Last year my oldest daughter took her hunters safety course and got her card. She was 10 years old and I didn't have to push her at all. We took the online version very seriously and she learned a ton. Youth season last year was the 4th and 5th of November. Not to shabby for timing. This is the story of Grace's first hunt with a rifle in her hands. First I give the spoiler. She did not get her first deer, however we got a memory that we get to keep in our back pockets for the rest of our lives.
The morning of the 4th was a chilly one , high teens to start into the 30's by afternoon. After breakfast we got into our blind before daylight. I say blind, because that is what you are supposed to do to help you kid get their first deer. Truth be told, I had never even sat in one before. So this was a real treat for met. Chairs snacks the whole 9 yards...... It was cold in the blind and we had next to zero action. The blind itself was in a pretty good spot and the wind was just right.......in retrospect maybe to right. It overlooked a crossing on a good rut trail. It offered a 60 yard shot max, but that is typical for VT hill country. The range was good because anything in there just right for the 44 mag to get the job done. She could handle the recoil great but the front and was little heavy for her offhand shots. So I brought along a short, trigger style shooting stick. We practiced over and over getting in position for a shot as a team. She got pretty good at it and we were both comfortable she could make a shot pretty quick and efficient. She had good judgement and I was confident she would make good decisions about shots. After the chilly morning she was getting a little restless. This time of year normally I would punish myself and make an all day of it, but I had received some good advice from a older co worker about keeping it fun. It's not your hunt it's theirs. So I gave her the option and we went to town for burgers and chowder. It was delish. We topped it off with cocoa and coffee and back to the woods we went. So I gave her the option again home, blind or walk. She said shed like to walk. I figured we would play a little game with milkweed. With some intention of direction we would stop every few minutes and walk in the direction opposite to the milk weed. We were in the hills so our direction would change every bump and ditch we would cross. It was a North wind that was complimented by the warming thermals moving NE. Although that din't matter. We would just walk the where the Milkweed told us. After about an hour of walking and stopping we got to a thicket of thigh high pines. We were about 4 yards from a stream and we decided to sit. Now I had gotten up early that morning and reasoned, that while Grace was on watch I might just close an eye for a few. She nudges me about 10 minutes in and says "I think I here something". So I put my 40 year old rock n roll, chainsaws and guns ears to work and decided I didn't here anything. We Sat a minute more and I asked If she wanted to walk some more. Said she would. I got up first very slow to check things before we headed and to my surprise a 9 point with a drop tine and a big body was headed right down the opposite side of the brook and he was truckin! As a side note this is not a common thing in VT. I got down and said buck (about 4 times), and we got into position. He was at 25 and I said to hold because he was coming in. He got to 15 just on the other side of the crick. Then he turned toward us. I'm holding the stick, Grace is in position but she was feeling the adrenaline. She gets the hammer back and he still has no Idea we were there. It was a head on shot at a moving target. And it was close quarters. He went down into the crick and came up right in front of us. 4 yards. At this point she had to re-adjust for the shot and that's when he finally made us. He flew across the stream. I gave him a loud "meeeeeeehhh" and he locked up broadside, checking us out at 15 yards. Later she told me all she saw was brown, and didn't want to make a bad shot. As he bounded away into the woods. My initial disappointment of no deer on the ground faded in an instant. This was followed onset of the fresh memory of my daughter and I, shooting stick and gun, staring down the king of the woods. I will treasure that mental picture for the rest of my life. Yes she could have shot it, or any other deer that day, but it didn't matter. It was a win for both of us.........but watch out, because this year we're killing something!
First youth hunt with my daughter
- Scratchman
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First youth hunt with my daughter
"I could eat shlapjacks every day of the weeksh, eh." Jimmer Nagamanee from Menominee
- Boogieman1
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Re: First youth hunt with my daughter
Well done! Enjoy reading these stories, have a lil one who's still to young, but I'm am getting excited for when the day finally comes. Good luck, hope to see a pic of her smiling behind a biggen
Life is hard; It’s even harder if you are stupid.
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- Dpierce72
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Re: First youth hunt with my daughter
Cherish those moments.
"Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make your a better person." ~Fred Bear
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Re: First youth hunt with my daughter
That's a great story, I bet she was shaking like a leaf and is probably hooked! Sounds like a trooper if she wanted to do a morning and an evening hunt like that. Looking forward to mine getting old enough to take
Make It Happen
- Scratchman
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Re: First youth hunt with my daughter
Swampbuck wrote:That's a great story, I bet she was shaking like a leaf and is probably hooked! Sounds like a trooper if she wanted to do a morning and an evening hunt like that. Looking forward to mine getting old enough to take
She certainly was. The adrenaline dump was visible. She asked if it happened to me.......everytime
"I could eat shlapjacks every day of the weeksh, eh." Jimmer Nagamanee from Menominee
- bowfreak8
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Re: First youth hunt with my daughter
That's a great story and something I am looking forward with my 3 Boys.
- Jackson Marsh
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Re: First youth hunt with my daughter
Close encounters like that are the best!
- BAS4109
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Re: First youth hunt with my daughter
Awesome story! She will never forget that encounter.
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