A Deer Hunt to Remember

[HarryToolips]

So one of my hunting partners & I decided to take my 8 year old (now 9 years old) out on a deer hunt in the hope that he could be a part of his first big game harvest in the woods. ....he had helped me with skinning & tasks like that on several occasions when I brought an animal home, but he never got to be a part of a harvest other than on small game up to that point....

My partner & I had harvested a bull elk so we were already good for meat, & his intention was to shoot a buck that had to have 4 tines at least on each antler...for me, my objective was to see game, spot legal game with my son, and let him make the decision whether or not to shoot it....so we make our way up the mountain to a ridgetop, but my boy only being 8 was slowing us down a bit so my partner and I decided to split up, he took the lower ridge, while my son & I took the higher ridge...

So when my son & I are at the top of the one ridge, we get to glassing right away, it was cold & windy, so at one point to keep his mind off the cold while I was glassing he decided to climb trees - perfectly fine by me...

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[HarryToolips]

So eventually I spot a half dozen mule deer & get eyes on them through the spotting scope - one is a small buck (Oct any buck is open)....so I get his eyes on the buck through the spotter and ask: "son, should we pursue that buck and try to harvest him? WHat do you want to do?"

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[HarryToolips]

So a couple of minutes he watches the buck through the spotter & says: "dad, lets try to get a bigger one, let's let that buck grow"....right then I think to myself - awesome! I'm so glad to hear him talk like that....

[HarryToolips]

So a few minutes after that, suddenly we hear "bang"...to which he excitedly exclaims that that had to be my buddy that shot something we need to call him right away...so I tell him "na let's just give him a few minutes, he'll call us when he's ready"....so sure enough, buddy calls about 3 minutes later to tell me he downed a nice 4x4.....

So we make our way down to buddy & my son is pumped to finally be a part of a big game harvest....my buddy bounced him through the thick stuff & put a perfect shot in him double lung broadside at about 50 yards...

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[warnniklz]

studly deer right there

[HarryToolips]

So it was shot late in the day, so while my buddy & I proceeded to debone/gutless method on the buck, my son had to make a fire to keep warm as possible...my son of course also got to witness the deboning process & held legs etc to help...

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Once we had all the meat off the carcass, he headlamped through the dark with us approximately 4 km, a part of that very technical terrain in the dark, under slippery conditions....I was very proud of him, & he learned just how nice it is to finally be back at the vehicle after such an adventure!

[HarryToolips]

studly deer right there

Thanks buddy....it was a solid buck, good amount of meat....

[HarryToolips]

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[HarryToolips]

Me to the left, my son, & my buddy who I don't want to post his pic up....

[Arctic Lake]

Great adventure for your son and a nice harvested deer !
Arctic Lake