It’s hard to believe that another buck season is in the past and we’ll have to wait until next year to buck hunt with a rifle. The first two days of buck season provided good conditions to hunt in but on the third day, high wind advisories were issued all across the state and it was downright dangerous to be in the woods. I didn’t hear many shots and I’d say it was below normal in that department this year.I continued hunting into the second week and saw something I’ve never seen before in the deer woods. I settled myself in the blind and was enjoying my afternoon hunt. It was calm and cloudy with a hint of sunshine trying to shine through the barren treetops. I was scanning the landscape in front of me and caught movement to my left.A doe came up out of a hollow following a well-used deer trail taking her time as she walked along. Hunter instinct kicked in and my eyes shifted to see what might be coming behind her. Once again, I caught movement but something didn’t look right. It was a dark shaped object that didn’t look like a deer at all.I blinked my eyes several times trying to figure out what in the heck I was looking at. I grabbed my binoculars and once I focused on the object, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was brownish-black goat. Yep, a goat following the doe like he was part of the pack. A fawn trailed along behind the goat and the trio worked their way into the food plot and started feeding together.“No way” I kept saying to myself as I sat there laughing as what was taking place before me. The lead doe fed up to my right before she had enough with the goat. She took off running, bucking, and kicking as she went. The fawn was right behind her with the goat hot on their heels. They ran off into the woods and all I could do was shake my head.It was an eventful buck season for me even though I didn’t fill a tag. My 8-year-old daughter Kelsey finally decided that she wanted to try and get a buck. I had been taking her with me to the blind teaching her how to look for buck rubs and other sign along the way. We enjoyed several hours sitting in God’s great outdoors watching deer and other wildlife during archery season.I was easing her into what hunting was all about and decided I would let her tell me when she was ready. On the second day of buck season Kelsey looked at me and said “Dad, I want to shoot a buck”. Right then my priorities shifted to trying to get Kelsey into position to shoot her first buck. The first step was finding her a gun to use. My good buddy Sammy quickly came through and dropped one off for us to use.I set up a target after going over gun safety and taught Kelsey how to look through a scope. I had pulled out my childhood bb gun and had her plinking cans and popping balloons weeks before so she was familiar with how a gun works. On her first shot at 50 yards she almost hit the bullseye. After a few more shots her confidence grew and so did mine. My next plan was to hunt the same ground blind I saw the goat out of as the majority of shot opportunities from there are within 50 yards. On our first set it took a little while to get Kelsey positioned where she felt comfortable. As we were fidgeting around in the blind, I grabbed a hold of one of the windows and when I pulled it down there was an 8-point staring right at us 40 yards away. Needless to say, that one didn’t work out and I blew that hunt right off the bat.Another evening while sitting in the same blind a different 8 point came in behind us. It ended up walking within 5 yards of us but with her gun on the tripod rest pointed in the opposite direction, there was no way to get a shot so we watched it until it got too dark to see. I was reliving all of the struggles of a new deer hunter all over again but took it all in stride. I explained to Kelsey that it doesn’t always work out the way you hoped it would but you have to keep trying to succeed.On the last day of the 2019 buck season we went back to the blind for one last chance. There was a high racked 8 point that I have been getting pictures of for the past 3 years in the area so I was hoping he would come by. We settled in the blind and within a half an hour a doe came in. She started feeding and we watched her for 15 minutes or so. I looked up in the direction she came from and saw antlers pop up silhouetted on a point to my right. I grabbed the binoculars and when I found the antlers, I knew it was the high rack 8. I informed Kelsey and we got ready. The buck took his time making his way towards us trying our patience like older bucks will do. Finally, the buck popped out 45 yards away and Kelsey put the gun to her shoulder. She struggled to find the buck in the scope and about the same time she did the buck stopped.I reached over and clicked her safety off as the bucks sixth sense kicked in. He snapped his head up and stared right at us. “Don’t move I whispered” to Kelsey but it was too late. The ole buck had us pinned and took off over the hill. Kelsey was so close to taking her first buck and I thoroughly enjoyed hunting with her this year.I told her we were going to practice more this summer and be better prepared for next year. I’m glad I get to pass on the tradition and pastime of hunting deer in our West Virginia mountains to the next generation. I’m looking forward to next Fall already.
