My boy's first time out

[20ftupatree]

I have to share a memory with you guys I will remember for the rest of my life.

I will start with describing my son, He is now 4 years old (as of 11/6), He's awesome, Everyday I come from hunting he asks if I shot a 100 pointer yet...hehehe funny! He is so impressed with hunting, shooting bow...whatever dad does he's into it and I LOVE IT! He's my best friend. Well for his birthday I promised I'd take him out hunting, I went out on state land in the early morning, when I got home he was ready! "where have you been dad? We gotta  get out there before the deer go to bed!" lol he always makes me laugh.

So we set out, I explain the importance of being quiet and being still, He says to me "I know dad...thats why they're always whispering on T.V" So we find a spot at the bottom of this funnel, It comes into a wet swampy kind of area but real open. There is this huge rock with an overhang, Thats where we sit right under the overhang.

  Next thing I know about 10 minutes after we settle in I hear SNAP......SNAP...SNAP SNAP, I look over my shoulder and..................It's my boy snapping a little twig he's picked up! Shhhhh I say you can't be doing that the deer will hear you, wink wink. OK dad sorry. We go back to watch, now I hear a scraping sound and look now he has a rock in his hand scrapping it on another rock, shhhhhh buddy you can't make noise like that, OK dad sorry.

45 minutes into our watch he tugs on my coat and says " Dad.....is hunting always this boring? Hey I have an idea dad...you wake me up when the deer come ok? And this is what he looked like after an hour in the woods.....I love this kid.

Oh and needless to say the deer never came but he said he had the best day of his life, I know he was just trying to make me feel good and it worked. I'm looking forward to sharing many more days in the woods with him as he grows older.

[bushnell]

That looks like an uncomfortable position. Great story. My dad tells me I did the same stuff when I was 12 yrs old.

Take him out for squirrels and see how he does. Thanks for sharing.

[20ftupatree]

Ya he's just like me, he could fall asleep standing up on one foot if he was tired enough. I would love to do the small game thing with him. I'm just not much of a small game hunter, I was always taught to kill to eat and eat what you kill. I've never eaten squirrel, thats the only reason I don't turkey hunt I do not like wild turkey, I'd love to hunt them but I don't eat them. It'd be just killing squirrels to kill squirrels, I don't really want to teach him to kill an animal for something to do.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Great story! Sounds just like how it is when I take my daughter, shes 6 and this is her 3rd year going with me. I took her squirrel hunting the other day, she spotted the one squirrel we saw, and was proud as can be when we took it home. She wasnt nearly as proud as me though. 

Cherish every moment of hunting with him!

[20ftupatree]

oh I for surly will, I still can't stop thinking about yesterday, I had such a great time with him and can't wait to do it again this weekend!

[Fitzy]

I took my son out for the first time when he was 4. He carried a 'kiddie' bow and I has a .22. Hitting a grey with that bow was out of the question but I gave him the green light to go after the chipmunks that infested the stone walls. It was like watching the natural instincts of a new puppy on its first time in the field. The spot, the stalk, the miss, then do it all over again. I almost had to dress out a couple of chipmunks that day !

When I got a couple of squirrels, he insisted in carrying them and his bow! Not an easy feat when you're only three feet tall! What a great day.

Fast forward sixteen years of sports, friends, high school, girls and not much father and son time in the woods. I picked him up from college last saturday and we went back to his 'favorite spot'.

The tables have changed. He limited out and I only got one! He didn't rub it in but I gave him an atta-boy anyway. Of course I made the excuse of my rifle being worn out and not shooting straight anymore! Ha ha.

On the ride back, just before he dozed off, he said:" Dad, today was great. With my schedule I really needed a day in the woods, thanks".

It doesn't get any better than that. 'Till next time.

[gundeck]

Great stories.  That is what it is all about.  My boys from my first marriage are both out of the house and on their own, but when I remarried, I gained a third son.  He is 12 now and loves hunting like me.  He was with me when I shot my first deer with a bow.  He was (almost) as excited as me.

[HVOprostaff_1]

Thats great man get em out there young and they will be hooked for life... My son is my fishing partner since he was two now not only does he out fish me most trips but he can also wait patiently until the fish "wake up" haha

[nyantler]

Hey that could very well be a picture of me some mornings..haha

[biggamefish]

  That is way cool.  I know you want to sit in a great spot but maybe you want to try moving every 20 minutes or so kinda like a still hunt.  I would make a game out of it so he doesn't get bored.  See who can count the most squirrles and get the closest.  Anyway just ideas good to see a young gun out there.  Good luck

[20ftupatree]

I did think about moving to a different spot after he fell asleep. He is already asking about this coming weekend and I can't wait to go with him! This weekend will be great I can feel it, Bucks are moving heavy here now, They seemed to skipped over all the "sign" and went right to "nose to the ground" 3 buddies of mine have shot bucks in the last 2 days, said it was the first DEER they've seen all season, all 3 of them so it's turning on hot and heavy and I'm praying to God all week he can be there with me when I bag one. I don't get him up early for the first light hunt I come back to house about 10 and grab a bite and something hot and head back out. He is the greatest kid ever, I get warm and fuzzy every time I look at that pic and think about that day so there WILL be many many more to come. I think I may have enjoyed it more than he did.

[Isles323]

My first time out was 9 years ago. I was 14 and i wish i could forget costing my uncle a beautiful 10 pointer. It was too dark to take the shot when he came snorting in... i could only see his profile in front of the moonlight and he was huge.  I forgot to clear out the twigs under the tree before i sat down....... I shifted my weight and snap... Goodbye Buck. I fealt like crap and still get made fun of every year. But thats how you learn.

[20ftupatree]

I am actually worried about having a deer in front of us, what he'll do or how he'll react I have kind of already prepared myself for "the spook" but oh well I guess, you are right that is the way he'll learn. I know he does a pretty good job "stalking" in the house with his toy rifle...lol He's very slow and deliberate and QUIET, so we'll see when it's crunch time.

[SplitG2]

That's a great story.  Sounds like you are a great dad.  I'm taking my little guy(also 4) up to camp this weekend.  Everyday he wakes up and asks "are we going to the upstate house today" lol.

[20ftupatree]

Thank you split...I try, I just try to do things my father did (he's still my hero) and/or tried to do (he was no hunter but he gave a it a valiant effort). I want to instill values in him, morals, and give him a positive activity to spend his time and money on not some of the other options out there. I believe hunting gave me my foundation for morals and values, It has taught me respect for life and my surroundings.

The world today is a tough one to grow up in, I couldn't imagine growing up in this day and age. I am no "old timer" I am only 30 this year but I still grew up in different times than these and I am thankful for that. I just want him to be the best person he can be and I truly believe hunting helps teach some vital lessons.

Plus not to mention for me last weekend was all about him, the excitement in his eyes and the thrill of hanging out with Dad and dad only, he's still talking about it as well as myself.

[Geno C]

LOL thats great!

as a father that must have been a good moment to spend that time in the woods with him. im sure you will have plenty years and plenty more moments in the woods to share together....

[Paulie]

Love it! My daughter is 2 and when I come home the first thing she asks me is "daddy have fun, get a deer"? Within the next minute she asks if she can go. I told her she could when she is 4. But we go "hunting" in the backyard when she is on the swings. I can wait to really get her out!!

[Cabin Fever]

Too funny! I remember those days!

Spring of '09 was my son's first year that he could turkey hunt. My daughter (9) wanted to go with us. I told her I would take her later with me after my son got one. I needed to devote my focus to him, since it was his first time out with a gun, and the pop-up blind was too small for all three of us to fit in. She was mad and wrote me a note that said, "She was NOT going to talk to me until I took her hunting!!"  ;D  I still have that note!!

[Paulie]

Kids are the best...she found my grunt call and ran around the house for a week blasting away on it!! I thought it was hysterical but my wife was getting annoyed, so I gave her my "knight & hale pack rack" to play with and she makes an even bigger racket!!!

[20ftupatree]

Oh yes it was and is great! The wife HATES my grunt call, I'm usually pretty good about keeping my hunting gear out of the hands but so are they at finding things and getting into them so both my kids have had experience with the grunt and the can (thats my wife's FAVORITE). I always think it's great but like yours, my wife doesn't think it's so great after about 2 minutes of that. I actually think my boy should do my calling for me this weekend. He's pretty good

[First-light]

Great story! I took my two girls squirrel hunting this fall, they loved it. The basket is to put the squirrels in.lol

We didn't shoot any, I think the pink camo gave us away! I love taking kids into the woods-it breaths new life to an old hunting sole!