Jimmy Davis Pro Staff at Monster Raxx

Welcome to another episode of Whitetail Rendezvous. Today we're heading over to Wisconsin, actually River Falls, Wisconsin, and we're going to talk to a young man named Jimmy Davis. Now Jimmy has been hunting since about 12 years old. He is Pro Staff at Monster Raxx out of Buffalo, Minnesota.

And Jimmy lives down pretty close to -- or I shouldn't say "lives" -- but he has hunting on a family farm, his wife's farm, in Pepin County, which is really close top Dunn County, and Buffalo County, Trempealeau County. Right along that Mississippi River, where we all know some big bucks come from.

So Jimmy Davis, welcome to the show.

Jimmy: Hey, Bruce. Glad to be here.

Bruce: Now let's start right off and let's talk about something that happened this fall. You had your son with you and he watched you take a buck. He watched you shoot a buck with a bow. Let's just talk about that, what that experience meant to him, and what it meant to you.

Jimmy: Yeah. It was a great experience for sure. Basically, last year he started coming with me hunting. I've taken him hunting with me; he would sit with me, and he was seven years old. And then he's sat with me a few times in the bow stand and he's kind of antsy, being seven years old. And this year he said he really wanted to go with me a lot.

So early October, it was a Friday it must have been, him and I went down to that land and he sat in the ground blind on a Friday night. We saw a lot of deer and weren't able to shoot anything. And then, the next morning he wanted to sleep in so I gave in to him and said, "Sure." It happened to be my birthday and I said, "All right. Well tonight you get to pick out where we're going to go." He said, "All right. I want to go in the creek bottom and I want to sit in the double-ladder stand." I said, "All right." And I said, "Well, we've got to make sure we stick it out, because you never know what could happen."

So we got down there in perfect wind for our spot and we were surrounded in mostly corn, and a thick swamp behind us, big [inaudible 00:02:24]. And we were sitting there and he was starting to get antsy. I said, "Well, we have to stick it out." And I was looking over to my right. I never noticed this buck coming out of the creek and it came right by our tree stand. That's only the second time I sat there this year.

I was pointing that way and all of a sudden here come a doe and a fawn, dropped down in the creek and they walked right underneath of us. He sat there and he was watching them. I said to him, "Make sure you don't move," you know, whispering to him. They walk right by us and that was pretty cool. We let them go.

About five minutes later, off in the distance in the bush, I saw bushes moving and I showed him. He thought that was pretty neat and he kept watching. And then the buck -- it was a smaller buck -- came about 25 yards from us. He wanted me to shoot him and it was just a little basket rack. He walked away and I was like, "Oh, man, maybe I should have," Because that would have been his first experience ever with getting a deer, you know. He's been tracking them and that kind of thing.

But about five minutes later, all of a sudden big herd, just like a bear coming through the corn, just trashing and everything. I was already standing and he was sitting. All of a sudden [inaudible 00:03:42] my voice goes, "Dad, shoot her! Shoot her!" And I couldn't see him. I'm like, "Where?" And he's like, "Right there!" And he's pointing, you know. I'm like, "No, keep your hands in," you know, and trying to whisper, and still looking.

Finally I did see the deer and I'm like, "Oh! He looks pretty dang good!" He started walking out and I drew on him

Finally I did see the deer and I'm like, "Oh! He looks pretty dang good!" He started walking out and I drew on him. Then he stopped and then I was waiting for him to walk forward a little bit more.