 50 yds. away and crossed our newly made path in the snow. He then crossed the field and walked calmly up the edge. at 1 minute after legal first light, he digested a Hornady165 gr. SST handload at 225 yds. After about 2 hours of intense searching, my son excitedly called over to me that he could see the deer. Turns out he went 30 yds into the bush and piled up. Not even a drop of blood seen!- Turns out that the bullet hit him just behind the ribcage, passed directly thru his heart and lodge in his front shoulder.
We field dressed him right there and dragged him out of the woods, loaded him into the box of the truck.
Although he is not the biggest deer I have seen, I agreed to have him mounted. My son already has the spot picked out for him above the fireplace.

The gun?
A Springfield M1A
Tasco Tactical/Varminter 2.5x10 Scope
Cabelas 3/4" leather cheekpiece
Browning 1 1/4" Latigo sling.

The beauty of the M1A, is you have a very reliable semi- auto, and it has 1moa accuracy. Up to 4 follow up shots are immediately on tap if needed.
The only downside is the weight. It can be a bear!

[Guyon]

Nice 8 point. Did you get him, or did your son get him?

[Freedom in theSkies]

Here in Alberta Canada, a youth is not allowed to hunt till they have succesfully completed a hunter ed. course, then they have to be at least 14y.o.
That being said, it were I who got him...
Mighty tasty too...

[Ledbetter]

Nice pic. Who took it?

Thanks for the post.

Regards.

[Elkslayer]

Way to go! Bet your son had a great time! Good start for a young man who will be a hunter some day!

Good job DAD!

[Legionnaire]

Congrats, Freedom. Nice gun, good buck, great pic ... and a priceless memory for your son. Thanks for sharing!

[Freedom in theSkies]

My buddy took the picture. He came out to give us a hand with it. He told me to call him if we got anything... So the phone call at 1 minute after first light was a bit of a suprise.
The picture is actually a picture of the original picture . The original file was too big to post, so I took one of my laptop screen...


QUOTE]Way to go! Bet your son had a great time! Good start for a young man who will be a hunter some day! [/QUOTE]
Yep, thats' the best part of the hunt, is sharing the joy of it with my son... They can start to drift away at that age, so I hope this keeps the glue strong.[

BTW. the cam pattern that I'm wearing is the new Cadpat Canadian Forces gear. It's a bit bright, but pretty effective in the bush. Sucks in snow or desert enivironments

[HankL]

Way to go Freedom, Your picture and story also are very useful in showing that the M1A is true sporting rifle!

Not that you would need to convince anyone here of that.

[Freedom in theSkies]

Way to go Freedom, Your picture and story also are very useful in showing that the M1A is true sporting rifle!

Yep, It convinced me... and one whitetail... for sure.

My biggest concern was the ammunition and impact velocity. That's why I chose to load the 165gr. Hornady SST bullets. They shoot flatter at longer ranges, pack a hard punch down to 2300fps or so and heck, they just look so darn good!

There are alot of folks around here that use ex-military rifles, like the Enfields... As a matter of fact my first deer fell down in front of one. They work and they work well.