Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Three boys and three first deer.

I had my son (Rowdy) and two neighbor kids (Levi and Bode) apply for a relatively easy-to-draw doe tag about 75 miles southwest of our home in Boise, ID. I was equally pleased and alarmed when all three of the little chits pulled a tag. I was pleased for obvious reasons, but alarmed because I knew it would be a challenge to have all three of them be successful on their first-ever deer hunt. Levi and Bodes' dads are great guys, and I knew they'd help out in whatever way possible,...but neither of the other two dads had ever hunted deer before either.

Bode and his dad (Jesse) had family obligations for the opener, so it would just be Levi, Rowdy, Levi's dad (Chad), and myself for the first weekend. Rowdy was fortunate enough to tag his first cow elk back in August, so we decided Levi would get first crack at a deer.

Daybreak found us on some BLM land glassing up some deer at the head of a draw about a mile away. We parked the truck, shouldered the packs, and headed off looking to close the gap. We used the cover from a shallow draw to get us within a couple of hundred yards of where I thought they'd be. We came up over the top of a rise expecting them to be right in front of us. A nice buck was bedded about 125 yards away, but we just couldn't find any of the dozen or so does we'd spotted from the truck. We stumbled around for a minute, until I finally spotted two does and another buck just below us about 250 yards bedded in some short grass. Unfortunately, they already had us pegged and Levi just wasn't quite comfortable enough to get a clean shot off before they made their escape.

I told Levi how proud of him I was for passing on a shot he wasn't comfortable with, but I could tell he was really disappointed in the lost opportunity. I grinned at him and said, "Deer are like girls�the best way to forget about the one you lost is to go find another as quickly as possible".

I'm not sure he agreed, but he followed me up and over the hill anyway. Another mile further and the same scene repeated itself again. Every time he'd get ready to squeeze the trigger, the one he had in the crosshairs would take a step or another would walk behind it. Finally they caught our scent and bounded away, taking Levi's heart with them.

We still had a few hours of daylight left, so I gathered the troop up and headed towards a distant draw I though might hold deer. We had only gone a mile or so when I suddenly spotted four does about 200 yards ahead of us. We all dropped to our bellies, and a mad scramble ensued. I assembled the shooting sticks, while Levi pulled his legs underneath him and flipped open the scope-caps. By the grace of God they hadn't yet seen us, so we had a couple of minutes for Levi to calm himself down and getting his breathing under control. His chest was heaving so hard I thought he might actually pass out.

The does finally figured out something was amiss, and stood up to depart the country. I said, "It's now or never Levi. Slowly squeeze the trigger son". I had barely uttered the words when his .243 barked and the nearest doe took off at a sprint towards us. He frantically worked the bolt while I watched her disappear into a shallow depression between us.

He looked at me and nervously asked (shouted), "Did I get her?!" just before she re-appreared and piled up in front of us. I've seen a lot of kids smile over the years, but the one he looked back at me with was one of the best I have ever witnessed.



Here he his with his best bud Rowdy (my son) just after the shot. Levi is on the right, with the red undershirt.


Here is a picture with Levi and his dad.


It was awesome that his Dad got to share the experience with him, and I could tell Rowdy thought it was pretty great as well. It started pouring rain the second we got it quartered and bagged up (of course), and it was an unpleasant 2.5 hike out across some nasty, lava-rock strewn country. The boys were completely gassed by the time we made it back to the truck, but they knew they had accomplished something and I was immensely proud of both of them for not whining a bit.

It was a short night's sleep, and we were all back the following morning to try and find one for Rowdy. We spotted some early in the morning, but couldn't quite get close enough to close the deal. Finally around 11:30 I spotted three does grazing in a shallow depression to the north of us. Rowdy and I belly crawled up as far as we could while still maintaining some cover. I pulled out the range-finder and read "340". Chit�.that was a whole lot further than I wanted. He'd shot out to 1,000 yards before, but that was at metal�with a bench-rest�and a heavy gun. This was just the two of us laying in the dirt, with his flyweight 7mm-08. We were prone though, and they had no idea we were there. I had him dry-fire about 20 times to practice the shot. He assured me he could make it. I dialed the CDS to 340,told him to hold into the wind a little, and concentrate on a good trigger pull. When the rifle barked I saw she was in trouble right away. She only made it about 40 yards before she tipped over.

I wasn't shocked he made the shot, since I've been dragging to the range since he was 6. Still though, my heart swelled more than a little as I watched him puff out his chest while we hiked up the hill towards her. 340 is a long damn way under any circumstances, and he'd just connected with a 6.5 lb gun...as a 12 year old on his first ever deer hunt. If it sounds like I'm bragging, it's because I am. Here is a picture of the two of us just after we got to her...



The sentimental little turd even brought his great-grandfather's knife along of his own accord. He made me take a picture of it to send to his grandfather (my father-in-law). Damn I love my kid...



The pack out was much easier this time, and we had it back to the truck in less than an hour. By suppertime, we had the deer to the butcher and were at the kitchen table bragging to mama about how awesome we all did.

With two down and one to go, we headed back out today in hopes of finding one, last deer.

I had the other boys stay at home so I could focus on Bode. He and his dad picked me up at 5:30 this morning, and we headed back towards where Rowdy had been successful the weekend prior.

I spotted a couple of groups of deer as soon as we got out of the truck, but they were at least three miles away and I elected to hunt some closer draws to our south. We had only gone about a mile when Bode grabbed my arm and pointed across the drainage. Sure enough, the little fella had spotted three does moving our way! Better yet, they didn't know we were there.

Once again, we dropped to our bellies and I threw Rowdy's 7mm-08 over the pack and told him to find them in the scope. As soon as he had them located, I reached over and increased the magnification while he kept them in the crosshairs.

One dropped out of our line of sight, but another that was trailing 20 yards behind gave him a nice, quartering-to shot. The range was 240 yards. I asked if the shot felt good, and he gave me a quick nod of the head. I said, "Concentrate on a good trigger pull, and fire when you're ready."

It seemed like an eternity, but really only lasted about 5 seconds before he sent a 120 TTSX on the way. He hadn't even recovered from the recoil when I saw her go down barely 10 yards away from where she was originally standing.

His dad was trailing along just 5 yards behind us, and got to watch the whole thing unfold. After a quick round of high-fives, we packed up our stuff and headed over to get a look. Here is Bode a short time later..


It's hard to say whether he or his dad was happier..



It was barely a mile hike out, but 30 pounds of deer probably seems like a lot more when you only weigh 78 pounds yourself. Bode didn't complain a lick on the pack out, but he certainly seemed happy to be relieved of the weight when we got back to the truck.

I didn't manage to tag a deer myself this year, but I can't remember when I've ever had as much fun deer hunting. All three of them are great boys, and have given me their best (as their coach) on the football and baseball fields for many years. It was nice to give back to them a little this fall.

If you haven't taken a kid hunting recently, I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a little extra work to be sure, but the payoff is incredible�

Dave