archerycrazy
Active Member
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LAST EDITED ON Oct-21-09 AT 04:59PM (MST)[p]I had high hopes of taking a good buck on the Utah rifle hunt this year. I had seen some good bucks but had been unable to get a shot. With several days left to hunt I liked my chances of killing a respectable buck.
My five year old daughter is crazy about hunting. She will sit on the couch all day and watch hunting shows. She had been begging me for weeks to take her hunting this year. I finally decided that I would take her out yesterday afternoon when I left work. My wife dropped her off to me at work as I was leaving and we headed out of town. The wind was howling and a small cold front was coming in as we left the truck to start our hike.
Knowing how far a five year old can usually hike I never really expected to see many deer. A short while after leaving the truck I spotted a herd of deer about 600 yards away on a small hill. We had the strong wind in our favor so we slowly made our way to where we last saw them. After heading in the direction I thought the deer were going my daughter began to complain about a sticker in her sock. As I bent down to pull the sticker from her shoe my daughter said, "Dad, is that a deer up there on the hill?" I looked up where she was pointing and sure enough there was a small buck on the hill above us.
With my daughter begging me to shoot the buck I made a quick decision to not wait for the bigger ones I was after but instead make a memory for my daughter and me. It was her very first day ever hunting deer with me and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to perhaps get her hooked on hunting for good. (Her older sister says she is too much of a girlie girl to go hunting, so I have been hoping one of my girls would enjoy hunting)
I took quick aim and made a good shot that put the deer down. My daughter was thrilled and was declaring it to be the greatest day of her life. Reality quickly set in as the GPS kindly told me that we had wandered 3/4 of a mile from the truck over some not so flat terrain. I spent the next 2 1/2 hours dragging the deer and carrying my pack and rifle. My daughter kept me motivated with lines from the story The Little Engine That Could. "I think I can, I think I can."
We finally made it back to the truck with about 10 minutes of light remaining and off we went to tell everyone of our success. My daughter is telling everyone she knows and is calling it her deer.
What turned out to be one of the smaller bucks I have ever shot has very quickly turned into perhaps my most memorable experience in the field. I wouldn't trade the experience we had for a big buck without her there. She is already talking about next year and the year when she will be old enough to hunt.
My five year old daughter is crazy about hunting. She will sit on the couch all day and watch hunting shows. She had been begging me for weeks to take her hunting this year. I finally decided that I would take her out yesterday afternoon when I left work. My wife dropped her off to me at work as I was leaving and we headed out of town. The wind was howling and a small cold front was coming in as we left the truck to start our hike.
Knowing how far a five year old can usually hike I never really expected to see many deer. A short while after leaving the truck I spotted a herd of deer about 600 yards away on a small hill. We had the strong wind in our favor so we slowly made our way to where we last saw them. After heading in the direction I thought the deer were going my daughter began to complain about a sticker in her sock. As I bent down to pull the sticker from her shoe my daughter said, "Dad, is that a deer up there on the hill?" I looked up where she was pointing and sure enough there was a small buck on the hill above us.
With my daughter begging me to shoot the buck I made a quick decision to not wait for the bigger ones I was after but instead make a memory for my daughter and me. It was her very first day ever hunting deer with me and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to perhaps get her hooked on hunting for good. (Her older sister says she is too much of a girlie girl to go hunting, so I have been hoping one of my girls would enjoy hunting)
I took quick aim and made a good shot that put the deer down. My daughter was thrilled and was declaring it to be the greatest day of her life. Reality quickly set in as the GPS kindly told me that we had wandered 3/4 of a mile from the truck over some not so flat terrain. I spent the next 2 1/2 hours dragging the deer and carrying my pack and rifle. My daughter kept me motivated with lines from the story The Little Engine That Could. "I think I can, I think I can."
We finally made it back to the truck with about 10 minutes of light remaining and off we went to tell everyone of our success. My daughter is telling everyone she knows and is calling it her deer.
What turned out to be one of the smaller bucks I have ever shot has very quickly turned into perhaps my most memorable experience in the field. I wouldn't trade the experience we had for a big buck without her there. She is already talking about next year and the year when she will be old enough to hunt.
