My son’s first deer hunting experience was a success in many ways and I could not be more happy or relieved. I applied for this deer tag in eastern Washington this spring in hopes that if I drew it, it would provide a quality experience for him due to the non existent hunting pressure on the ranch but game rich environment. I also wanted both his grandpas to be there. I got lucky and drew the tag and made the arrangements for late November. I pulled him out of school Friday afternoon, made the long drive over and rented a cabin for the night which was a lot of fun.
Next morning, we met up with the ranch owner and he pointed us in the right direction. We could already see some deer in the nearby fields and could see the tall grass and sage that they would inevitably head towards as daylight came about. I explained to my boy what the plan was and why, and we started heading down the decommissioned road with a good backdrop of cliffs behind us. As we made our way, we could hear chuckar in the rocks above us, coyotes in the distance and flushed a rooster pheasant out of the grass nearby. We spotted more and more deer as we edged along, including a couple young bucks trailing does. It was a really cool experience to have my son by my side and both grandpas trailing behind.
Finally we got to a good spot to set up and let the deer come to us. I lay prone with my rifle over my pack and began ranging deer. I either had deer not stop moving, too far to shoot or poor shot angles. There was no way I was going to force something, especially with my son’s experience being the biggest priority. I wanted high odds of one shot and down. Finally, a doe popped out of the tall weeds at 245 and stood broadside, I squeeze the shot off and she dropped in her tracks. I rolled over from my position and could see my boy excited and both grandpas high fiving. What a great feeling.
We made the short hike over and my boy got to see first hand the entire process of field to table. There were a lot of questions answered, touching the fur/nose/teeth/hooves of the beautiful mule deer doe, how to notch a tag, how we remove the meat to take home, ect. We were able to drive the truck right up to where the deer laid so I was able to keep my boy comfortable and warm with a portable fire pit, hot coco and doughnuts.
I feel very blessed to have this incredible experience with my boy and his grandpas- hopefully the beginning of many more to come. On the way home, my boy said he had fun and would go hunting with me again- I sure hope so!
