By Staff
This past weekend was truly a resounding success for many youth deer hunters.
For the Nabors' family it was the continuation of a deer hunting tradition, which began when Billy Nabors carried his 12-year-old son Mike hunting many years ago. Now grown, Mike and Dad Billy carried Cassie, Katy and Scott hunting during this past youth deer hunting weekend.
What a success it was for all involved. Scott age 7, went to a stand with Mike, while Katy went with her granddad Billy. Cassie age 14 went to her own stand a short ways away. Due to a lack of rain, Mike thought that the weekend hunt might be a waste of time. It didn't take long to quash that theory however.
Shortly after Mike and Scott arrived at their stand, 3 does came out and started feeding. At the time Mike felt the shot might be a bit difficult due to the stand placement high on a hill and quite a distance from the food plot. "Let's wait awhile and see what else comes in," stated Nabors. As they watched the deer, they practiced getting the deer in the scope and went through the practice steps of getting ready to pull the trigger.
Like a lot of 7-year-olds, Scott is not that tall. In fact, he had to stand on the bench seat with a little help from dad in order to be able to see out of the stand at all.
After watching the deer for a while, Mike sat back and let Scott keep an eye on the deer. At about 4:30 p.m., Scott nearly jumped out of the stand as he exclaimed, " There's another deer coming in-and he's got horns!"
Naturally, Mike was refocused on the situation in a hurry. After going through the routine one more time, with Mike's help getting positioned, Scott fixed the crosshairs on the deer and pulled the trigger on the first buck he had ever seen. The buck was hit with one fatal shot from the Remington Youth model 7mm-08 rifle.
As the deer hit the ground for good approximately 10 yards from where he was shot, the celebration began. Scott could hardly contain himself as he started jumping up and down shouting, "yes, yes!"
Although Scott had gone a few times it was the first time to go on a hunt where he had the opportunity to shoot. Much like his dad had done those many years ago; Scott harvested the first deer that he had ever shot at. Not bad for a 7 year old, not bad indeed!
Older sister Cassie had harvested her first deer last year during her first year to hunt as well. This was the first hunt that she had been on that she was in a stand by herself though. Although brother Scott had her rifle, Cassie carried her Dad's Remington 30 06 to the stand. Cassie proved that both she and the rifle were adequate for the task at hand.
Shortly around 3:00 a lone doe came into range and Cassie didn't hesitate. She knew what to do and went about it quickly. As the 30 06 roared to life, the deer dropped instantly in its tracks. Once she determined that the deer was down for the count, Cassie started celebrating while waiting for the others to arrive.
Shortly around dark the group gathered together and the celebration began. Although Katy and Granddad Billy had not seen a deer, Katy had harvested a nice raccoon the afternoon before. The two deer that they did harvest would provide some succulent venison for the supper table. Perhaps more important than the successful kills, was the tradition of deer hunting and family fellowship shared by the entire family.
What more could a grandfather and father ask for, than a chance to pass on a cherished tradition of hunting together. Surely this is what the people at the Mississippi department of Wildlife had in mind when the idea of a youth weekend was born.
Making memories and passing on the outdoors tradition, now that is what it's all about.