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Guest
Guest
It appears I have a new hunting buddy as of yesterday afternoon. My youngest, Hannah, age 6, has been after me since the spring to take her hunting with me. I was going to take her on a dove hunt this year, but it didn't pan out. So she's been waiting patiently for rifle season to open. Well, This was the weekend, and Sunday afternoon I got the opportunity to take her out for a couple of hours.
We headed out to the lease and discovered we had the place to ourselves. So I drove up to the top of the lease and parked close to where we were going to hunt. We loaded up our packs to "hike" about 1000yds and set up our ground blind on a field that has been fairly good for afternoon hunts. Got all set and she was just as excited as could be when I pulled out an extra pair of binos in 8x26 for her to use. She immediately started glassing the field and treelines for me.
I had intentionally made this a short hunt, to keep her interest. We were in the blind at about 330p, giving us just under 2hrs of hunt time. About 45min into the hunt, she turned to me and smiled...
and told me, "I don't know how, but even the waiting is fun, Daddy!"
So I'm really conflicted at this point, as I'd like her to see some deer but I'm not sure she'll be okay with a dead deer and me cleaning it. But she's happy regardless up to this point. And I've briefed her about what will happen and she seems okay with it. So we sit until after sundown. She's bummed we haven't seen anything, but still enjoying herself. So we start stuffing the various stuff back into our packs, and I look up and a doe has entered the field. I get her on it with her binos, and she says she can see it eating and walking. I'm pretty pumped - more pumped about showing her this deer in the dusky light than I thought I'd be. I get my rifle situated but I'm so excited about her seeing this that I can't get steady for a shot. I sit back, take a breath, and reposition my shooting sticks. Then I'm ready, but now the doe is facing us, and I know better than to end to end that doe with my 300Wby in front of Hannah, as it will smell terrible and she'll throw up. Light is fading fast, and the doe just keeps feeding facing us. Hannah is asking, "Are you gonna shoot her, Daddy?" in an urgent whisper, over and over. Light is fading fast, and I look at my watch and realize it's now after legal shooting hours. So I tell Hannah we can't shoot now, that it's too dark, and she asks a few questions. I get to turn it into a teachable moment, at least, and help her understand that we only take shots we are confident we can make, and in the dark, I can't get a good sight picture and that means I can't be confident. She smiles and says, "Can we watch her some more?" Of course, we do, and can barely make her out under the crescent moon. Soon enough, there are 5 black spots feeding around the field, and we watch a bit and then grab our packs and head back to the truck. The whole time, Hannah is beaming and talking about how great this was. I believe I've got a new hunting buddy for life...and of course, I'm calling her my lucky charm because whenever she hunts with me, I see deer!
We headed out to the lease and discovered we had the place to ourselves. So I drove up to the top of the lease and parked close to where we were going to hunt. We loaded up our packs to "hike" about 1000yds and set up our ground blind on a field that has been fairly good for afternoon hunts. Got all set and she was just as excited as could be when I pulled out an extra pair of binos in 8x26 for her to use. She immediately started glassing the field and treelines for me.
I had intentionally made this a short hunt, to keep her interest. We were in the blind at about 330p, giving us just under 2hrs of hunt time. About 45min into the hunt, she turned to me and smiled...
and told me, "I don't know how, but even the waiting is fun, Daddy!"
So I'm really conflicted at this point, as I'd like her to see some deer but I'm not sure she'll be okay with a dead deer and me cleaning it. But she's happy regardless up to this point. And I've briefed her about what will happen and she seems okay with it. So we sit until after sundown. She's bummed we haven't seen anything, but still enjoying herself. So we start stuffing the various stuff back into our packs, and I look up and a doe has entered the field. I get her on it with her binos, and she says she can see it eating and walking. I'm pretty pumped - more pumped about showing her this deer in the dusky light than I thought I'd be. I get my rifle situated but I'm so excited about her seeing this that I can't get steady for a shot. I sit back, take a breath, and reposition my shooting sticks. Then I'm ready, but now the doe is facing us, and I know better than to end to end that doe with my 300Wby in front of Hannah, as it will smell terrible and she'll throw up. Light is fading fast, and the doe just keeps feeding facing us. Hannah is asking, "Are you gonna shoot her, Daddy?" in an urgent whisper, over and over. Light is fading fast, and I look at my watch and realize it's now after legal shooting hours. So I tell Hannah we can't shoot now, that it's too dark, and she asks a few questions. I get to turn it into a teachable moment, at least, and help her understand that we only take shots we are confident we can make, and in the dark, I can't get a good sight picture and that means I can't be confident. She smiles and says, "Can we watch her some more?" Of course, we do, and can barely make her out under the crescent moon. Soon enough, there are 5 black spots feeding around the field, and we watch a bit and then grab our packs and head back to the truck. The whole time, Hannah is beaming and talking about how great this was. I believe I've got a new hunting buddy for life...and of course, I'm calling her my lucky charm because whenever she hunts with me, I see deer!
