Hunter hunting along a marsh

Ryleigh Smith

Information

  • Date Taken: 09/13/2020
  • Time Of Day: Evening
  • Method: Rifle
  • County: Oceana County
  • Property: Private

Had a couple different shooters picked out for her after moving cams around for a month I finally got on a couple nice ones. A week before youth hunt we got a cold spell and they all disappeared. We sat the property I had extensively scouted with no luck only a couple does opening morning. Sunday afternoon after another dead morning I got ahold of another landowner we usually have permission to hunt on. He said go for it!! 3:30pm I had the blind up rushed home to grab her and headed right back out..6 pm sharp he showed up I said ry that’s a nice buck go ahead take him! The angle was wrong for her to shoot so she had to jump up on my lap followed by..”dad what about my ear plugs”..he’s gonna run I said u better shoot!!! I said ok I’ll plug ur ears so as I’m plugging her ears with my pointer fingers she says “3” (normally she’ll count before she shoots 1..2..3.. then boom) this time she only said 3. Nothing was happening so I looked down to see if there was an issue with the rifle and KABOOM!!! Scared the crap out of me so much I took my eyes off the deer!! I said Ryleigh where did he go which way did he head all frantic she turns her head with a huge smirk on her face sitting on my lap n says “DIDNT GO TWEENNNTTYY” I just busted out laughing!! What a hunt and what a way to break in your new rifle! Proud of ya kiddo my favorite hunt of all time it will be extremely hard to top that one!! One of the coolest looking bucks I’ve had the opportunity to put my hands on and will look great on the wall next to ur other one!!