I wish this was a thread about my son shooting a great buck, even though it is not I am a very proud Dad. My 13 year old son hunted this weekend by himself for the first time. Myself or a good friend has always sat with him and told him what he needed to do. I could not go this weekend but one of my friends on our lease was an offered to take Justin. He was very excited to get his first chance to hunt on his own. I went over everything again to make sure he would be safe and he understood the responsibilities he faced. I spent the most time going over gun safety but spent quite a bit of time with the help of our black lab where he should shoot depending on where the deer was standing and whether it was broadside, quartering away, quartering too, going away from him or facing him. I pointed where he should shoot on the first 3 positions and told him under no circumstance did I want him to shoot if the deer was going away from him or facing him. I know there are people who can take those shots especially with a gun but I do not think my son should so I wanted to make sure and point that out. I also showed him pictures of deer with there mouths blown off and having to suffer to show him what could happen. The buck he was after was at 35 yards this morning but he could only see his head and neck because of the brush. He had the gun up and the safety off but he said he didn't have a clean shot so he let him walk. I hope he gets a chance to hunt this buck next year and put a different end to the story. Here is the latest trail camera video of the buck we call Roller Coaster. [video=youtube_share;_gp0TBYAqbI]http://youtu.be/_gp0TBYAqbI?list=UU88WCMUEOf4O3Gjl95YGFeA[/video]
Good for you. I will do the same with my kids in the future. This year in gun deer camp I had to explain taking ethical shots to some hunters 20 years older than me cause it pizzes me off when they shoot deer in the back ends cause they were taking bad shots. You think it would be common sense for people but not for all. Seems it needs to be taught for most like what you are doing to your kid. They were never instructed as a child like yours is and thus it seems every few years they have an unrecovered deer. I kept thinking the next couple days that poor deer is prob getting chased around by coyotes right now with a nasty end awaiting it.
One of the few successful hunts I've heard of without bagging and animal! You have a great young man on your hands there! Most adult hunters wouldn't have made the decision he did. Great respect for your son!
Monster I read on another thread your hunting SE MN. Where about are you at I've hunted around Yucatan Valley for 25 yrs.
I never had the benefit of a Dad that hunted and offer instructions and wisdom for proper hunting etiquette and techniques. Had to learn most from the school of hard knocks. It is refreshing to see that someone is taking the time to properly instruct their child in hunter ethics. I have heard many hunters say "Well, you can't kill them unless you shoot at them" which taken on it's face is correct but what it really means is that it is OK to take a questionable shot and is rooted in a lack of respect for the game you are chasing. At the end of the day your son can look back at this experience and know that he made the right decision. Anyone can throw a gun or a bow up and take a questionable shot, that is easy, but it takes character to analyze the situation even though you badly want to pull the trigger and then decide to let the animal walk because you could not make a clean ethical kill shot. Congrats to you for passing on to your son life lessons that will not only pay dividends in hunting but in life in general.
Well done dad, sounds like he's earned himself some more time hunting alone! Props for teaching your son the right way to hunt, props to him for listening!
Great job Tom!! It makes me proud for you to have instilled such good ethics into your son at such an early age. If only more parents spent time with their kids like you do. Hold your head high sir
What a beautiful buck. You taught him well. Would absolutely hate to see that beast wounded and lost.
Meanwhile that running gopro shot is getting praise seemingly everywhere......smh Justin is an awesome kid from everything I've heard and this is a prime example of the young man and hunter he's becoming! Well done bud (and pops!)!
Tom, my dad drilled this stuff in my head too when I started bow hunting at 12 years old. Actually he was teaching me this stuff half that age and never let off on it. On his blood trails, my moms blood trails, friends of his blood trails he'd take us kids with and talk about afterwards why or why not we didn't find the deer. Going on these blood trails was one of the best learning experiences ever. My dad is why I am the hunter I am today. I don't take low risk shots ever because there's always another day. At age 12 when i started hunting dad had no problem letting me hunt by myself. He knew i was ready. I've wounded 4 deer in 28 years of bow hunting. I credit my success and low numbers of wounded deer to my dads great teaching. I'd like to see archery shops preach this stuff more but honestly I see just the opposite. Makes me sick. I tip my hat to you Tom. There are a few of us good guys left. What's even more remarkable is that Justin was hunting with a gun and still didn't take the neck shot. That's awesome!!
I hope he gets a chance at that buck again but it will have to be next year. That was his last morning he was going to have a chance to hunt this year. One of the guys is going in there this weekend with a muzzleloader.
