Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Rowdy tagged a good one..

My 17yo has been in hot pursuit of birds for the last two weeks. He's come soooo close on multiple occasions, but failed to connect for various reasons. I kept offering to go with him and assist, but it was clear to me he was bound and determined to do it on his own.

He called me this morning at 7:30 and was jabbering like a monkey as soon as I picked up. He'd killed his biggest bird ever, as the beard measured just over 10". That's a damn fine bird by Idaho standards. He said he rolled him at 30 yards with the first shot, but the bird had kicked himself precariously to the river's edge and in fear he'd flop in the river and float away, Rowdy gave him a follow-up shot to anchor him. The fan was mangled accordingly, and the wet grass didn't help much either...but he was still as proud as could be.

The truth is, I think I was even more proud of him. This is the second year in a row he's killed a bird without me. I love that he's taken what little I've shown him and made it into his own passion. I also love that the message of "hard work pays off" was reinforced for him. He's been getting up at 4:30 every other day for a couple of weeks now, so it was awesome to see it all come together for him.

Forgive a proud father for bragging a little too much. Here he is with his bird and his buddy...