wankerjake
Member
It's been a tough year for us, emotionally. A lot of big changes that hurt. But my kids FINALY drew some big game tags in AZ. Been looking forward to these hunts since they were born. I've tried to teach my kids about why hunting is good and wholesome and worthy of their time. We love to cook game meat together and view and appreciate wildlife and the outdoors and talk about conservation etc. But finally this year they got to participate and become a part of the food chain.
We practiced shooting this year and I was a bit worried going in. They are progressing slowly on the rifles, and they really only shoot one of them well. The bolt action 223. So I loaded them out with 64gr Nosler Bonded bullets and after numerous sessions I figured my youngest was good out to 120 yards or so and my oldest to about 200 yards. We need to do more shooting
My youngest daughter drew a doe tag her first year applying. This was a lucky draw. Since the hunt is on the fabled Arizona Kaibab, we figured a doe would be no problem to go and get. After the first morning and mid day in our hotspots didn't produce a single deer, I admit I was getting worried. I was ready to call out of work for more time. My little huntress first morning:
By 3pm we hadn't seen a single deer and were getting a little worried. This is a hard feat to accomplish in this area. As we drove to a glassing area I'd marked last year we finally saw some deer from the road. I really didn't want to stalk road deer on her first hunt but decided we needed as many opportunities we could get. It takes her a bit to get on target and ready for a shot. So, we drove around the corner and parked. My dad was with us, my oldest daughter stayed in camp with her cousins. I decided to drop her off and have her stalk with grandpa while I moved the truck further away. Grandpa and Jenna stalked over the hill (very short stalk) and the deer were still there in an aspen thicket, but they could only see one. It was antlerless so she got set up on her bipod and according to grandpa aimed for an extraordinary amount of time
The deer was close, around 50 yards, but the thicket of aspen saplings was very thick and she only had a neck shot. Grandpa told her to take it. She finally fired and Grandpa didn't see anything run away. He asked Jenna if she thought she hit it. She said "oh yes, I saw it fall down in the scope." She was right:
It was super cool to have her get her first deer with Grandpa. I mean, I got my first deer with him
A very special moment in all our lives.
We got home the next day and cooked fresh deer heart and liver and mashed potatoes:
The next weekend we set out for my oldest daughter Jill's hunt. She had struck out completely on her first two years of applying for big game in AZ so she was excited to finally get to go. This would be more of a challenge as she had to shoot a buck in the desert, a bit more challenging perhaps than a doe on the Kaibab. We had my brother and Grandpa to help us glass though so I had high expectations that we'd get an opportunity.
Day 1 we got to the glassing point at about 3PM due to school and such. We didn't see much but driving out we spotted a herd from the road with a forky. Right before dark Jill took at shot at ~150 yards with the 308. She missed. She reminded me she prefers the 223 and I conceded we should be using that going forward.
The next morning my brother glassed a coues buck right away at 260 yards. We had to make a sneak on this buck. 260yards? We have to shave 60-100 yards no problem huh? The deer were slowly feeding downhill and stalking them in the desert is tricky. Every time we gained distance they would feed away and make it up. FINALLY we cut some distance behind what little cover we had and I came out from cover and ranged the deer I could see and the ranger read 188 yards. Yesssss.
Coues country is usually garbage. Steep. Steeper even than it looks. This was no exception. We finally got the bipod set as good as we could and I glassed and glassed and couldn't find the damn buck. Finally I found him and he was at 215 yards. The country is so deceiving. Where we were and where the deer were, I decided we couldn't really get closer but she should be able to handle the extra 15 yards.
She hit the buck on the second shot. There were several more volleys. In the end, she killed him. This was a learning experience for us. She kept her cool and made a good executive coup de grace when the time came. I'm proud of her.
We got the deer butchered and made Grandma fettucine alfredo with meatballs for her birthday:
All in all. We all love teaching our children, if we are worth a damn as parents. It's especially enjoyable to watch them take to an activity we consider important and fun and also we are passionate about it. I feel like this first go-round was a great success. They seemed to like it and want to do it again and I love it. I hope next year brings more of these experiences for us.
We practiced shooting this year and I was a bit worried going in. They are progressing slowly on the rifles, and they really only shoot one of them well. The bolt action 223. So I loaded them out with 64gr Nosler Bonded bullets and after numerous sessions I figured my youngest was good out to 120 yards or so and my oldest to about 200 yards. We need to do more shooting
My youngest daughter drew a doe tag her first year applying. This was a lucky draw. Since the hunt is on the fabled Arizona Kaibab, we figured a doe would be no problem to go and get. After the first morning and mid day in our hotspots didn't produce a single deer, I admit I was getting worried. I was ready to call out of work for more time. My little huntress first morning:
By 3pm we hadn't seen a single deer and were getting a little worried. This is a hard feat to accomplish in this area. As we drove to a glassing area I'd marked last year we finally saw some deer from the road. I really didn't want to stalk road deer on her first hunt but decided we needed as many opportunities we could get. It takes her a bit to get on target and ready for a shot. So, we drove around the corner and parked. My dad was with us, my oldest daughter stayed in camp with her cousins. I decided to drop her off and have her stalk with grandpa while I moved the truck further away. Grandpa and Jenna stalked over the hill (very short stalk) and the deer were still there in an aspen thicket, but they could only see one. It was antlerless so she got set up on her bipod and according to grandpa aimed for an extraordinary amount of time
The deer was close, around 50 yards, but the thicket of aspen saplings was very thick and she only had a neck shot. Grandpa told her to take it. She finally fired and Grandpa didn't see anything run away. He asked Jenna if she thought she hit it. She said "oh yes, I saw it fall down in the scope." She was right:
It was super cool to have her get her first deer with Grandpa. I mean, I got my first deer with him
A very special moment in all our lives.We got home the next day and cooked fresh deer heart and liver and mashed potatoes:
The next weekend we set out for my oldest daughter Jill's hunt. She had struck out completely on her first two years of applying for big game in AZ so she was excited to finally get to go. This would be more of a challenge as she had to shoot a buck in the desert, a bit more challenging perhaps than a doe on the Kaibab. We had my brother and Grandpa to help us glass though so I had high expectations that we'd get an opportunity.
Day 1 we got to the glassing point at about 3PM due to school and such. We didn't see much but driving out we spotted a herd from the road with a forky. Right before dark Jill took at shot at ~150 yards with the 308. She missed. She reminded me she prefers the 223 and I conceded we should be using that going forward.
The next morning my brother glassed a coues buck right away at 260 yards. We had to make a sneak on this buck. 260yards? We have to shave 60-100 yards no problem huh? The deer were slowly feeding downhill and stalking them in the desert is tricky. Every time we gained distance they would feed away and make it up. FINALLY we cut some distance behind what little cover we had and I came out from cover and ranged the deer I could see and the ranger read 188 yards. Yesssss.
Coues country is usually garbage. Steep. Steeper even than it looks. This was no exception. We finally got the bipod set as good as we could and I glassed and glassed and couldn't find the damn buck. Finally I found him and he was at 215 yards. The country is so deceiving. Where we were and where the deer were, I decided we couldn't really get closer but she should be able to handle the extra 15 yards.
She hit the buck on the second shot. There were several more volleys. In the end, she killed him. This was a learning experience for us. She kept her cool and made a good executive coup de grace when the time came. I'm proud of her.
We got the deer butchered and made Grandma fettucine alfredo with meatballs for her birthday:
All in all. We all love teaching our children, if we are worth a damn as parents. It's especially enjoyable to watch them take to an activity we consider important and fun and also we are passionate about it. I feel like this first go-round was a great success. They seemed to like it and want to do it again and I love it. I hope next year brings more of these experiences for us.
