My son drew his first big game tag this year ( Mule Deer, Area 6 Nevada) he is 14yo. I have coached him sports most of his life and can be very demanding of him. We have been preparing physically (Me mostly as he is in in great shape), shooting and getting comfortable behind the .243 he will be using, looking at field photos of deer and talking about shot placement, and making sure all gear and vehicles are ready to roll. I'm a seasoned hunter and know the area very well but this is the first time taking my own son on a big game hunt. I want him to be successful and have FUN.
My Question and reason for this thread.
What other preparations can I be doing to with him to hopefully have a successful outcome? As most of us know things can get contentious between dad and son. Is there something specific that you did with your kids that made the experience a good one?
Thanks for the advice.
I haven't read through all the responses - but I will tell you a little about my failed experience as a first time tag holder. My father was very demanding, and I excelled at everything I put effort into. Academics, sports, etc. We started with him letting me pick a rifle which I wanted a Remington 7600 bushmaster in .30-06, we made a deal and I worked all summer and came up about $200 short of my half. He wouldn't loan me the 200 so I got a subpar rifle that I could afford. We shot a lot, we hiked a lot, and I wasn't really having any fun. I was so concerned about him being mad or disappointed that the prep wasn't any fun. It got to a point where I made reasons not to continue hiking with him and 'worked out' on my own.
Finally it came time to actually hunt. we spent the opening weekend looking for mule deer in the highland sagebrush flats about 6000 feet. First day saw nothing. Second morning after hiking for a while we sat for some tea and chilli. As we stood up my dad spotted a buck, he said "Son that is a BIG buck! You need to shoot it right now while it is standing there!"
I remember looking at that buck through my rifle and I wasn't excited, I wasn't nervous ... my only thought was 'if I miss this deer dad is going to freak out and I'm going to be in so much trouble.' So instead of shooting I looked at him and I lied to him - "Dad I'm not sure if I can get a good shot on him from here, why don't you shoot him' The words barely finished and he dropped the buck. He talked about how exciting it was, it was his biggest buck ever, and he couldn't believe how he got to do that. We went up and tagged the buck and I was intrigued as I'd never seen a deer in the field before so we talked it over and decided to go get the rig as it wasn't far away.
I hope that if I, as a father, am ever in that situation to remember to coach my kid and tell them how excited and proud I am for them. How they don't need to be scared, or nervous, that I'm there to support and help them out. And to just take their time and make a good shot.
My dad and I have never hunted together - its been over 20 years and I've never been in the field or shot a gun with him since. I got away from hunting and focused 100% on school sports and didn't get back into hunting for over 10 years when I moved to Alaska with my family, and that reminded me that I had always wanted to hunt and live off the land. And since moving to Alaska I keep trying to go back home to hunt with him and he has no tangible interest in hunting, or helping me hunt. He said he would be willing to show me where some deer hang out during season he said.
I hope to do better with my 5 kids.
*The kicker - my dad tagged the deer, we made sure it was dead, did the eyeball and testicle jab with the rifle. The car was only about 800 yards away so we walked over and we drove right back to where we had flagged the deer and it was gone. We ran into some folks we knew and one of them was a 'certified guide and tracker' if I remember correctly and after 3 hours told us someone stole our deer because the only other thing would have been a cougar and there were no drag marks. So we didn't even get that deer and my dad refused to hunt the rest of that season and then got injured.
