My son joined the guys for a post-Thanksgiving hunt this weekend.
Picture perfect day on Friday in Michigan's Thumb.
Cold, crisp and clear with 2" - 3" of fresh snow clinging to every branch in the woods.
After pondering for a while, I decided to take him and the Sidekick (rather than his shotgun) out for the evening hunt.
Eventhough he had never shot a muzzleloader before, I was confident it would perform in the field as accurately as it did at the range.
About 4:30, by far not the biggest, nor the smallest deer in the woods popped out at about 40 yds.
Ultimately I left it up to him, but I told him it was more than acceptable for his first deer, it was standing broadside,
daylight and the snow were on our side and a better opportunity might not come along on the following day.
What I didn't intentionally tell him was about all the smoke generated after shooting a muzzleloader.
All he needed to know up to that point was just to aim, hold steady and squeeze the trigger.
After the smoke cleared his first words were: "where did it go ?"
Well the fresh snow made it easy to answer that question as it lay just a short distance away.
The Sidekick delivered a perfectly placed shot for its and and my son's first deer.
I hope there's many more to follow for the both of them!