Free: Contests & Raffles.
Continuing on....Thursday, we slept in a little but the phone rang around 9a.m. with the aunt(mother of the cousin) calling and asking if we were still staying in town and if the cousin could possibly go hunt with us in the evening. Now we had been trying since the range on Friday to get the cousin to come with us hunting. We would make plans and then the cousin would remember something that he had to do like piano lessons or swim practice, ect. It was kind of frustrating as we had been planning this trip with him since June. Plans were made with the aunt to meet up and then go to the place Ashley and I had been hunting. Ashley and I arrived at the meet location a little early and soon got a call from the aunt that we needed to meet at the Fish and Wildlife regional office because the guy at the store where they tried to get his license said that the cousin had to go to the regional office to get his license (turns out the store guy didn't know what he was talking about). So off to the regional office Ashley and I go. After we all arrive at the regional office we find a long line to get service. Ashley and I went outside as there were a lot of people in the lobby. As we were waiting outside two gentlemen came out of the regional office with an employee and walked to a pickup nearby. They lowered the tailgate and there was a nice looking black bear in the pickup. Ashley and I tried to keep our distance while admiring the bear but the gentlemen called us over to get a closer look. As we were standing there the cousin came out of the office and walked over to us. From the look on his face when he saw the bear in the back of the pickup I could tell he had never seen a bear that close up and he may have been seeing his first harvested animal. He was thrilled to see it and started asking questions that the gentlemen seemed only to happy to answer. I really appreciated the time and care that these gentlemen took with the cousin.A short time later the aunt came out of the office and told us that she needed to go home to get the cousin's social security number in order to get his license. We devised a plan that due to time I would take the cousin and head to Plummer while the aunt went home and texted me his SSN. The aunt managed to text me the cousin's SSN just as we got to Plummer. I quickly pulled into the store that sells licenses and tags. Fortunately we were the only ones in the shop so we were able to get the license and tag vey quickly. Off we went for a short drive to the hunting fields. I was now 5p.m. Ashley dropped the cousin and I off near the field where I had gotten my deer and we walked into the area. As we came to the field we found 5 does already in the field. They moved off into the woods as we approached. The cousin and I sat near where I had previously gotten my deer in some grass. I had hoped the grass would mask any movements. As we sat I began to get nervous that we would not see anything. This was not helped by the cousin being a first time hunter that needed to know what every sound in the woods was. I just kept tell in him we needed to sit quiet and still. He said ok and then proceeded to start picking grass. I kind of had to laugh to myself as I remember when my kids did about the same things their first year hunting. I just hoped that we would at least see a deer. I kept scanning the field in front of us for any movement and nothing. For some reason about 6:15 I looked behind us and believe it or not there were 8 does standing in the field.I whispered to the cousin to slowly turn around and come to a kneeling position. He of course turned a lot faster then I would have liked and managed to alert the deer. I whispered to pick a big deer with a good backstop behind it and make sure there were no other deer behind the first one. He whispered "ok" as he centered in on the doe farthest into the field. I replied "take the shot when you are ready." I could see the deer were going to spook at any moment. The rifle cracked and all the deer turned and ran back into the woods. The first thing the cousin said was I think I missed. I asked him why and he replied because all the deer had run back into the woods. I then went through the shot with him, what he saw in the scope, was he comfortable in his kneeling position and so on. The cousin said that he had seen the front leg of the deer, didn't think he had jerked the trigger and felt steady with the rifle. I informed him that we follow up every shot. After he but a fresh round in the chamber we started the track. First I we went to where the deer had been standing and I had the cousin look for any blood or other sign. We found no obvious sign so we headed to where the deer had entered the wooded area. The cousin was still thinking that he had missed. I reassured him that we needed to follow up the shot and that I didn't think he had missed. The shot had only been 40 yards. As we started to enter the wooded area I told the cousin that we needed to go at least 20 yards into the woods before I would even consider the idea that he missed. He still seemed unsure but followed the tracks into the woods. As we entered the cousin went right around a tree and I went left. When I looked up I could see a little white and 10 feet further was able to confirm what I was seeing. I called the cousin over to me and pointing asked him what he could see. I will never forget the look on his face as he saw the deer laying dead under some brush. He was so happy and glad. After a quick as they lay shot I had the cousin help me drag the deer out to the field where Ashley arrived with the car. We loaded the deer up and headed to get it cleaned and skinned and called the cousins mom to let her know. She had gotten the SSN and then headed down to the hunting area. The aunt and little sister were so excited to hear the he had gotten a deer. I later found out that the aunt did not think her son would be successful this quickly. I also felt bad that his dad could not be there for this first. I was humbled to be trusted enough to have this experience. The cousin was only to happy to help with the processing of the deer which was good as Ashley and I didn't want to do it alone. As we started it became obvious that the cousins knife work needed a lot of help. I was able to help him a little by giving him a smaller bladed knife. He was super excited when I had him grab the tail and pull it down and it peeled a bunch of the hide off. The skinning and cleaning went a little slower than usual but we got it done. I blame it on training a first timer. I have to say that I have felt so blessed this year. I am not sure if I could ever top the events that have occurred. I would not trade the experiences I have had for anything. I am so grateful for the time I have spent with my daughter and the wife's cousin and for the aunt and uncle that own the land that we hunted and all their hospitality. I am grateful for the uncle and cousins that were willing to hunt with Ashely and help her. I am also very grateful to all those on HuntWA for all the information that they have posted and the collective knowledge they have all shared.Now only one more hunt to go.....Another first timer but due to others hunting I cant use the usual place. Any ideas?
