Last year I met some pretty great landowners in NM that invited me back for a second year of chasing antelope on the property. There aren't any record book bucks running around, but it was a fun place to hunt and last year I figured it would be real conducive to having my daughter along for the hunt this go-around.
She's been looking forward to this trip for months, but every time she told someone about it, she'd be sure to add in that she was't going to get to shoot anything though!
Friday night we arrived with just enough time to drive around the 6000 acres and see a few antelope hanging about. Then it was off to the landowners home for dinner before setting up our campsite.
Here's the happy camper/hunter posing. (We borrowed mom's hunting rig for the 7 hour drive up.)
Saturday morning we were able to check the whole property several times over to determine what kind of quality I could hope to find on the trip. Being slighlty disappointed with this year's selection, we found something she was able to kill with a BB-gun. Which made her so happy because she was actually able to kill something on her first major "hunting" trip.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with me acquiring shooting opportunities on each of the three bucks I thought could be a shooter only to finally be in range and then decide one of the other two were bigger. The day ended with me being a bit frustrated that each buck I had looked at wasn't any bigger than either of the other two.
Hot dogs, hot chocolate and s'mores rounded out the night. Right before bedtime someone decided that scary stories were in order and that turned out to be a mistake. I'd say the scariness level was a 2 out of 10, but the kid wouldn't leave my side until bedtime then dang near shared my pillow all night long.
So this morning came and I came to my senses and resolved to shoot any of the three bucks I figured were the best. I couldn't wish them any bigger but trophy quality was judged in much more than inches by my hunting partner.
Smiles all around.
We're both looking forward to next year!
She's been looking forward to this trip for months, but every time she told someone about it, she'd be sure to add in that she was't going to get to shoot anything though!
Friday night we arrived with just enough time to drive around the 6000 acres and see a few antelope hanging about. Then it was off to the landowners home for dinner before setting up our campsite.
Here's the happy camper/hunter posing. (We borrowed mom's hunting rig for the 7 hour drive up.)
Saturday morning we were able to check the whole property several times over to determine what kind of quality I could hope to find on the trip. Being slighlty disappointed with this year's selection, we found something she was able to kill with a BB-gun. Which made her so happy because she was actually able to kill something on her first major "hunting" trip.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with me acquiring shooting opportunities on each of the three bucks I thought could be a shooter only to finally be in range and then decide one of the other two were bigger. The day ended with me being a bit frustrated that each buck I had looked at wasn't any bigger than either of the other two.
Hot dogs, hot chocolate and s'mores rounded out the night. Right before bedtime someone decided that scary stories were in order and that turned out to be a mistake. I'd say the scariness level was a 2 out of 10, but the kid wouldn't leave my side until bedtime then dang near shared my pillow all night long.
So this morning came and I came to my senses and resolved to shoot any of the three bucks I figured were the best. I couldn't wish them any bigger but trophy quality was judged in much more than inches by my hunting partner.
Smiles all around.
We're both looking forward to next year!
