So it begins... Kawika's First Deer

[IdahoBugler]

I just wanted to drop in and tell a little story about my best hunt to date. I've been way busy this year with youth sports and moving so I have been out of hunttalk world for a bit. I still drop in to check out all the trophies that have been taken this year. Congrats to everyone getting it done this year.

What kept me busy for 3 months. Coached the boys team to a league championship then too 2nd place in Districts.

My first hunt this year was a Nevada archery deer hunt. I had only one weekend to hunt due to the above mentioned activities. This was Kawika's first back pack hunt and he did an awesome job. Even though we were unsuccessful in harvesting we had a great time just spending time in the hills together. I wanted to thank NVlongbow and Highmountain for the tips on where to check out.

On the way out. Great weekend with the boy.

 

[IdahoBugler]

Next hunt was the annual archery elk hunt in Idaho. With the drought, smoke (fires) and heat the hunt was pretty tough this year. The rut was delayed and we took the wrong week off to hunt it. With that said we were still successful and Lance (Highmountain) shot a really cool bull.

 

[IdahoBugler]

I'll start this hunt story with a picture Kawika drew when he was only 6. I've kept this drawing at my desk for 4 years just waiting for the day I could say that very statement.

Now to the hunt that both Kawika and I had been waiting all year for. I will first say our family has always had a great time in the hills together. But this time the excitement was higher due to the fact he would finally get to pack a rifle. This all came about as we were finally able to draw a tag that he would be able to hunt. The tag was a deer tag that I drew for in Oregon. Oregon has a very cool program called the youth mentored hunt and as long as you sign up, you can mentor a youth in a hunt. This allows them to shoot your animal. So being that he just turned 11 a couple of months ago he was able to start a little earlier than his Idaho buddies.

This hunt is not known for trophies and actually finding deer in this desert is not an easy task. I asked him what he wanted to shoot as everything was up to him. He told me he would be very happy with a 3 point deer and if it came down to it later in the hunt any buck would make him happy. So off we went for a short Saturday evening hunt (after football of course) and a full day Sunday. It proved to be tough as we never saw a deer the first evening or next morning. We are able to find this big old badger that Kawika was able to shot.

 

[kansasdad]

Great investment in your son's life IB. Very cool!!

 

[elkantlers]

Nice. That badger will make a great looking rug. Congrats

 

[IdahoBugler]

We moved areas and finally found a few deer. Nothing was shot that evening but we did find two bucks (2 and 3 point) in the distance that was very encouraging. Our next hunt was a short evening hunt on Wednesday. We headed back to the area we had seen the 3 point in. With 30 minutes of light left we found the buck again and made the move. Unfortunately the buck gave us the slip and we never saw him again. A little disappointed but he was excited to keep hunting.

No school Friday and day off of work we hit the desert with high hopes of finding some deer. We were accompanied this trip with Moosie and his boy Zach who also had a tag. The temps had finally changed and the deer were active. We spotted 43 deer that morning with one small 3x4 (1.5 year old deer). I put the spotter on the buck and had Kawika look at the deer. He turned to me and said he will be a pretty nice buck in a few years. I guess that was enough to say lets look on.

We put on the miles and found a really nice draw with some ribbon cliffs. It was getting warmer now about 10:00 so we figured the deer would be bedding up soon. We started glassing the cliffs and sure enough we spot a really nice buck with 2 other bucks and 3 does. They bed down up against the cliffs and we made our move. The plan was to loop around this draw and see if we could see the deer from one small cliff about 200 yards from the bucks. Once we looped around we could tell it wasn't happening. The wind was horrible and the angle wasn't going to allow us to see the deer. Our only option was to come from above which would put us in spitting distance of the deer.

We peeked over the edge and could only see one of the smaller bucks still bedded. The other bucks were real tight to the cliff and would be in possible to see. We decided to sneak the boys up as close to the top as possible and sat for a few hours waiting for them to move. When they started to get up for a mid day snack we could see all the deer but the big buck. I could tell the boys were getting nervous because the deer were so close within 25 yards.

 

[IdahoBugler]

Finally after what seemed like forever Kawika said he could see the big buck. I started to peek over the top and saw him, cool.... until I looked back at the does which now had me pegged. #$%#$ As calm as I could, ya right, I pushed Kawika's rifle up over the rock and told him to get ready as things were going to happen fast. Kawika got behind the rifle about the time the does decided to take off. Now this part was a blur to me but all I remember is calmly telling Kawika to pick up the buck in the scope. When he said he had the buck he finally stopped at 70 yards. I had just uttered the words now take your t........ BOOM!!! Buck drops in his tracks. Wow ok don't take your time and just shoot. Now within seconds the bigger two point bounds out and stops within 10 yards of Kawika's buck. BOOM!! buck two drops and now the yelling, whopping and hollering commence. We had just pulled it off on two awesome first bucks for the boys. Now the hard part was convincing the boys that we really needed to take some pics of how this all played out. They gave us about 2 minutes and said forget it and took off down the hill.

 

[IdahoBugler]

One Happy boy. Congrats Zach.

Like father like son. Crazy hats....

Kawika's first deer.

Proud dad.

 

[mdunc8]

That's awesome. I can't wait till my little guy grows up. Congrats on a great hunt.

 

[IdahoBugler]

One with the whole crew.

Making it official.

Loaded and ready to go.

 

[huntbux]

Awesome stories, and great time with the family. Way to get it done and have some great family time. Keep up the great season.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Congrats to Kawika and Zach and the proud papas.

 

[IdahoBugler]

The boys did awesome. It was an 8 mile day and we had a 2.2 mile hike out to the vehicles. They definitely earned their bucks.

Half way their buddy.

This was by far the best hunt I have ever been on. I had so much fun with Kawika. To all you parents out there, your time will come. Take it all in and enjoy every second of it like I did. I can't wait for the next adventure. Thanks for reading our story.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Great young men there, congrats to all involved!

 

[thecrittergitter]

Bryce, just awesome man!! Love the story! Can totally relate to the time in the field with them. I can't wait till mine can actually pull the trigger!!

Congrats to you and Kawika! Congrats to Moosie and son too!!

Thats gonna be a tough one to beat!

 

[BiggWimm]

That is one of the best stories so far this season. Congratulations to the boys and job well done sir!!

 

[AZ402]

Outstanding, big congrats to Kawika and Zach!! Awesome story and great pics.

 

[havgunwilltravel]

Fantastic results to the boys and their dads...you would nearly give all the trophies away that you shot on your own to have a son that enjoyed the outdoors and hunted with you as often as possible. My two boys will get their time as the grow up..well done.

 

[recon6036]

Can't get much better than that!! Congrat's to all!

 

[skooter1329]

Great job guys....to very nice first bucks