2025 Season is off to a great start. There was a special youth, doe season in the middle of archery here. I took my daughter out in hopes of getting her first deer, and luckily for us it was a great success!! At 8 years old she got her first deer and her Dad is super proud!!
This one is deeper than she just got her first deer. First off, 118 yards, right through the heart. Deer made it roughly 15 yards and that’s because it fell about 5 yards down the hill next to the food plot.
Adding to the coolness…
She shot it with a gun she bought herself. Bergara Stoke. She started making wingbone turkey calls about this time last year. She gets turkey bones, cleans them, cuts them, glues them together and tunes the end piece, then colors them with alcohol ink. Her Mom, Gram, or I will epoxy them and she sells them online. She got enough request that we started a company for her, Mad Dog’s Turkey Calls. She placed third in a turkey calling competition using one of her own calls against adults at an outdoor show, the local gun shop here sells her calls in their store and PA Boyz ran them this March too. Her local NWTF invited her as an honorary member for 2025 with a free one year membership and she was able to showcase at their annual dinner. We started a savings for her from the money she has made selling these calls to hold for better occasions that just frilly stuff (what does an 8 year old need with that money). When she asked me if she could buy her own rifle with it.. well yes haha. Mom and Dad got everything else for it and all the reloading equipment/supplies. I was just proud of her for working and earning the money to buy the rifle herself.View attachment 27760
The next cool part, she shot it with one of her own reloads that she did herself. Nosler case, WLR primer, 41g Varget, 140g TTSX, loaded for a 7mm-08.
The final icing on the cake, she made us dinner using meat she provided for the family. Velvets Mac and Cheese and Fried blackstrap with kool aid to drink haha. Didn’t matter to me, she put it together and I was happy to sit at the table and pray thanks to the good lord for all that transpired to be sitting there with that meal!
She reloads with me, she practices shooting with me, she’s always in the field scouting, planting, setting camera, working on stands, she cleans guns with me.. she has earned it and working for it all makes it that much sweeter.
TANSTAFL.. There aint no such thing as a free lunch
