Rookie's 1st Buck

Ol' Deadeye Karter got his first buck today. He is so excited. He and Uncle Grizz went up on Goslin Mountain, the spot where Kolby killed his first buck and the place Karter used to hunt with Pop. It proved to be the perfect spot. And somewhere Pop is smiling down on Karter and is as proud as he can be.

It should also be noted that Karter was shooting my Grandma Mary's trusty ol' .270. We have affectionately the gun "Mary". It was bestowed to me in 1995 as a Christmas present, and Grandma Mary has never regretted her decision to hand this gun down to me as it has been used well and I treasure it dearly. It had been quite a few years since "Mary" (and Grandma Mary) killed a buck with that gun, but Karter got it sighted in this week and told me, "Mom, I could drill a quarter at 200 yards with it now." when he came back from shooting Thursday night. He was excited and ready for his first rifle deer hunt.

His day started early as he and Uncle Grizz got up at 4 am to make the long drive to an area near the Utah/Wyoming state line above Flaming Gorge. Karter tells the story like this: "We were hiking up on top of Goslin, looking down the hillside. We were headed towards a patch of trees when we stopped to glass the hillside. We saw a few does first but then I heard Grizz shout Pop's famous words, "The last one's a buck!". I sat down and put my gun up to scope out the buck, resting my elbows on my knees to steady my rifle. It didn't take long for me to decide I was going to take this buck. I had buck fever and I had it bad. I wanted him. I told Uncle Grizz "I'm going to shoot him, Grizz. I'm going to shoot him." The buck was standing broadside to me, about 187 yards away, so I jacked a shell in, got the buck in my crosshairs, and squeezed the trigger. The next thing I know Grizz was shouting, "HE'S DOWN! HE'S DOWN!".

"At first I didn't believe him and I sat there saying, "Really? Really? Are you sure?". But sure enough, my buck was down; one shot through the lungs and he moved no more. Then the work began. I took on the task of field dressing the buck myself then Grizz and I drug him back up to the truck."

"I am very excited to have killed my first buck. I was so pumped up about it and very proud of myself for hitting the buck in the vitals with the first shot, right where I was taught. I thank my Pop for teaching me how to hunt and instilling in me a love of hunting, and my Uncle Grizz for taking me with him all the time and being my hunting buddy. I also love "Mary", my mom's .270. I like hunting with a gun that has been passed down through my family and has killed deer before."

Karter Rook- 1st Buck- 1 Shot- 12 years old, Oct. 23, 2010