Over the years I have taken quite a few first time hunters out and introducing them to the sport of hunting. Some were successful in getting their first animal and some were not, but all of them had a good experience and are still hunters today. But one thing I have never done is take a kid on their first hunt. Well that all changed this weekend when I did just that. I took a kid who I have never met and was able to introduce him to hunting and in the end he got his first deer.
Last Friday I got a call from my cousin who I hunt with quite a bit, Jason Zemlicka, asking if I wanted to take a kid on his first deer hunt. At first I was a little skeptical. Not having any kids of my own and quite honestly not even spending much time around kids, I wasn’t sure how good of a teacher I would be. What if he has a bad experience and never wants to hunt again? What if he is not safe with his gun? What if he’s only interested in killing a big buck? What if he is not courteous? All of these questions were going through my head and I’m not overly excited about taking him. However after hearing the story about why the kid needed someone to take him hunting, I knew right away I needed to help out. Turns out the kids name was Tyler and he was 13 years old. His single mother had been planning to take him hunting on opening day. Tyler had been anticipating the hunt for quite some time, but 3 days before opening day his mother was on her way to work when she was struck by a vehicle as she was walking across a street. She was beat up pretty bad from the accident and was in no condition to take Tyler hunting. A friend of Jason’s works with the mother and when she heard the story she asked if Jason and I would be willing to take Tyler hunting. I didn’t know Tyler or his mother but I could tell this kid needed a pick-me-up so I agreed.
Tyler was only able to hunt Sunday so I knew we needed to find a place to hunt close to his house since we only had one day. I live 1 ½ hours away from him and have never hunted in his neck of the woods. Jason and I looked over some maps and picked out a spot of public land about a half hour from where Tyler lived. We met Tyler at his house 5:30am Sunday morning. I didn’t have a clue what kind of kid I was about to meet but within the first 2 minutes of meeting Tyler I could tell he was a great kid. The first thing he did after introducing himself was thank us for taking him hunting. I could immediately tell he was excited and I knew we were in for a good time! The ½ hour drive to our hunting spot was spent getting to know each other and talking about the upcoming hunt. His tag was good for either a buck or doe and he didn’t care what he shot. Whatever he could get a chance at he was going to be thrilled to take. We were in mule deer country and spot and stalk was going to be our method of hunting. The weather was cold and windy when we arrived and I could see Tyler didn’t have enough clothes along so I offered him my jacket. He gladly accepted it and off we went. At first light we spotted a small mule deer buck off in the distance. Having never hunted here before I was as excited to see a buck right off the bat. We discussed a plan of how we were going to get within range and off we went bailing off a big ridge headed for the bottom a ½ mile away. When we crossed the draw and came out the other side the buck spotted us and took off. I was pretty frustrated for letting the buck see us and I didn’t know if we would be able to find another deer for Tyler. However my frustration was short lived as we walked another ¼ mile and found two does feeding in the bottom of a draw 150 yards away. We crawled 50 yards closer and Jason setup his pack in front of Tyler for him to rest his gun on while I got ready to video. I was hoping to get it on video so he could share it with his mother when he got home. In the process of getting him setup the does spotted us. An experienced hunter would’ve had plenty of time to make the shot but being Tyler was a first timer it took quite a while for him to get situated and find them in his scope. Before he was ready they bolted over the ridge. It was frustrating but yet exciting. It got Tyler’s blood pumping and he was fired up and ready to move on and find another deer. We glassed and hiked for another 45 minutes before we locate another deer. There was 3 does and little buck. We watched them from our vantage point until they bedded down. We then formulated a plan and the stalk was on one again. After closing the distance to the deer we couldn’t locate the buck but we found two of the does. After 30 minutes of crawling around on the ground we were finally within 100 yards of one of the does. But not before Tyler learned a valuable lesson about crawling on your hands and knees in cactus country! Once again while trying to get Tyler setup on the doe she seen us and bolted out of the draw. But much to our surprise another doe that we hadn’t seen stood up half way between us and was looking the opposite direction! Perfect! Tyler got setup on the deer but the wind was blowing 20mph and he was having a hard time keeping the crosshairs of his 243 on the deer’s vitals. I encouraged him to take his time and make a good shot. He repositioned himself a couple times trying to get steady and get the crosshairs settled. When the shot rang out there was instant blood right behind the shoulder. The doe took off but only made it a short distance before going down in sight. He made a perfect shot and to say he was excited would be an understatement! This kid was jacked up! Before going to the deer we exchanged a few high fives and talked about what happened. When we got there Tyler was excited to find out it was actually a small buck. He couldn’t stop smiling and the first thing he did was take a picture with his phone and send it to his mom. The next half hour was spent exchanging a few more high fives, laughing and taking pictures. We were over a mile from the road and there was a big ridge we had to climb over so we decided to quarter it in order to get it out. It was a good learning experience for Tyler as we showed him how to skin and quarter a deer. He wasn’t scared to get his hands in there and get bloody either.
We couldn’t have asked for a better kid to take hunting. He was willing to shot a doe even though he could shoot a buck and I know he would have been happy with not even getting a deer that day. And to get a little buck was just a bonus. When it was time to make the shot I was amazed at how he took his time and made sure his aim was perfect before pulling the trigger. I wish I had that kind of discipline sometimes! He was very thankful for all we did for him and I’m pretty sure a new hunter was born that day. I’m certain Montana is going to sell a few more deer tag to this kid in the coming years!
I guarantee it will be something you remember for many, many years. Even more important, Tyler will NEVER forget it!!
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