To say that my son is lucky is a understatement. He will turn 13 years old on Saturday.
To date he has harvested 4 buck and 1 doe. He has shot a Wild Turkey with a 8" beard and a fair amount of small game.
In retrospect because of his birthday this would be his first year hunting if the Mentored Youth program wasn't around.
At the beginning of every school year I make a deal with him. If he gets the grades I expect I will make it worth his hard work. He said he wanted to go out west Antelope hunting. So I agreed. He got the grades and off we went. We flew into Bozeman MT and met up with my best friend who has been living out there since college. He had got some permission from a land owner of a 10k acre ranch, we were the only ones hunting it on the opener. We got there Friday night before the opener and found several herds on the property along with a few good bucks. In the morning we woke up and did some glassing. We found a good buck by itself near a creek bottom that would give ample cover. We stared a stalk on that one. Between coyotes and cows in the creek bottom that buck always seemed to stay about a 1/4 mile away from us. We made a couple different moves and ended up closing the distance on one. After a 4 mile stalk and a 80 yard crawl through prickly pear cactus on his hands and knees he got set up prone and make a 310 yards kill shot with a .280. This was the farthest shot he had ever taken at game by over 200 yards. He is very lucky and fortunate to have the opportunities that he has, he understands this and does not take it for granted. The only way anyone can feel the pride I feel is if they have a son/daughter/loved one that they have helped grow up in the woods like my son has. Did I mention every animal he has ever shot has been one shot one kill! I am so excited for Monday I can't stand it. To me, big deer, small deer, or no deer, just spending the time with my son is priceless. He on the other hand is still a little about the getting!!!!
To date he has harvested 4 buck and 1 doe. He has shot a Wild Turkey with a 8" beard and a fair amount of small game.
In retrospect because of his birthday this would be his first year hunting if the Mentored Youth program wasn't around.
At the beginning of every school year I make a deal with him. If he gets the grades I expect I will make it worth his hard work. He said he wanted to go out west Antelope hunting. So I agreed. He got the grades and off we went. We flew into Bozeman MT and met up with my best friend who has been living out there since college. He had got some permission from a land owner of a 10k acre ranch, we were the only ones hunting it on the opener. We got there Friday night before the opener and found several herds on the property along with a few good bucks. In the morning we woke up and did some glassing. We found a good buck by itself near a creek bottom that would give ample cover. We stared a stalk on that one. Between coyotes and cows in the creek bottom that buck always seemed to stay about a 1/4 mile away from us. We made a couple different moves and ended up closing the distance on one. After a 4 mile stalk and a 80 yard crawl through prickly pear cactus on his hands and knees he got set up prone and make a 310 yards kill shot with a .280. This was the farthest shot he had ever taken at game by over 200 yards. He is very lucky and fortunate to have the opportunities that he has, he understands this and does not take it for granted. The only way anyone can feel the pride I feel is if they have a son/daughter/loved one that they have helped grow up in the woods like my son has. Did I mention every animal he has ever shot has been one shot one kill! I am so excited for Monday I can't stand it. To me, big deer, small deer, or no deer, just spending the time with my son is priceless. He on the other hand is still a little about the getting!!!!