Big Buck 411 Blog

Unencumbered by Experience

Unencumbered by Experience

By Mike Handley

Brandon Hazel of Anthony, Kansas, knows when to say yes and close his mouth.

While most dads would've listened to the voices in their own heads rather than the words of their 8-year-old kid, he allowed his daughter Joscelyn to choose where they should hunt on a cold Dec. 4, 2015. He had zero confidence in the blind she chose, since that's where she shot a doe the previous evening, but he wasn't about to make the hunt less fun.

"With all the activity the night before, I was sure going back to that blind was a mistake. But that's what she wanted," Brandon said.

He checked her out of school at noon on Friday, Dec. 4, just after math class. After stopping to say a prayer en route, father and daughter were sitting inside the familiar dome blind by 3 p.m.  They played tic-tac-toe between looks out of the windows.

The temperature began dropping close to sunset, and Joscelyn grew antsy to leave. At one point, Brandon told her they'd get out of the stand in 10 minutes, or 600 seconds, and she began counting.

While her father was scanning the terrain, a buck stood from a little plum thicket in the middle of a mostly wide open field.

"When I pulled the binoculars up to look at it, I knew which buck it was. We had plenty of trail camera pictures of it," he said.

"I said, 'Hey. There's a shooter coming.' She said, 'Is it at least a 10-pointer?' And I said 'Yeah, it's a 10-pointer.'"

Father and daughter shifted to a different window. They had a tripod rest inside for the gun. The buck turned and walked straight across the field they were watching, and the girl found it in her scope.

"She said 'Is he at least 10 points?'  I said 'Yeah, he's a shooter,'" Brandon said. "My heart was about to beat out of my chest."

She shot when it was at 50 yards, and the buck ran about 20 more to the right and stood there long enough for her to shoot again.

"My hands were shaking badly, and she was trembling with excitement," Brandon said.

"I was surprised I actually shot it," she smiled.

The deer's BTR composite score is 186 3/8 inches - 3 inches less than a buck her daddy arrowed in September 2015.

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