OK... Got my wife into deer hunting this year. Didn't push her into it, just talked about it until she got curious enough, and she decided she wanted to do it herself -- about halfway into the season, but still plenty of time for this year.
OK... need a rifle. Took her to the local Sporting Goods store. After looking at several, she decided she wanted the Browning A-Bolt, in .30-06, with Nikon scope (Ouch...$$$$). OK, Honey, whatever you want (hey... if she decides she doesn't like it, I get a nice new rifle out of the deal). Of course, she then had to spend another bunch of bucks on appropriate hunting CLOTHING...
Went to the range, got the rifle zeroed in, and she fired it a few extra times (enough to prove to herself she really COULD hit that little bullseye at 100yds). Then we were ready to go.
Went out to a small piece of property we own -- not exactly a deer ranch, but plenty of whitetails (if you can find 'em), and it was familiar territory for her. Set up a little pop-up ground blind in a likely spot. Sat there for three hours without sign of a deer, and at that point, I needed a nature break. Told her to keep watching, slipped out the blind and went a ways uphill and out of sight. Was just about to start back when... BLAM!!!! (unmistakeable sound of .30-06 shot -- followed a few seconds later by a crash in the brush). I eased back to the blind as fast as I could go without making a lot of noise, and asked her "Did you see one?"
"See one?" she asked. "I GOT one!"
Sure enough, she had nailed a really nice six-pointer about 50 yards out with a perfect shot. He'd gotten about 10 yards into the brush, crashed, and slid another 10 yards downhill into some really nasty stuff. We had a hard time dragging him back up the hill, but it was worth it, just for the smile on her face as I took a picture (I'd post it here, but it's not on a web URL and I don't see any way to upload pix on the forum).
OK... just a fluke, maybe. Next day, I took her out on a hunt with a friend on some farmland (cut-over soybean fields), left her by herself in a blind while I went and hunted a nearby woods. Just before sunset, she calls my on the GRS radio and asks if it is time to quit yet. I tell her I am headed back to her blind, but to keep watching the woods. About 30 seconds later... BLAM!
I get back there to find she had dropped a doe in its tracks... at 140 yards!!!! (Yes, we had the appropriate doe tags).
Needless to say, she was hooked. We hunted several more times until the season closed (yesterday), and didn't see anything to shoot at; but she's already making plans for next season (including a better blind and maybe some food plots for that property of ours)... and next time, she wants to try MUZZLELOADER as well...
