We shoot! We score!
Been a busy few months here lately but got to take a break ... at least for one weekend! Tim, myself and our 2 boys gethered up a group of family and friends and headed south to Thompson Temple Rocky Top Ranch. We left out about 6 am on the 18th and after a few stops we got to the gate about noon. It was great seeing old friends again and hunting for the first time with some newer firends. Tim and I took Chance (our oldest boy~7) to try to get him first blood on his new crossbow he got for Christmas. The first hunt we saw no rams. We tried again in the morning this time our youngest joined us in the DoubleBull......let me tell you 4 people, 2 backpacks, a video camera, 3 chairs, a heater and a crossbow all crammed into a DoubleBull makes for very little room to move around. A good group of rams came in but the one Chance was wanting there was no way for him to get moved around to take a shot. The rams walked off down the road where our nephew managed to score on Chance's ram he had picked out. Tim and the boys headed back to camp but I chose to hang out and try for a ram I had my eye on. Grabbed my gear, a friend and a camera and we were offto the Ameristep we had set up in another area. Right as we walked up to the blind Wes asked if that was the ram I was after, I stepped back and there he was. We managed to get in to about 18 yards and THWACK ..my first complete pass threw. Rams are tough so we got snuck up on him again and I put a second Victory Pink arrow threw him. I love them short sweet hunts....especially since it was only about 40 degrees out and I hate the cold! Well they say the third time is the charm so this time Chance and I headed out with out Tim so he could go hunt for himself. We grabbed my nephew to do the videoing for us and we were off back down to the DoubleBull. It didn't take long after we got settled for a group of rams to come in. I had Chance all set up to shoot a ram off to the right which seemed to be they way they all kept coming in and they did just that. We sat and watched for awhile so Chance could pick out the one he wanted. He narrowed his pick down to 2 rams and waited for one of them to offer up a shot. Until now every animal Chance has taken was with the help of me or Tim in some way, weather it be helping hold the gunaiming for him or actually telling himwhen it was ok to shoot. This was all Chance and his new bow. One of the 2 rams separated from the group off to the left. I got Chance reset up to shoot out to the left and handed over the bow. He was tought to make a broadside only shot but told if he was sure he had a good quartering away shoot he could take it. He waited for that broadside shot but there was a small branch in the way so he waited. He came out and showed a good quartering away shot Chance steadied himself and THWACK!!! The ram ran back into the group were we lost sight of him. The next thing we knew that ram fell over not even 20 yards from where he was shot. As much fun as I had shooting my own ram it was so much cooler getting to be there for Chance to take first blood on his new crossbow and doing it all by himself!
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