A great day with my daughter.

[jackelope]

Well hopefully I can say today started what will be a lifetime of hunting memories with my 8 year old daughter. She doesn't "hunt" yet but she's been talking about wanting to go with me for a while now. Today would be that day I've been waiting for for a long time. We made a bonsai run to SE WA last night after work. Got in around midnight. Kiddo said she wanted to wake up at 6 to go hunting, so that's what we did. Headed out and were out right after daylight broke over here. Didn't see any deer for the 1st 2 hours but we had fun anyway.




She was getting antsy around 9am so we headed back to the truck. Didn't want to make for a negative experience so when she was ready to be done, I would be too. Right before we left she had a ladybug land on her. We decided it would be good luck.


She said she wanted to drive around and look for deer.  We spotted a flock of turkeys so we got out to look.  In the same field I saw 2 bedded bucks in the middle of a stubble field maybe about a half mile away on land we had permission to hunt. . We looked at them for a while and I couldn't decide if 1-I wanted to shoot one and 2-was the kiddo going to be able to make it to them.


There was a big deep draw between us and the deer. We ended up going back to the house for a hot chocolate and a snack. After 30-40 minutes I talked her into going back to see if they were still there...they were and I figured out a reasonable  way to get us closer without us having to cross that big draw. After 5.5 hours of sleep and a hike already in the books, I just don't think she could've pulled that off. I honestly didn't think we had a chance of getting a shot but we went for it anyway. About 1.5 hours later I was at 370 yards from them and could see one of the 2. Too far for me to shoot. We backed out and dropped down into a big draw where we could get closer. We popped out a few minutes later and I could see both bucks at 270 yards. I got the rifle set up on the bipod for what I thought might be a long time waiting for the bigger one to stand up. Next thing I know he stood up broadside looking at me. I was able to get a good shot into him and he went about 80 yards and tipped over. We had our thumbs up and hugs and watched him for a few minutes to make sure he was down. 30 minutes later we made our way to him.
Long range
"As he lays".




As he layed:


My kiddo with him.


Me:


I'd like to thank the private landowners of SE WA who allowed us to access their land. It was a great day with my kid I'll never forget.

[jackelope]

Wow. Sorry for the long winded post. Hope you enjoyed it.

[KFhunter]

fantastic hunt 

[3nails]

 A special hunt for sure! Nice!

[nwwanderer]

Enjoyed it and more important, it appears your daughter did also!!!!

[MHWASH]

That's awesome Josh!

[hyde35]

Very cool. I am taking my daughter out next year. Hoping for the same results.

[Todd_ID]

Excellent story man! Good job all the way around!

[Mark Brenckle]

Great story, great pics! Congrats   

[fish vacuum]

One of the best posts I've read in a long time.

[Timberstalker]

One of the best posts I've read in a long time.

You ain't kidding!  Awesome Jack!
Glad it all came together. Nice buck to boot!

[kentrek]

  pretty dang awesome, congratulations

[Pinetar]

Great post. Congrats to both of you.

[jackelope]

Thanks guys. Not the biggest buck on the mountain but who cares.  I hope all of you dads get to experience the same thing with your kids. The outdoors make for some amazing times with kids and family. Not sure what I'm going to do when she kills her 1st animal.

[KFhunter]

You're going to talk about it until she shoots her 2nd deer, then you'll talk about that one until she shoots her 3rd then pretty soon you'll talk about all the bucks you've taken over the years together and she'll talk about how it was some of the best times of her life.