My daughter Debbie was living and working near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She decided she wanted to take a few days off from work and come home for a visit. After she got here she decided she wanted to go deer hunting.
Now Debbie had been fishing with me but as far as I know she had never fired a firearm. We got to hustling for a rifle and ammo. I found a friend with a 223 who would not need it so I borrowed it and we had one afternoon to teach her how to use it safely. She fired her first three shots and I knew she was a natural shot. When we were through I tried to eject the live round and it was stuck firmly in the chamber. I tried and tried WD 40 and other tricks and could not eject it. This was a job for a good gunsmith.
A call to my nephew Martie and he had another 223 that he was not using so we got it. Now it was too late to fire it but he assured me that it was well zeroed in.
I sketched deer from several angles and showed her where the most effective shot should be placed. A 223 is not the most effective round for deer but in the hands of a good shooter it is acceptable and legal in Kentucky. I told her that any small limb would ricochet the round and that if it was behind brush, limbs etc. she would have to pick out a clear path for the bullet to strike the closest to a good kill point. She stayed up late to study my sketches.
Now Debbie is not one to get up with the chickens but the next morning she was up and ready early.
I had two stands up and ready for just this hunt. Her stand was about 12 feet to the right and 3 feet ahead of mine as I was not going to shoot unless she could not for this was her hunt. I had already got my first deer of the season out of her stand and I was not interested in the second.
I was impressed as she was still and quiet and was watching in all directions carefully. After we had been there a substantial time she slowly moved her left arm to get my attention. She had spotted a really big doe on the same trail that I had filled my first tag on. She gave me a questioning look and barely nodded to point it out. I shook my head positive.
She did not have a shot and the deer moved a few yards to a water filled drainage and stopped. There was a monster bush and a limb between them so I would have shot and hoped there was a hole there. I waited and I waited thinking she had froze and finally after some time she shot. The deer dropped in its tracks. We waited a substantial time to make sure it was dead before we got down.
That was one big deer. While I was field dressing it I asked why it took so long for her to shoot. She said, “Dad you told me to make sure I found a hole close to a good spot so I waited until I found it.” I found a 2 to 3 inch sapling and cut it to abt 9 feet and we started out to the road. That was a hard deer to carry. I wish I had weighed it.
It was really swinging on us and with that much weight it was a job. About half way to the road she told me she did not think she could make it all the way but she did fine.
She called me after she got back to Wisconsin and told me she had shown her coworkers a picture of her with her deer. A couple of them had just got back from the North Woods and did not tag out. They wanted her to bring them to Kentucky the next year and guide for them.
This was really Debbies third or fourth deer. Hard to keep count but at least she shot this one and did not run it down with a car.
In all my hunting days this was my proudest hunt and I will always remember it.
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