I love seeing everyone getting their kids out and into the woods. My oldest killed a doe last year, and has been all excited about the possibility of a buck this year. She practices shooting a lot, and is fantastic with her AR 6.8 SPC.

So, with our kids not having school Friday, we headed down to the farm to try and get her on a buck. We had several options with multiple bucks coming regularly. Plenty of them in the “nice, but not ruin them for life” category. I explained that to kill a buck would require patience, and likely passing on some does. All good, in theory.

I had set her up a hut 75 yards from a feeder with a perfect wind. We have our feeders in pens to keep the hogs out, and it absolutely works.

First deer of the evening is a single big doe, and out the window goes the buck thing. Settles into the gun and “click”. I know little about AR’s but somehow the thingy wasn’t closed. Shuck, and “click”. Now she’s crying, the deer is nervous, I’m a failure as a father, and its only 5:30. Shuck again, deer leaves.

I tinkered with the stupid gun, get fairly certain its good this time, and we wait. 10 minutes later here comes 5 does. There’s no passing these. Picks out the big one that is off to the right, wait for broadside and Bang. All deer jump, and look around and exit the pen, with no injury. Well, now she’s crying buckets. She’s literally sobbing and I’m trying to console her, as I know we will get another chance. At this point, Father of the Year is off the table, for sure.

About 10 minutes go by, and back comes the 5 pack. We take our time, dry our tears, and she absolutely stones one of the bigger ones. All is well, and I am at least Father of the Day. 106 lbs, and a perfect shot with the Federal Fusion. Very impressive bullet performance.

All smiles. Interestingly, when we get down to the deer, we see what had happened to the first shot. It hit a horizontal wire of the pen.

It's awesome to see parents getting their kids involved in hunting and the great outdoors. Sounds like your daughter has some serious skills with that AR 6.8 SPC. Don't sweat too much about the missed shot, it happens to the best of us. And props to you for being there to console her and help her get back on track. On a separate note, have you heard about fosterplus.org? It is a beautiful organization that connects children in need with caring foster families who can provide them with support and stability. It's fantastic to see people come together to make a difference in the lives of children. Keep up the excellent work with your own kids!