Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hunt with your kids...

...and you wont' have to hunt for them.

Well, that's the theory at least. Both of mine may very well grow up to be axe-murders or Democrats, but for the moment I get to feel like I'm doing things the right way.

It has been a wonderful big-game season for myself and my family. It started off in mid-October with a raghorn 5x bull for myself and a spike (first elk) for a good buddy of mine.

A month later I took my son back to the same unit for an OTC cow hunt. The first morning left me feeling uneasy about our chances, as I didn't cut any fresh tracks and the only herd I spotted was a long, long way off and out of reach. The weather was bitter cold, and we were sleeping in tents. I had warned my son in advance that it wouldn't be a cake-walk though, and he seemed to have the right mental, mindset. Here's Rowdy (my son) the first morning looking over our country..



After a warm meal at camp, we headed back out for the evening hunt. Almost immediately, I spotted a good-sized herd in an area I though we could make a run on. A quick descent of a thousand vertical feet, and we were as close as we were going to be. The range-finder read "403", which is the edge of where I feel comfortable for him. He got into the best position he was going to get, and told me he felt good to let one fly.

At the report of the shot, the cow dropped and started rolling down the hill. An hour later and JUST as it was getting too dark to see, we managed to located her in a patch of brush where she'd gotten hung up. My apologies for the chitty photo, but it was the best I could manage under the circumstances...


The pack out was not a lot of fun, but I was EXTREMELY proud of my son for dropping his head and grinding it out the next day. We were both exhausted when it was all said and done, but enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that can only be enjoyed through completing a job that pushes you to your limits.

With two elk in the freezer, I wasn't feeling any sense of urgency to fill the doe tag Rowdy had drawn. My 8-year old daughter (Gracie) surprised me early in the week by asking if she could join us for a hunt though, so we decided to give it a go this past Wednesday. Tuesday night's forecast was calling for blizzard-like conditions the next day, and I tried to pull the plug on the hunt the following day. Gracie absolutely tore me up when I mentioned cancelling the hunt, so I told Rowdy to mentally prepare himself to head out the next morning.. I couldn't figure out why she was suddenly so gung-ho to hunt with us, but I wasn't about to let the moment slip away...weather be damned.

The first couple of hours were pretty rough. We spooked the only herd of deer we saw, and the weather just plain sucked. Having said that, Gracie was all smiles and was loving the adventure of it all. Around 11 o'clock or so the weather broke and I finally spotted some deer we could make a move on. A hike of a half-mile or so put us in position above a doe at just over 200 yards. She had no idea we were there, and we had plenty of time to get ready and for Gracie to share in the excitement of it all. Rowdy made a great shot, and the doe didn't go 10 yards before she was down. Here are both kids just seconds after the shot....




It was too steep to go directly to the doe, so we hiked along the cliff-edge for several hundred yards before we found a spot we could scramble down through.

Gracie didn't seem at all fazed by the dead deer, and was all too happy to take some pictures with her old, fat dad.



I figured if she was in for a penny, then in for a pound. I loaded Rowdy up with the hind-quarters, and put the rest of the deer (fronts, backstraps, etc.) on her. I felt mildly guilty for the first hundred or so yards of the pack out as I had literally nothing in my pack, but the guilt soon wore off and I just enjoyed watching my kids make their way up and out of the canyon.



It was only about a mile or so back to the truck, but there were a couple of gnarly spots that weren't a lot of fun to get through...



When we finally made it to the top, I could tell Rowdy had a newly-found respect for his little sister. Just as importantly, I could tell she had enjoyed the entire experience. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying it, but I think I may have another hunting partner in my little girl.

It was truly a great day to be a dad, and one of those experiences I'll treasure forever. I hope it's the first of many more days like it yet to come.

Dave

Thanks for the wonderful post Dave, great memories for sure and growing up in the outdoors is pretty key to keeping a kid on track and learning to appreciate the "real world".
Well done!

Good stuff - always really enjoy your posts with your kids!! Congrats to you all - that first pic of your son is great. He looks ready to rock-n-roll.

That is just absolutely awesome! My hat is off to you and your new hunting partners on your succesful trip. My boys started tagging along with me over 20 years ago. Now they are in thier late 20's and live 900 miles north of us, we still manage a few fishing and hunting trips each year. Your post brought back some great memories, thanks!

Great stuff. What's the boy shooting there?

Definitely a red letter season....good for you and your hunters.

A great hunt and a nice shot by Rowdy!
Li'l Sis isn't gonna be content to stay at home during hunt season any longer!
Another rifle and freezer are in your future, Dad!

Absolutely awesome, Dave. Hats off to all of you for getting out and enjoying some great hunts together! Looks to me like that young lady of yours will soon have permits of her own in her pocket and a rifle over her shoulder. Just bought deer tags today for my wife and kids (daughter is 12 and son is 9), so we are anxious to get out next week.

What is your son shooting? From the pictures I'd say the young man knows exactly what he is doing with it!

Thanks for sharing the pictures and story and best wishes to all of you for many more memorable hunts together!

Well done

Congratulations

Great Post!

I'm double happy that you outfit the boy with good gear and good clothing. They grow out of it fast, and too many parents go cheap accordingly. The kids suffer and get a bad taste for hunting.

It's obvious yours love it.

awesome.......i love hunting with my kids

Atta-boy! Love it!

Great story and pictures. Way to go dad!

That kind of experience together builds family and builds character and quality into each of those developing young adults.

I'm hunting with grandkids now, another generation. Four of my grandsons have taken their first deer or first bear when hunting with me. Now I keep camp for them more than hunt hard. This Fall, my son helped two of his nephews get bull elk and then he killed a large bull himself and they helped pack his out. He got to cell phone range, made a call and three of my grandsons showed up to pack meat out of a deep canyon. Shared memories make for tight bonds.

Well done!

Excellent, I love these threads.

That pretty awesome watching your youngsters develop into hunters. Equally awesome is seeing them work a job through to the end managing fatigue and working together. Congrats!!

Very Cool. Tough Kids

It has been working for decades...