Only one of the youngsters wanted to hunt this year. Of course it was the youngest(7), she had to show up her big brothers but "only if it's a boy deer". We got out the .410 the week before and she shot a couple slugs. She did really well. We also pulled up lots of deer pictures on the internet and she practiced showing me where to shoot each one.
We didn't get out too early and since we only hunt our own property we are limited on where we go. We posed for a pic so everyone could see her hunting deer.
We headed out and walked along the edge of the field you see behind us, where bucks like to bed down and watch the house. We didn't find any fresh beds, but when we got over to the other side i saw the neighbor kid in his half of the woods cutting firewood, but I didn't say anything to her.
We snuck into the woods and she learned how to cross a fence and a creek with a gun. We found a stump to sit on, where we could see the edge of a corn stubble field and watch a trail in the woods.
She did pretty good with sitting still and being quiet. We talked in whispers about different ways to hunt deer, then came in after an hour or so when we got cold.
We went back out that evening without the neighbor being in the woods so I had a little hope we would see something. No such luck.
All of our kids have shot some and all have kill animals in the live trap by shooting them. So far the only game they have eaten is the deer I have killed or has been given to us.
I have made a deal with each child that I will clean their first animal of each type they kill but then it is up to them (with my help) after that. The middle child I think is saving that for later since he won't hunt now but says he wants to in the future.
I remember as a child the one thing I feared most was the blood, gore and guts of cleaning animals I killed. After I had actually done it there was no problem but the worry affected how hard I hunted.
I am hunting this weekend so wish me luck.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
