Food Plots, Waterholes, Trail cams and Junior Early Season Success
“Stop… Buck…”
“Big one?”
“YEEEEEEAH… TWO of em”
Suddenly, I was in full-on panic mode facing the tree with one foot on the top step of our newly placed ladder stand. The words “TWO of em” whispered by my 9 year old daughter, Arria, created an immediate adrenaline dump I haven’t experience in some time. Chills ran down my spine and my heart started to race with countless thoughts running through my mind.
The orange and pink hues cast by the setting sun’s rays were quickly disappearing to the west. Adequate light for filming had passed but we still had several minutes of legal shooting light to get an opportunity. Due to the fact that moments before, we had no shooters in front of us and the fact that it was my young daughter’s first hunt from a tree stand, I had elected to pack up and climb down a few minutes early. My original plan was to make sure she had enough light to see where she was stepping and descend from our elevated position with ease.
As I eased back onto the platform and slowly turned my head around, I immediately saw a nice up-n-comer eight point standing at a mere 25 yards. Not far behind stood the Short G2 Ten… One of our target bucks for Arria’s first sit of the season.
The Short G2 Ten slowly walked through our small corner food plot, directly to a water hole we placed several years ago and began drinking. Moments later, he turned and walked into our small Whitetail Institute plot where he began feeding on the large, broad, green leaves.
Arria’s crossbow was resting on the stand’s shooting rail. Staying cool and collected, Arria settled her scope and prepared for the shot she had rehearsed countless times from our elevated deck. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck… more nervous than when I have had a solid buck standing within bow range in years past.
Slow, steady trigger pressure and her bolt was gone. I watched the buck kick and bolt for the woods. A short, easy sixty yard track later and Arria was able to put her hands on her largest buck to date.
I truly feel that the success of this early season hunt stems from multiple factors. We spent the entire summer learning about and patterning this whitetail while utilizing both still photo and video images caught by our Spartan GoLive cameras along with providing a quality green food source for the herd to transfer too once the local beans began dying out. Additionally, we suffered one of the worst drought summers I can recall, and having a water source for our local herd played a major factor in being able to retain and pattern this buck.
We truly could not be prouder of our young daughter and all of her accomplishments in the woods and on the water. Wishing everyone Arria’s kind of success this season. Get those cameras out, shoot straight and best of luck afield!
