The Cave and the Heartbrake: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

[Big Ern]

Great story. Great hunt. More important than the lessons you taught your son about hunting/mountain skills were the lessons you taught him about integrity; about honesty; and about how a man needs to be responsible for his actions. Those are priceless lessons that can’t be taught with words. They are taught with action. The lessons you taught your son as a result of that hunt will pay dividends for the rest of his life.

Well done.

 

[lyle_destroys]

Congrats guys! What an awesome adventure. Tell josh that the roksliders think he did a great job. That's serious terrain for anyone, let alone a 10 year old kid!

 

[Jimbob]

UPDATE

It took the CO a few days to come to my house and in that time we ate the backstraps and tenderloins (CO on the phone said "enjoy the meat and we'll figure out it out when we get there"). So we did enjoy some meat.

I put in an application to have the horns/skull returned to us and that was a fun experience. Josh and I spent a day in court and boy was that a learning experience. We sat through a bunch of other cases waiting our turn, we live in a small town but there is lots of messed up stuff going on. Anyways, the judge was an old lady and super nice but said she had no discretion to force a return of the skull/horns to us. There was no loopholes in the law that would satisfy legality, the judge explored all of them. She said we did a great job and will always have pictures of our SUCCESSFUL hunt. Then she wished us luck on more hunting adventures in the future. The CO's were super nice guys as well.

 

[Jimbob]

Wow, and yes, thanks for reviving this story! I can't believe this was written over a year ago and I'm just now seeing/reading it. Man, that is a tough pill to swallow for sure. You had one goat tag, killed one goat, but because your son was the one that pulled the trigger and not you, the goat was confiscated? Man, that doesn't seem right. Why would it matter if the minor, who could legally harvest a goat, was hunting with you and harvested your goat? IMO that is one F'd up law.

Under the Alaska laws, a resident hunter age 10-17 who have their Basic Hunter Education competed are allowed to hunt on behalf of an adult permit holder, under the direct, immediate supervision of that adult. Unfortunately we also have a lot of screwed up laws, but that one in particular is one they got right.

Man, I am truly sorry for your loss, but good on you for setting the right example. I hope that at the very least you got to enjoy a nice goat back strap dinner, prior to it being confiscated.

Since my son took the hunter safety course and we purchased a regular hunting license for him he doesn't qualify as a youth hunter when it comes to tags. That means he can buy his own tags and have his own bag limit. I could have purchased a youth license for him then he would have been allowed to use my tags. So you can't have it both ways you pick either way by what license the youth hunter buys.

 

[fatrascal]

Great story. So glad you shared it. Congrats to Josh. Fatrascal.

 

[twdjr]

That's Fantastic, Congrats to the both of you!

 

[Geetar]

How can you even be considered a human if you confiscate a goat from a 10 year old kid?

 

[hunterednate]

Just seeing this for the first time. What an incredible story - and inspiring for younger dads like me! Your son will never forget that lesson. Very cool.

 

[Jimbob]

How can you even be considered a human if you confiscate a goat from a 10 year old kid?

I think part of the issue is that I reported to a call center. Some ministry guy inputs it into a computer then it goes to the officer. Once in the system, the officer has no discretion (my guess)

I tried to bypass the system but I couldn't get ahold of an officer directly. I went to the office multiple times and I left a voice mail to call back. After a few days I was worried that when they did find out (I already left a message at this point) they would be mad I didn't officially report.

 

[Stew]

How can you even be considered a human if you confiscate a goat from a 10 year old kid?

Its quit simple they had no tag, its not the COs fault, they could have possible been charged a lot more.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Its quit simple they had no tag, its not the COs fault, they could have possible been charged a lot more.

OK, I’m gonna play devils advocate here and argue, they did have a tag. Dad notched his tag for the goat that his son killed but that didn’t suffice.As far as I’m concerned, he did the absolute right thing given the small mistake that was made, and the fact that their goat was confiscated anyway is complete BS. You could never get me to agree that, that law is appropriate. They had one goat tag, they killed one legal goat, yet because that tag was in dad’s name and his son was the one that pulled the trigger, they were penalized. Complete BS in my opinion.


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[realunlucky]

OK, I’m gonna play devils advocate here and argue, they did have a tag. Dad notched his tag for the goat that his son killed but that didn’t suffice.As far as I’m concerned, he did the absolute right thing given the small mistake that was made, and the fact that their goat was confiscated anyway is complete BS. You could never get me to agree that, that law is appropriate. They had one goat tag, they killed one legal goat, yet because that tag was in dad’s name and his son was the one that pulled the trigger, they were penalized. Complete BS in my opinion.


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Curious if you feel someone could tag along on your sheep hunt, shoot a ram and use your tag and be good. One tag one sheep?

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[AK Troutbum]

Curious if you feel someone could tag along on your sheep hunt, shoot a ram and use your tag and be good. One tag one sheep?

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Absolutely! If it was my child, it’d be 100% legal. I’ll reiterate my stance with my feeling of that Canadian law being 100% complete BS.


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[Stew]

OK, I’m gonna play devils advocate here and argue, they did have a tag. Dad notched his tag for the goat that his son killed but that didn’t suffice.As far as I’m concerned, he did the absolute right thing given the small mistake that was made, and the fact that their goat was confiscated anyway is complete BS. You could never get me to agree that, that law is appropriate. They had one goat tag, they killed one legal goat, yet because that tag was in dad’s name and his son was the one that pulled the trigger, they were penalized. Complete BS in my opinion.


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Again its quit simple as all ready stated if his boy had a youth license it would have been all legal as to the way you say. He has taken his hunter training course and has his own hunter number and license so needs his own tags, period.
I don't see it as a small mistake not buying a tag, if he had forgot it at home that would be a mistake, but you need a license and tag to hunt. In this case the father cutting his tag could of been another charge. No the laws and regs were you are hunting.
Season doesn't start till sept but all ready have the tags I want and if draw leh later this year will get those tags as well. Pretty simple.

 

[Geetar]

Its quit simple they had no tag, its not the COs fault, they could have possible been charged a lot more.

I get it. They made a mistake but man taking a kids goat just seems harsh especially when they didn’t try to hide it and admitted their mistake. Is there no grace at all for a kid who isn’t even at fault?

 

[JC hunter]

great hunt and story