This is more of a pictorial blog...but I wanted to share some of the pictures of the success that my son and I had during the WI gun season. Sitting "side by side" we were able to take a couple of great bucks together and best of all we created many memories to last a lifetime! I started thinking this season, while freezing together in the woods, that these are the last few precious years of actually sitting with my kids while hunting for most likely many years to come. It will not be long before they will strike out as young hunters, on their own and to be able to hunt alone. Each of my kids were with me in deer blinds before the age of 2 years old, and although I am thankful of all of the many sits we have already had...they are quickly coming to a close! So, Jake and I had GREAT times together...and I even got to spend some time with my stepson Dante and my younges boy, Sam. Lots of fun!
Jake made a great shot on a quartering away buck after having to stand up and turn to his right to get a shot...while the buck was walking slowly away at 50 yards. Jake was quiet and his aim was perfect, with the buck falling within 50 yards. He asked me why we were sitting in that spot, why we had to clear the leaves in case we had to move, and he also shared that we weren't going to see a thing! I only hope that he remembers everything but I have found that if he follows my past examples...that he may have to make his mistakes "first", in order to learn.
We shared many hugs, and a lot of tears together as father and son; which is what it is all about! There is nothing better than a child burying his head into your chest with tears in his eyes after either of your shoot a deer...
The last day of the season included taking a couple of does to reduce the overall population. The sign that your parcel is being unpressured enough is when the doe family groups are easy to target and shoot. Does are "herd creatures", meaning they do the same thing, collectively every single day unless the conditions of food, bedding, or safety change. Mature bucks are completely different creates and independent thinkers...but that is another completely different article. In less than 2 hours I was able to harvested a couple of adult does and made quick work of both the recovery, and the overall impact on the rest of the property. Waiting until the special, "4-day" WI doe-only season after both the gun and muzzleoader seasons had passed insured that the impact of taking antlerless deer on the parcel was kept to a bare minimum.These coule have very well been the same 2 deer that Jake missed 2 weeks ago...same patterns, same spot, and almost identical shots...
We had an incredible season and I can not wait for many more to come! At the same time, Jake found out what it was like to have a "miss" in deer camp. Thanks to Chuck, we embraced a "great" tradition of having to wear the old toilet seat when you happen to miss or wound a deer. Fortunately Jake did not wound anything...but there were a couple of does that had no idea how close they came to being a part of even more success for an 11 year old young hunter! Jake signed and dated his place on the "seat" as his gun season quickly came to a close.
