My best hunting companion and his Remington 700 (pictures)

[bomtek44]

Greetings,

I am a rabid whitetail hunter. I started on my own and have taken many solo hunts. The young man in these pictures is my son, Walker, who started going with me when he was 8, carrying his BB gun. His first year of toting a real gun, it was a little .410. No shots presented. His much admired Godfather "loaned" him his Remington 700BDL .243 for the season he turned 11. I found another stock and shortened it 3 inches to fit his length of pull, and worked up some mild handloads with the 85 grain Speer BT softpoint and 34 grains of IMR-4064, that would shoot into half inch at 100 yards, with the most gentle shoulder nudge. That fall, Walker took his first four deer and his first buck, a four pointer, at distances of 75 to 150 yards. He has always shot from a solid rest and mostly from ladder stands or ground blinds.

This year he stands a bit taller than me and is a 17 year old HS Junior and two year wrestling letterman. On opening day of the 08 VA. rifle season I witnessed him making a well placed 155 yard shot at a four pointer that was 15 inches wide and had a pretty rack. This past Friday, hunting with some good friends on their farm, he took a button buck (thought it was a doe) .  Saturday afternoon I watched a nice racked buck with light colored antlers browse through a thicket about 140 yards away. I watched him for about 25 minutes. His final destination appeared to be taking him on a collision course with Walker. 20 minutes later I heard the CRACK of his .243 and he called me on the radio to report that he had a nice buck down. He turned out to be a seven pointer with a broken G-3 on the left side and a 17 3/8 inch outside spread, and dressed 125 pounds. Walker made another perfect shot, getting both lungs and the heart.  He now has 20 deer to his credit......hmm, I was 20 when I killed my first one.

I now have entered the most exciting time of my hunting career, watching my son carry on the tradition.


Buck number one:








Buck number two: sorry it had gotten dark and was raining.



and another:




Last fall, when Walker turned 16, his Godfather said he would like him to keep the Remington as his own, if he would always think of him when he hunted with it. Walker had tears in his eyes when he hugged his Godfather.

Thanks,

bomtek44

[billy]

You are a lucky man to have a good son and he is lucky to have a loving grandfather,wonderful story.

[Wynn]

All I can say is:  OUTSTANDING!

[Skunk]

Excellent report bomtek44! Big congrats to your son for the great hunting and a big congrats and thank you to you for being a super dad and taking that youngster hunting.

[john keyes]

+1 million on all the replies.
those deer look really healthy

[Brithunter]

Please pass on my congratulations to Walker and my admiration to his Grandfather 

[HogSniper2]

PRICELESS!  Not many can share a warm story.  I'd suggest you photograph every adventure with your son.  Time creeps up fast and he'll have those memories forever.

[mikey_b]

That's the kind of stuff that give people hope for the future, you know? You hear about all this war and terrorism and crime and economic crisis all the time on the news. You never hear about the small things that actually give people hope for the future, but hearing things like this can certainly bring a smile to my face! Thanks for sharing.