Daughter's first hunt

[castie2504]

This year I was blessed with the best hunting adventure of my life with my four year old daughter. We did not harvest an animal but that did not in anyway deduct from our experience. As I write, a sense of pride and accomplishment is overshadowed by the joyful, wondrous memories with her. This is her story.

Alexa, an intelligent and loving little princess, only months ago asked if she could accompany "the big boys" on the annual deer hunt after watching an online video of a little girl hunting with her father. She was intrigued at the thought of someone like her hunting, she wanted to help put some protein on the table. I was floored by her comphrension of why I hunt, she understood that I only harvest wild game to feed our family. After the lump was cleared from my throat and I convinced the tear in my eye to subside did I accept her proposal with a sense of pride. My little princess is growing up right in front of me and I was determined to make sure she could experience all that she wanted to. A few weeks later she again unleashed my sentimental side when she asked, "Daddy, can I shoot the deer?" Of course she is still too young to shoot the .243, but one day she will have that opportunity, God willing. For the next few months hunting was on her mind constantly, she was hooked on the hunt. A few weeks before the season we went down to the local Cabelas to outfit her properly. She picked out a set of pink camouflaged overalls and a hunter orange Underamour sweatshirt. I could see in her eyes the excitement and wonder in preparation for HER hunt. We fitted her with a very nice pair of hiking boots and with that she was ready. In the weeks leading up to opening day we discussed everything from the differences between a boy deer and girl deer to using the binoculars to glass the hills. We practiced whispering to one another and talking about how we would push into a good bedding area and wait for the deer to come to us. After several months of waiting opening morning finally arrived.

It was barely five in the morning when I woke her up to get her ready. She quickly rolled out of bed and donned her camo and orange sweatshirt, tying her boots by herself. She hit the bathroom, upon coming out of the washroom she was greeted by my camera. I was fortunate enough to snap a few pictures before she put her hands on her hips and said, "alright daddy, let's go already." We packed my backpack with the essentials, water and some snacks for her. We met my brother soon after and made our way to the hunting area in the truck. She was quite reserved in the ride to the hunting grounds, I can only wonder what she was thinking on the short 15 minute drive. We arrived and she was ready to go. I stepped out onto the dirt road in between a harvested wheat field and sage brush/grass patch. I unbuckled her and strapped my backpack on me, grabbing her and setting her feet securely on the ground. My cousin and brother headed north and we headed west into the darkness. The dark skies above us hid the deer well before the dawn. We hiked west about 800 yards where we stopped, perched three-quarters of the way up a hill facing east. I again took a moment to take a few pictures of her in the dark. For the next half hour we sat in that grassy hill talking and waiting for the sun shine its rays upon the land. I had the privilege to share the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen with Alexa. The sun rose from the east, slowly revealing the land before us. The sky eventually turned blue with a few clouds hanging innocently above us. We glassed the hillside for several minutes before continuing on.

Another 400 yards into the hunt we spotted some does. I could not help but ignore the does and instead watch her as she witnessed her first live deer. She was excited, until now she had never seen deer in the wild, their beauty struck her immensely. She proudly pointed out to me that we could not harvest a "momma deer." We carried on, walking through the 2 1/2 foot tall grass onto the next hill. On the next hill we stopped and glassed, she took the north facing hill and I took the east. Suddenly, I hear her whisper to me. "Daddy, look! It's a coyote!" She had spotted a coyote just two hundred yards away minding its own business. We watched as it slowly made its way northwest over the hill. We continued on, spotting the same does we had seen earlier. At this point she said it was time for a break, I happily obliged and we sat down and she enjoyed some cookies. As she sat there munching on her snacks she thanked me for allowing her to accompany me. It was I however, who was thankful to have her along. We snapped a few pictures and began to hike again. A few hills later we finally saw what we were after, the buck oblivious to our presence.  He was a small two point muley, too small to be legal so we just sat and watched him. Eventually the subtle breeze gave us away and the buck slowly hopped away. Alexa started to giggle, she claimed that the buck was confused. I was confused so I asked why the deer was confused. "Daddy that buck thinks it's a bunny!" I had to laugh, I explained to her that deer will hop sometimes but she did not like that explanation. "That's silly, he's not a bunny!" We ended up seeing more does but no shooter bucks. Later that morning we ran into my brother and cousin. We decided to hike up another half mile north into a draw that has held deer in the past. Unfortunately, there was nothing but sage brush and grass. We hiked back to the truck, and I apologized to her for not getting to shoot a buck. She replied, "that's ok daddy, I still love you."

On our way out we ran into another cousin who asked for help dragging his buck out of a draw a half mile from the road. We hiked in and helped. Alexa jumped on the deer when she saw it. She could not take her eyes off of it! She was awestruck at the size of it and it's beauty. I could not have been prouder.

That was the end of her first morning hunt, I could not have asked for a better morning. She hiked nearly 3 1/2 miles without a problem except for about 300 yards when I carried her through some tall Canadian thistle. This was the best hunting trip I have had and I look forward to having her out there again! i am so fortunate to live in the US and raise my children here.

Below are some of the pictures of our trip.

[rasbo]

that's what its all about to me,good post

[Wanttohuntmore]

Good job giving your daughter an experience she will remember forever.  I bet the look on her face when she saw your cousin's buck was priceless.  Keep up the good work!

[ELKBURGER]

What a cutie pie! You must be doing something right Keep at it and she'll be your favorite hunting buddy!

[pilebuck]

Very good post great times and glad to see family having fun together

[Mark251]

Great story!  Congratulations to your daughter 

[Eli346]

Great write-up and a beautiful daughter to boot! It's great that she's taken such an interest. Your pride is expressed in the story. Congrats.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Great post! Thanks!

[pianoman9701]

  Great job. She sure is cute! Nice animal, too.

[250savage]

Great memories for you and her.

[Jrod79]

 

[runningboard]

great post, thanks for sharing 

[724wd]

best hunting report on here!   

[JDHasty]

Took my six-year old daughter out w/me elk hunting and we knocked over a cow.  She had a blast and she held the rear leg over so that I could get started gutting it.  Once my buddies showed up she was happy to watch and provide color commentary. 

The next day one of my buddies had to backtrack and locate her Hoochie Mama and the case for her binocular that was left in the field, but what a wonderful experience.   

[ShaneTyTrey]

 

Awesome!