Caledonia Argus

Special hunt bags trophy deer, great memories for Caledonia brothers

Posted: 10/28/03

By Aaron Augedahl
Special to the Argus

Back in July while reading The Argus I came across an article that told of a youth hunt in the White Water Management Refuge. It would be over MEA weekend which ran from October 16-19. Fifty hunters from ages 12-17 would be selected by a drawing.

I have two boys, Bobby, age 12 and Tyler, age 15. They were both very excited to apply. We sent in their applications the day they became available. September 4 was the day of the drawing. I called to find out if we got a license and when the lady told me that both boys got picked, I couldnít believe it.

The first day I went up to scout the area weíd be hunting I was blown away with the area. The hills were absolutely gigantic and while standing on top of one of the bluffs I felt like I could see forever. The trees were beautifully colored and the weather was perfect.

Finally our day to hunt came. Tyler would sit with my dad, Bobby and I would sit together. The first hour of the day the kids received a backpack with numerous hunting items in it at the seminar. The packs were donated by Bluffland Whitetails and Minnesota Deer Association. Then it was off to our stands. During the morning Tyler and Dad had some excitement almost immediately. Tyler passed on an easy opportunity at a fork-horn and a doe.

Bobby and I didnít see any deer in the morning so in the afternoon we all decided to sit together with Tyler and Dad sitting fifty yards away. The afternoon was a parade of deer past us with a big nine point buck seen. Tyler couldnít get a clean shot at the big buck and Bobby couldnít shoot due to Tyler being between him and the deer. The first day ended with no deer but we had seen six different bucks and ten does.

On the second day Dad couldnít go so I took both boys and we all sat by a big tree together. We had just sat down and a two point buck came within 10 yards of us. Bobby passed him up and we just enjoyed watching him. Then approximately 15 minutes later a nice six pointer came by but didnít give Bobby a clean shot.

We had to wait almost five hours till we would see our next deer but man, would it be worth the wait. We broke into our cooler and were eating some of the delicious ham sandwiches when Tyler whispered out loud, ìBig buckî. I looked up and saw this giant buck almost on top of us. Tyler waited until the buck stepped out and then made a perfect shot. The buck however was huge and didnít go down immediately. Both boys shot as the giant deer ran over the hill and was gone. The boys trailed the big buck over the hill and we all acted like weíd won the lottery when we found him piled up at the end of a big trail.

The next day Bobby and I returned, but after five hours of no deer Bobby decided he wanted the next deer that came. Just as we broke into our cooler again, for another one of his awesome ham sandwiches a huge doe came up behind us. Bobby made a perfect shot and we were again very excited.

We would like to thank Bluffland Whitetails, MN Deer Association, and Minnesota DNR. These people went way above and beyond to make our trip as exciting as possible. We registered Bobbyís doe and it was the fifteenth deer taken, at of the end of the third day. Bobbyís doe weighed 160 pounds, Tylerís buck had eight points and weighed approximately 240 pounds. The rack scored over 140 points on the Pope and Young scoring system. I would like to thank everyone that put this hunt together. If you get a chance to take a kid hunting this fall please do and you just might get a deer if you can talk Bobby out of one of his magical ham sandwiches.

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