This will go down as the best hunt of my life time. Quick Backstory, last year my daughter , "19", took a huge interest in my fall white tail harvest. At her push we completed a full process from kill to freezer. At her push we even tanned the hide. A few months after, I presented her with a knife that sported a partial leg bone as a handle and she had been adamant about making her own harvest for the 2021 season. Over the course of the year we fitted her with a rifle that fit her frame and she would join me on Sundays to get some range time in. Also during that time she took her class for Hunter Safety and acquired her Heritage card for Missouri. When it came time for opening day, I had changed to a two person stand and we spent the first morning freezing our tails off. She didn't get an opening morning shot but I think it couldn't have played out better. Over the course of the week we spotted one of the biggest bucks I've ever seen on the property, being followed by one of the biggest coyotes I think I've ever seen. She was able to see nature in a way I've tried to explain, but you just have to be there for. At one point we watched an Owl glide through our clearing and land next to us on a branch in our tree. That was just the type of thing I was hoping for her to experience so that she could feel that connection. I could tell she never understood what I was telling her when I explained how hunting was like a mediation when you blend into the back ground and watch the woods come to life. Over the course of the week, she glassed Doe on two separate occasions. On both encounters she passed on the shot deciding she was not confident that they would have been clean kills. I could tell the experience was the same as I could see her excitement as they passed. Finally on the final Sunday of rifle season, a little buck we hadn't seen before came through. She lined up and the buck presented her with a broadside at about 75 yds. She took her shot and I see the buck kick and sprint opposite our direction. I instantly know her excitement, and try to keep things safe but by this point I think my heart is pounding harder than hers. We unload and perform our chore of getting out of the stand safely. On the ground I'm whispering our move and have her load up and take point, telling her to be ready if we find the buck wounded to take another shot. At this point in time I wasn't sure if she made a good shot or not. As we make our way the bucks direction, I spot him downed about 50 yds from where she shot him. She made a perfect hit in the lower half of the heart. I've had many exciting hunts, but I don't think anything could ever compare to this one.
