This might get long winded, but my wife is just getting into hunting and I'm loving her enthusiasm. Bear with me, quite a few lessons in this one!
She grew up around it (father is hunter, and very successful!) but never expressed interest. Last Jan/Feb ('16) she said she'd like to go, but didn't get here hunters safety done in time for UT draws. I didn't push as I wanted it to be her decision. Then April rolled around and she started doing the online HS. I had plans of removing a 45' pine from the backyard and didn't need her to be telling me to be safe, so I conveniently signed her up for the field day.
After passing, she had a fire burning. The instructor complimented her on the shooting portion, saying she was a natural. So now she's ready to go!
We (wife, FIL, myself) drew antelope doe tags for WY and I did my work to find some herds. We waited until middle of Oct so we didn't have to deal with the craziness of openers and the rut.
Having her father there made it pretty special and she was using a rifle her Grandfather gave to her a few months before his passing. We blew 3 different stalks the first morning, but got in on a few bedded down around noon. We crawled through sage and cactus and got setup about 120 yards away. Summer range time proved that she was deadly inside 200. The first doe stood up and fed directly away from us for 60 yards, then turned broadside. She wanted to wait for one of the other does to stand to take a closer shot. When the next doe did the same as the first, she decided she would take the first one.
180 yards...
1st shot - high over the back. Doe came closer about 5 yards as the exploding rock behind her scared her.
2nd shot - HIT! Not sure exactly where. "Great shot, rack another one and put her down" - me
3rd shot - Hit again but back. I could tell the wife was flustered. And I SCREWED up by not having more bullets in my pocket. I dug into the pack she was using as a rest and chambered another round. The doe had moved a little but my wife honed in on the wrong one. I told her it was the one on the right but she didn't believe me. I said "do not shoot the one on the left please" to which she replied "how do you know which one?" I had my binos on her and the third shot had unzipped her paunch. "Because her guts are hanging out, sweetie. Now put her out of her misery please." This was not how I imagined this experience going, but it was the situation we found ourselves in.
4th shot - High but spined, dropped like a bag of rocks. She had done it and exploded with emotion! It was such a neat experience to have with my best friend/wife.
Walking up on the animal was a little tough for her, touching it was even worse. She felt like she had just killed our dog. Warm, fuzzy, dog sized creature whose life she had just taken. Add to that the chaos she went through, she didn't want to go anymore (we each had 2 tags). We head back to camp and celebrate/recount what happened with her mother.
My FIL and I head out for an evening hunt w/o her as she's still a little shook up. While we are gone she has a heart to heart with her mother and basically they decide together that my wife should give it another shot in the AM.
Next morning rolls around, we take our time with breakfast/coffee, and she's refilled with confidence. We get to 200 yards of a group of 11 lopes. She is setup but decides to let her dad take the first shot. Most scatter after one of their comrades drops, but one big doe whirls around and is facing us head on. I tell her if she feels comfortable to put that bullet right in the throat patch. She's shaking like a leaf but executes perfectly and that doe dropped in her tracks. Again, tears of joy!
1-shot kills are what we all strive to achieve, but we are human. It was an emotional ride for her but she was so proud of herself for not giving up. I was too and am glad I didn't push too hard. I have a tendency to be intense, but this was something I had to back off of.
On the ride home we discussed her future in hunting and she said she was in. I warned her that not all hunts would be as game-rich as antelope hunting. There will be days where we don't see game, but she didn't care.
Fast forward to this year and she has a UT gen deer rifle tag and my late season UT cow elk tag (I skipped this year so I could focus on her getting an elk), along with another set of WY lope doe tags. She's fired up to hopefully take a buck (she said she won't shoot a forkie but we'll see how that plays out!). Her pops also just gave her a new rifle which she's pretty damn excited to use.
In summary I close with this advice: Do YOUR best to make it enjoyable for HER. I would recommend discussing expectations beforehand. Like mtnrunner said, don't put added pressure in the heat of the moment by stressing her out. It's REALLY TOUGH to do, believe me! But DO let her kill a bigger buck than yours
I'm pretty nervous about the rifle deer opener as I've never participated in a rifle deer hunt, but I've heard stories... I let her know that ahead of time and she seems to be fine with it. We'll deal with events if we have to but hopefully things go well!
Good luck!
Good on you guys.
