hey boys,
Always wanted to try the upper miss. smallie bite. Noticed you were fishin in the G3. I run a 619 ranger, what landing could I use and what strech of river is most fishable from my boat. Thanks in advance and great show 
.
thanks,
cdemeyes (corey)
On Sunday afternoon, with the fleeting moments of opening weekend nearly behind us, my 4 yr. old literally cornered me into taking him deer hunting. I was about to head out to a stand on the north edge of our property by myself, but he would have none of it! His first inclination was that he’d be going up in the tree with me. But without an easy stand for a kid to crawl into, we opted to setup a portable blind on the edge of a picked bean-field near the river bank.
I wasn’t sure if this would be the year to take him yet or not, but with 60 degree temps, the right wind, and a great blind-location near a bedding area that we could both get into and out of without spooking deer, I thought “why not?”
Making sure to pack his backpack with snacks and a juicebox, along with a few deer calls and some blaze orange, we had all we’d need for an almost 2-hour sit. I’m proud of the little guy for toughing it out so long, and we had a great time in the blind blowing the deer calls and just talking. Conversations with a pre-schooler are always fun and interesting, and he only got noisy a little bit.
Just before 5pm, the river bottoms came alive. Brush was busting, and it was obvious that deer were walking – check that – running – our way. I got him to the edge of the blind where he could hopefully still see, but he just moved to towards the back, sat on the ground, and plugged his ears. Now a splash….they were in the river below me. I’m now standing, half hanging out of the blind to get the required viewing angle to see down into the river.
A small basket 8pointer was trying to out-swim a doe that was just ahead of him, practically trying to mount her in neck-deep water. They saw me hanging out of the blind, and the buck got up the opposite bank with the doe. When she stopped to negotiate the top of the bank, I dropped her as the buck ran off. As a side note – she had a broken right rear leg that appeared to have been broken for some time. It was snapped off just below the knee-joint, and just dangling there. She would’ve had a tough winter, so I’m glad we took that one.
What happened next was pure mayhem. The little buck ran towards a stand my brother was in, kicking up a herd of deer in the process. When he took one of those does, another large group near him got up, and there were deer running everywhere. With more tags to fill, we were looking for a good buck that might be in the mix. Nothing but flashes of brown and white in all directions.
Just as we were ready to pack up the blind, a small 6 pointer crossed the open field in front of us, coming down into the bottoms from the hillside. The deer were moving!
Being on the other side of the river, Isaac didn’t get to participate in the recovery process, but did get to check out the deer later. He was half scared and a little shaken, but those are all feelings I think we all have for our first deer hunting experience. By the way, I think I created a monster, he’s pretty big and tough now that he’s “called-in” all those deer for daddy. After observing many bowhunts I’ve come back from without a deer, he really thinks it’s just as easy as taking him with. Maybe he’ll have the horseshoe I seem to misplace about every fall around deer-season? Even if not, it was a blast taking him out for the first time.
Joel
Great read Joel 
Nice work getting Issac in the woods with you 
Just one more hunt you and him will never forget 
Great read Joel , Jr looks very happy he got to go with you
Thats awesome Joel and great job Isaac calling in those deer for your dad!
Joel good job getting him in the woods with ya. Very cool story. 
I have a 5 year old that I have taken out turkey hunting and bowhunting. If the weather is decent maybe I’ll take him gun hunting this year if he’s up for it.
Great job Joel! I saw that very same doe on sun morning but could not get an arrow in her.That pesky buck kept chasing her off!! 
Congrats on getting Issac out on a successful hunt I remember all too well the times i would not let my dad go without me. The great thing is he always took me, knowing full well it may affect the outcome of his hunt.
Great read, great name too.
Good Job Joel! it’s nice to see the qdm. (I only thought you shot turkeys?)
Great story and pictures Joel
Thanks for sharing and have a blast for many years to come with your new hunting partner 
Jeff
Great to see QDM especially with your son, Great story!
They are never to young to get started
Great read Joel
Get them started young there hooked for life
Nice work Joel! My hunt with Nick didn’t really pan out as yours. ha, ha But that’s ok, we still had a great time! We did see a basket 8 dogging a doe right when we showed up, so he did see and a couple and thought it was pretty cool.
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Good Job Joel! it’s nice to see the qdm. (I only thought you shot turkeys?)
Bob:
You guys keep shooting monsters, and I’ll clean up the does for ya!
Deer hunting is only a distraction while we wait for turkey season to come around. If only turkeys went about 250lbs on the foot, I’d never have to sit in a deer stand again.
Joel
This was last year, but I agree kids might just be a little good luck. My (at the time) 4 year old sat with me in our backyard two nights one week… The first night, I was drawn on a decent 8 point, but never shot. (My fault, but my son love’s to re-tell the story and the mistakes I made… LOL) The next sit we shot this adult doe. He was pumped, and did a GREAT job tracking the blood trail and finding the deer (40 yards from the shot). Needless to say, I was extremely proud.
(BTW, thats a Rage 2 blade hole).
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Nice work Joel! My hunt with Nick didn’t really pan out as yours. ha, ha But that’s ok, we still had a great time! We did see a basket 8 dogging a doe right when we showed up, so he did see and a couple and thought it was pretty cool.
Awesome pics Pat, and probably way better for Nick to see what hunting is really like. Something about that blind the kids really like, I know Isaac does anyway. He calls it his “fort.”
Great to see you on here, and nice work taking out Nick!
Joel
Joel,
Nice job!
That sounds like plenty of activity for a 4 year old to enjoy….crazy stuff you see down there.
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