New Plans, change in priorities

[Higgi44]

  As of last night my priorities changed. My 9 year old son passed hunter ed. I didn't plan on him doing this so fast .  I told him if he gets all his school work done then works on hunter ed he could hunt this year. two weeks later here I am. now I'm scrambling thinking my mule deer hunt might be a little much for him. we have a Campbell global pass. so do I throw together a black tail hunt or head over for a white tail Spokane any deer hunt. Crazy how fast my mind went from trying to shoot a deer for myself to wanting him to have an awesome experience and his best chance at success. any thoughts? I'll let you guys know where this adventure takes us. pretty excited for the little guy.

[Blacktail Sniper]

Congrats and welcome to the new hunter!

If you have access to some ground, maybe look hard at the Spokane area for a Whitetail doe. 

If there is time and opportunity, can work with him on taking his time, observing the animals behavior and then picking a good shot.  Might not have that kind of opportunity or luxury with a blacktail.

Early success can really build the fire for a lifetime...

[bullfisher]

Hunting for yourself is going to take a back seat for a while. It's important for kids to have good experiences in their hunting youth. That doesn't have to mean success. They just need to relate hunting with a sense of fun adventure. Just whipping out their favorite candy when they've lost interest during a long hike will do wonders!
IMO, choose the hunt that is best suited for a positive experience with easily navigated terrain. ... 

[huntnfmly]

Hunting for yourself is going to take a back seat for a while. It's important for kids to have good experiences in their hunting youth. That doesn't have to mean success. They just need to relate hunting with a sense of fun adventure. Just whipping out their favorite candy when they've lost interest during a long hike will do wonders!
IMO, choose the hunt that is best suited for a positive experience with easily navigated terrain. ... 

Since my daughters passed their hunters ed not only has my hunting for myself taken a backseat it has left the building lol.
I love it and wouldn't change a thing hunting with my kids

[CoryTDF]

My daughter passed Hunter ED at 8 and we did the same thing. Luckily I archery hunt so it was always my full intention to work for her during the rifle season. Your hunting life just got a whole lot more complicated my friend but it is worth everything you had to sacrifice when your kid puts down their first deer.

One tip I would like to give you is to never loose sight of what you are doing and how old your son is. I found myself a bit frustrated with my daughter until I had a snap of reality and remembered that she was so young and it was way more about making it a good experience than it was about the kill. After that I made sure to focus on stand hunting and not putting her into a position where she would have to make a shot that I knew she could not make. Not many 8-9 year olds that are going to off hand a bumped buck so try not to be in that position. At this age it's about making it fun for them. If you develop that love of the hunt and the bonding time you will have a partner forever and the skills will come. Good luck guys! I'll be out with my now 10.5 YO daughter hoping for a nice clean kill as well.   

[Higgi44]

All great responses! I appreciate it guys. That’s the goal to have a good time together. Enjoy the moments in the great outdoors.

Got a couple leads going to have the kid call a few landowners once he gets home from school.