Last weekend was the youth deer hunt. It is a good time to get our young folks interested in hunting. Jason Alenbaugh went the extra mile. For his effort, two young men are probably hooked for life. The following is in Jason’s words:
I wanted to share an exciting story about the youth deer hunt in Owen County. It all started when I asked my good neighbor and friend, Greg Loughman, if his two grandsons were old enough and interested in getting into hunting.
After some discussion with the boys and their parents, it was determined that they were indeed interested in learning how to hunt. Owen is 10 and Wesley is 8.
A meeting at the range with a couple of rifles was arranged, and after all the gun smoke had settled, it was decided by the boys that the Marlin .44 magnum was their gun of choice.
I was very comfortable after watching them shoot several rounds, which demonstrated that they not only could hit a deer but could also humanely harvest one. The date was set. We would meet at my cabin on Friday night, and the boys would go hunting over the weekend.
I headed down on Friday morning. My youngest son, Kaleb, came down that afternoon, and Greg, his son Bryce, and the two young hunters showed up later that evening.
None of them had ever been to my place, so it was decided that my son would be their “guide” on Saturday morning and get them to the elevated stand to try their luck. I stayed back at the cabin, and shortly after legal shooting hours, I heard a single gunshot followed by a text from my son saying,” nice eight point down”.
I asked if I should head that way, and he said it was still early and pretty cool, so they were going to give it a little time.
The buck that Owen (10) had shot dropped in its tracks, and they were hoping Wesley would get an opportunity, also.
Approximately five minutes later, I heard another gunshot followed by a text from Kaleb saying “dead Yote”. In that short period of time, a coyote was already on the dead buck, but Wesley (8) took care of him with one shot.
. The rest of the morning was spent cutting up deer meat and watching the two young hunters hone their fishing skills.
Saturday evening was Wesley’s turn to bag his first deer. After sitting through the afternoon heat, the sun settled on the horizon. Soon, a doe appeared in the field. He passed on the doe. A little while later, a four-point came out, and he made a double lung shot on him.
That was the end of a perfect youth season. Hopefully, we have made lifelong hunters out of these two fine young boys!
Encourage everyone you know to introduce a kid to hunting. They are our future, and spending the weekend with those boys gave me great hope for the future of our sport..
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I often go online in search of new ways to catch redear sunfish. Last week, I watched a video on YouTube. This angler was using a 1/64th ounce hair jig tied on a #10 hook.
I use 1/32nd ounce jigs with #6 hooks, but in my opinion, you don’t have to go that small. Besides, the little bluegill wouldn’t leave this tiny lure alone.
Bob May and I fished Geist on Monday. I was using a Charlie Brewer Crappie Slider on the jig above. It had worked well when my son Greg and I fished Geist on Saturday.
Fishing was slow. My favorite location only produced three redears. We began pulling jigs across vast, main lake flats using the trolling motor.
Bob May was outfishing me seven to one. He had switched to a small jig similar to the one being used on YouTube.
I never much cared for the flavor of crow, but here I was eating it.
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