An adventure with my 11 year old daughter

[slaton]

This morning Sara and I are starting our trip to Ossabaw island. Ossabaw is an island off the coast of Georgia not very far from Savannah. On it is a wildlife management area ran by the state. We where drawn for a 3 day archery quota hunt that begins one Thursday and runs till Saturday. It takes a good bit of travel to get to the island. We left our house in west Georgia Tuesday evening around 8 and completed the 300 mile drive around 1am. We are now waiting on the marina to open at day light where we will take a charter boat over, and once we are there it is a primitive island so no stores to get anything that was forgot. We have brought a truckload of gear with us. The DNR does have a bathhouse, running hot water and power. This will be our first time on this island but we have hunted other coastal islands. Since this is a quota hunt ran by the state they will tag the deer and it will not count toward the season limits. We can also shoot wild pigs. We have the opportunity to shoot 2 deer and all the pigs that we can. The deer on the island do not get very big due to a number of reasons but mostly it’s genetics, population and lack of quality food. So we will be shooting any deer that gives us a shot.

I will try to keep the thread updated as long as I have service once we get there. I’ll also share some information on the gear we are using. Hopefully the service is good enough to add pictures.


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[Grumman]

Sounds like a good time I look forward to hearing more about it.


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[slaton]

Made it to the island and started getting camp setup. We are in-line now to get our spot to hunt. The island is divided into numbered areas that is yours to hunt.

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[realunlucky]

Subscribed to follow along

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[dirtclod Az.]

Also following,good luck!

 

[slaton]

We will get to start hunting in the morning. We went for about a mile walk out of camp and walked up on 4-5 pigs. We saw an abundant amount of both deer and pig sign. We will be hunting farther north than where we walked but it looks to be a good spot. We will probably scout a little in the morning before we hang out stands.

We hunt out of a 2 lock on stands and use 4 lone wolf sticks to get up the tree. A climber would be easier as there is plenty of straight trees but Sara is still not quite ready for one. We always wear a safety harness. Things are looking good for the hunt. The weather is supposed to be clear and some of the coolest temperatures so far the year.


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[Mike Islander]

Subscribed

 

[mlgc20]

That is awesome! I am leaving for Colorado tomorrow with my 12 year old and 10 year old daughters. There really is nothing like hunting with your kids. Looking forward to seeing your success.

 

[slaton]

We have had a great first morning. The state does a great job with the organization of the hunt. As I mentioned earlier everyone has there own area to hunt. They take us out on trailers with benches built on them and room under the seats for stands, backpacks or gear. Sara and I where the last ones off trailer this morning and the dnr officer offered some advice on where to start scouting. We where dropped off about an hour before legal shooting light. We are hunting a peninsula between 2 tidal marshes. The hogs will feed in marshes on crabs when the tide is low. And as the tide is rising it pushes them back to dry land. We waited until it was starting to break daylight and slowly slipped across the land bridge to the peninsula. Once inside the wood line we are easing down the grassy woods road and a black blob appears in the road about 50 yards away. I’ve never seen an 11 year old load an arrow so fast and go into kill mode. We made it to about 30 yards before it knew something was up and disappeared into the palmetto bushes.

We could hear the acorns falling and hitting the palmetto bushes right were we spotted the hog. We set up not far off the road. It takes us a good bit of time to get setup. But we where set up and in the stand about 7:30. We are hunting out of a palm tree. First time I’ve ever hunted out of one. We have a 8-10mph nne wind blowing almost straight down the peninsula. It is about 100 yards to the marsh down wind so we have a lot of acreage in front of us. At 8:07 we see the first pig from the stand of the morning. It is directly behind Sara but right in front of me. I ask Sara if she wants me to kill it and she says yes. So at 25 yards I run a slick trick into it. It spins like a rodeo bull and is dead insight.

10 minutes later there are 2 more pigs show up in front of me but angling more that the one I shot they feed through the palmetto and the 2 become 4. Sara is almost about to have one on an opening at 20 yards just need a few more steps and the wind swirls. They smell us and are gone.

At 8:59 we notice some movement and once again assume it is a hog. We are wrong it is a doe at about 35 yards and feeding toward us. We can see bits and pieces of it for the next fifteen minutes but it never offers Sara a shot. While we are watching the doe a lone pig come in. It is at less that 10 yard but burrowing through the palmettos. When it is in the opening it is facing us and Sara is waiting for the right shot and passes. I was proud of her for making the right choice.

We are picked up at 11am and will return to camp for lunch, a shower, and a nap. And will head back out at 2 for our evening hunt. We are going to hunt the same stand this evening.

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[slaton]

It finally happened.

We loaded up in the trailer again at 2 to head out to our area. It takes about 30-40 minutes to get everyone dropped off and we are the last ones off. About 1/4 mile from our drop off point Sara spots an alligator in the ditch full of water right by the road. Several years ago I killed one that was a little over 8’ and this one dwarfed it. I’m no expert but it had to be well over 10’. So as we are walking across the land bridge to our peninsula we see another alligator in the ditch but luckily it was small and didn’t scare us to bad. The tide is pretty low and lots of the marsh is visible with crab running across the dark mud. Not far from where we seen the small gator we notice fresh rooting in the mud. And about 40 from there is a small island off the roadway and there is 2 pigs munching away on the crabs. The wind is in our face and blowing pretty hard. They have no idea we are near.

We sneak around and get a small palm tree between us and the pigs and start stalking closer. Once we reach the palm and step out one of the pigs is at 7-8 yards facing us in the tidal grass of the marsh. And still no clue we are around. With the gust of wind coming across the marsh and the pig not offering a shot Sara shows the skills of a seasoned bow hunter and waits till she is comfortable with the shot.

Then it happened. But first a little bragging about my daughter. Sara is the baby of the family with an older brother and sister. She has always been a daddy’s girl and like being in the out doors. She started shooting a bow at 3 years old and has been going hunting with me ever since. This year she decided that she wanted to shoot 3-D and went on the become the Georgia State Champion and the Shooter of the Year. She has put in her practice time and is a pretty dang good shoot. She is final able to pull a poundage the I fell will be enough for deer at limited range.

So everything falls into place. The gust of winds die down and the pig turns broadside at 10 yards. I’m videoing with my phone and over her shoulder remind her that she has plenty of time. She doesn’t need it because as soon as I say it the arrow is on the way and hits dead center of the pig. The arrow completed passes through and is sticking in the soft mud 10 yards behind the pig. The pig explodes into the palmettos and after a few seconds it is quite. So after the hugs and high fives we give it some time and recover the arrow covered in blood and take up the trail. In about five minutes and less than 40 yards we find Sara’s first animal she has ever killed with a bow. There was some more high-fives, fist bumps,hugs, pictures taken and maybe even a happy dance.

We gutted it and hung in a tree to cool while we went to get in our stand to wait till dark. From the stand we saw 8 pigs. But none offered a good shot. Either to thick, to far, or moving to fast.

Sara is shooting a Hoyt Ruckus set on 22 1/2” and 38 lbs. She is shooting a 500 spine Easton with wraps and vane tech vanes. The broadhead is a 100 grain 2 blade cut on contact and a finished weight of around 385 grains. She has a Vaportrail rest and her CBE target sight she shot all summer long.

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[Msowa]

awesome

 

[realunlucky]

Congratulations awesome moment to experience together

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[Jason_F]

Excellent!! Those island DNR hunts are on my list of things to sign up for next year. I hope you guys have a great rest of the weekend, and hopefully the cooler temps will help a little too!

 

[slaton]

Excellent!! Those island DNR hunts are on my list of things to sign up for next year. I hope you guys have a great rest of the weekend, and hopefully the cooler temps will help a little too!

If you have any questions just let me know. I’ll be glad to help.


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[dirtclod Az.]

Congraulations Sara!Great hunt,keep at it...

 

[Shrek]

Congratulations ! I hunted Sapelo Island 30 years ago and it was an adventure. Unlike your experience the DNR made it harder and I managed to miss five different deer for five different reasons over the two days. I’ve never forgotten the trip. I don’t know how it is now but back then there were deer everywhere !

 

[slaton]

Sara is on fire. This morning at 9:10 she killed her first ever deer. The shot was 24 yards a quartering away. The arrow entered behind the last rib and came out just behind the shoulder on the opposite side. The deer made it about 40 yards. After she shot we had an alligator come and hang out with us inside 30 yards. People have talked about loosing animals to them in the past. It probably smelled Sara’s deer. Once we found her deer I threw it into my Kifaru and got out pretty quickly.

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[rklein]

Best thread I've seen on here in a while. Thanks for sharing.

 

[dakotaduner]

This is great, Thanks for sharing with us. Congratulations on a great father daughter memory

 

[Mike Islander]

Wow! That is one of those incredible, indelible trips that you will both remember vividly forever. What a unique opportunity. And I think you win Dad of the Year with this one.

That pig is the perfect eating size too!

I live here in the Lowcountry and can really relate to the hunting conditions, which just adds to the awesome of this thread.