AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
A couple of weeks ago, I posted on here that my credit card had been hit for a couple of elk tags here in Arizona. Based on the charges, I knew it was my daughter and another young friend that had been drawn. Today, I got the official notice as the results were posted online. I was able to confirm the dates of her and our friend's hunt and I can't wait to show her the results.
SYDNEY K WOOLDRIDGE
DEPARTMENT ID: *****5992
ADDRESS:
BIRTH DATE:
SPECIES RESULT HUNT NO. SEASON DATES OPEN AREAS PERMIT NO. REJECT DESCRIPTION
BUCK ANTELOPE Not Drawn
ANTLERLESS ELK Draw Successful 03079 09/26/2014 - 10/02/2014 UNIT 7 EAST PEAKS HUNT AREA 000038 :way:
A couple of buddies here suggested I start a journal on here for her as a way to document everything for her in her first year of big game hunting. So I hope you all don't mind, but that's what I'm doing. Although this is an antlerless elk hunt, I'm hoping it will be as exciting as the journal I kept 3 years ago and you all enjoy it, but I hope it ends better than mine did! I told her the other night that she'll probably fill an elk tag before I will. You should have seen the grin on her face!
Some initial thoughts as a father, which I'm sure is nothing new to any of you, but being this is her first year big game hunting (10 is the minimum age in AZ), this is my first time getting to have these thoughts! To get the results today is very surreal. Thursday will mark the 10th anniversary of the day my dad died and two weeks from this Friday (25 April) will be my daughter's 10th birthday. Yep, she was born just 15 days after my dad died. To say my life was completely upturned 10 years ago was an understatement, but I couldn't be more proud of how the last 10 years have been. I know dad has been watching over all of us.
To say I'm excited to take my daughter hunting is a complete understatement. This year has been 10 years in the making and I'll never forget when she was 2.5 and I told her I was going deer hunting in south Texas. She was so mad at me and screamed to go. I promised her that I'd take her when she turned 5 I'd take her to Texas. We had a blast that year. I won't rehash it, but you can read about it here if you want: http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32611
She's been on a few hunts with me since then, including a turkey hunt and couple of javelina hunts and she has quickly become my best and favorite hunting buddy! Now its all about her. Since getting my credit card hit and knowing what unit (based on price charged), I've been pouring over the map of the unit and getting my trail camera ready. We were going to hike up to a spot I know this past Saturday, but it was cold and snowy in town and that spot is 2,000 feet higher in elevation. I'm hoping we'll get out there this weekend to get it in one place for now and then move it around as we scout more areas. This unit is a subset of another unit and is predominantly wilderness. For those of you not familiar with federally designated wilderness areas, there are no mechanized equipment or motorized vehicles allowed. That means you hike in and hike out. If you get an animal down, you pack it out on your back. One thing I've learned hunting out here over the years is that there are a ton of lazy people who don't like straying from roads and don't like hunting where they can't drive to retrieve their game. To maximize my daughter's and friend's chances, I intend to spend as much time in the wilderness areas as possible to get away from the competition. Of course, I will have several friends' phone numbers on speed dial when it comes time to pack out an elk or two!
When I seem distracted to my wife and she asks what I'm thinking about "Elk hunting" is usually my response. When I need a break from my computer screen and ridiculous deadlines here at work, I take a look at her unit map to get familiar with the boundaries, roads and areas I know elk occur. Even before the elk hunt in September, though, she has her first turkey hunt in two weeks. We leave on 24 April for the North Rim of the Kaibab NF and she will be hunting for her first turkey (Merriams) opening day on her 10th birthday! Getting ready for that has been extremely exciting, too!
I told her the other day that as soon as turkey hunting and soccer are over, we start concentrating full tilt on elk hunting, including hiking to get in shape, working up loads for her rifle, spending time at the range shooting her rifle as well as a .22 to work on form, and scouting her unit every chance we get. She told me the other day that she wanted to start hiking with ankle weights in her pack so she can get used to having extra weight when it comes time to help me pack out her elk! GOTTA LOVE THAT DETERMINATION!!
Enough rambling for now. I need to get back to ridiculous deadlines and overburdened workloads! More later as my daughter puts her thoughts on paper and we start getting some trail cam pics in.
SYDNEY K WOOLDRIDGE
DEPARTMENT ID: *****5992
ADDRESS:
BIRTH DATE:
SPECIES RESULT HUNT NO. SEASON DATES OPEN AREAS PERMIT NO. REJECT DESCRIPTION
BUCK ANTELOPE Not Drawn
ANTLERLESS ELK Draw Successful 03079 09/26/2014 - 10/02/2014 UNIT 7 EAST PEAKS HUNT AREA 000038 :way:
A couple of buddies here suggested I start a journal on here for her as a way to document everything for her in her first year of big game hunting. So I hope you all don't mind, but that's what I'm doing. Although this is an antlerless elk hunt, I'm hoping it will be as exciting as the journal I kept 3 years ago and you all enjoy it, but I hope it ends better than mine did! I told her the other night that she'll probably fill an elk tag before I will. You should have seen the grin on her face!
Some initial thoughts as a father, which I'm sure is nothing new to any of you, but being this is her first year big game hunting (10 is the minimum age in AZ), this is my first time getting to have these thoughts! To get the results today is very surreal. Thursday will mark the 10th anniversary of the day my dad died and two weeks from this Friday (25 April) will be my daughter's 10th birthday. Yep, she was born just 15 days after my dad died. To say my life was completely upturned 10 years ago was an understatement, but I couldn't be more proud of how the last 10 years have been. I know dad has been watching over all of us.
To say I'm excited to take my daughter hunting is a complete understatement. This year has been 10 years in the making and I'll never forget when she was 2.5 and I told her I was going deer hunting in south Texas. She was so mad at me and screamed to go. I promised her that I'd take her when she turned 5 I'd take her to Texas. We had a blast that year. I won't rehash it, but you can read about it here if you want: http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32611
She's been on a few hunts with me since then, including a turkey hunt and couple of javelina hunts and she has quickly become my best and favorite hunting buddy! Now its all about her. Since getting my credit card hit and knowing what unit (based on price charged), I've been pouring over the map of the unit and getting my trail camera ready. We were going to hike up to a spot I know this past Saturday, but it was cold and snowy in town and that spot is 2,000 feet higher in elevation. I'm hoping we'll get out there this weekend to get it in one place for now and then move it around as we scout more areas. This unit is a subset of another unit and is predominantly wilderness. For those of you not familiar with federally designated wilderness areas, there are no mechanized equipment or motorized vehicles allowed. That means you hike in and hike out. If you get an animal down, you pack it out on your back. One thing I've learned hunting out here over the years is that there are a ton of lazy people who don't like straying from roads and don't like hunting where they can't drive to retrieve their game. To maximize my daughter's and friend's chances, I intend to spend as much time in the wilderness areas as possible to get away from the competition. Of course, I will have several friends' phone numbers on speed dial when it comes time to pack out an elk or two!
When I seem distracted to my wife and she asks what I'm thinking about "Elk hunting" is usually my response. When I need a break from my computer screen and ridiculous deadlines here at work, I take a look at her unit map to get familiar with the boundaries, roads and areas I know elk occur. Even before the elk hunt in September, though, she has her first turkey hunt in two weeks. We leave on 24 April for the North Rim of the Kaibab NF and she will be hunting for her first turkey (Merriams) opening day on her 10th birthday! Getting ready for that has been extremely exciting, too!
I told her the other day that as soon as turkey hunting and soccer are over, we start concentrating full tilt on elk hunting, including hiking to get in shape, working up loads for her rifle, spending time at the range shooting her rifle as well as a .22 to work on form, and scouting her unit every chance we get. She told me the other day that she wanted to start hiking with ankle weights in her pack so she can get used to having extra weight when it comes time to help me pack out her elk! GOTTA LOVE THAT DETERMINATION!!
Enough rambling for now. I need to get back to ridiculous deadlines and overburdened workloads! More later as my daughter puts her thoughts on paper and we start getting some trail cam pics in.
