Kaitlyn, 10, and Daniel Chamberlain, 13, brother and sister, had a very successful youth hunt, scoring on nice bucks in Calhoun County.
The Chamberlain family are third-generation farmers and very avid hunters. Kaitlyn was hunting with her dad, Brandon. They had seen this buck on camera and decided he would be their target buck. After all, Kaitlyn has already harvested two 6-points and a 7-point buck in her short hunting career.
On the second day of the youth hunt, they had been sitting in the blind for a while, according to Kaitlyn, and several deer were out in front of them. They finally came closer, and there were five bucks. Using her .350, Kaitlyn took aim and shot the biggest buck, which ran about 40 yards and dropped. Her trophy buck had 11-points and scored 140-inches.
Daniel was hunting with his mother, Jamie, on the youth hunt’s opening day. They were in a treestand blind hunting in the afternoon.
Daniel has also had a successful young hunting career. He has harvested a 5-point buck, a big 6-point buck and a big 8-point buck. They had seen Daniel’s targeted buck on camera a few times and he was hoping to see him during this two-day youth hunt.
During the morning of the youth hunt opener, they didn’t see much deer activity. In the afternoon hunt, three bucks came up behind them and headed toward the ditch. The deer heard the neighbors running around on their gator and headed off into the woods. A brief time later, just one buck came back out of the woods, and fortunately, it was Daniel’s targeted buck.
At 75 yards, Daniel, with his .450, dropped the bucks in his tracks.
Both kids told their stories to me, not their parents. I was very impressed with that. Talking to them was almost like having a conversation with a young adult. Both were matter-of-fact and obviously particularly good shots. Both kids have a lot of experience hunting, having been doing it for many years. Neither one just wanted to shoot any deer. They both had a targeted buck and waited for it even though they had a chance to shoot other deer before shooting their targeted one.
Spending quality time together is a great experience for parents and kids. I can only expect these two young hunters to grow in their hunting experience and harvest bigger bucks.
Author Jeff Pendergraff is a retired Captain from the MDNR Law Enforcement Division.
