Watch: Hunting Sisters Recovering Their First Bucks
Russ Chastain 02.28.17
If you are a deer hunter or just have a Facebook account and don’t ban hunting content, chances are good that you have seen the first video below. A 9-year-old girl named Savannah had just taken her first deer. In a trembling, wide-eyed state of excitement, she asks her father. “Is this normal? I’m not cold, I’m just shaking!”
A bit later, she leans her head back and says, “Ooooooh!” as she basks in the moment of bliss. Super sweet!
She tells the tale of her hunt, and when her father mentions a sheep on a distant hillside, she chides him:
Nobody cares about the bighorn sheep!
A pretty good video, although the father did fail a little when he denied that the “dead” deer had moved its head. But hey, nobody’s perfect.
Then, this past deer season, Savannah’s younger sister Sydney (age 11 at the time) got to take her own first buck–a real beauty–and once again the family shared the moment with the world.
This video was taken moments after she dropped the hammer (using a Modern Sporting Rifle, to boot). In it, she weeps although she says she’s feeling good. And after she sets her gun down, she has to put one hand on a nearby tree to steady herself. All deer hunters can identify with that!
As my father once said to me while his hands trembled as he reloaded his muzzleloader a few minutes after taking a buck, “The day I stop shaking is the day I stop hunting.”
Back to the video… her dad asks, “What do you think?” and all she can muster is, “Whoa.”
The next video is of the recovery. She’s already made a shot and the buck jumped, tumbled, and ran away. Now they are going to look for their buck.
Dad: “Do you think you hit it?”
Sydney: “Think so.”
Dad: “Why?”
Sydney: “I don’t know; it just felt good.”
Again, all experienced hunters can identify with a shot that feels right and good.
Then she sets out to find her buck, which she does in short order. And man, is it ever a beaut for a first buck! A gorgeous 4×4 mule deer.
After admiring the buck for a moment (“It’s so BIG!”) and getting a hug from dad, Sydney once again shows her colors as a true hunter, asking, “Where did I hit it?”
Dad mentions that the buck had been 220 yards away, but she doesn’t care: “Where did I hit it, though?” (We don’t find out, but obviously it was a good hit.)
Great job passing on the hunting tradition! As both sisters say in their videos, “Rock & Roll!
