AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
Ok, unfortunately, there is no actual harvest report here, but I wasn't sure where else this should go; however, this is a quick note about my favorite hunt so far in my career and I have to share it with you all. Opening weekend of archery deer season down here in Arizona was a month ago and my family came out and joined me for the weekend, although I wasn't around camp much. On Saturday afternoon of the 2nd day, I invited my 5 year old daughter to go with me for the afternoon/evening hunt since temps finally dropped out of the 80s. I had promised her to go with me at some point after she turned 5 just to expose her to the atmosphere of hunting. She eagerly agreed to join me for a short hike through the forest to a stock tank. To give her the full experience, I sprayed her clothes down (she picked the shirt; "Dad's Hunting Buddy") and figured that was good enough for what we were up to. Sydney insisted on having her face painted like she had seen me previously and how could I say no?!? Shortly after my wife took this picture, we took off on about a mile hike into the stock tank. Along the way, I tought her about still hunting and stalking quietly, which she absorbed readily! She also got hungry, so I gave her my last Cliff Bar to munch on as we hiked along. At some point during our hike, we ended up walking hand-in-hand, which was by far the best part. I also sort of forgot about looking for deer as I kept looking at her hand in my right hand and my bow in my left hand. About 25 minutes later, we made it to the tank and sat there for about 15 minutes before she started getting cold and I said we could go home. We jumped on a well-used elk trail that lead back towards camp where she learned about using game trails to move faster and quieter and to see what animals were doing and how frequently they are passing through an area. We found a couple of scattered skeletons along the way and she brought home a couple of leg bones (elk). When we arrived back in camp, she couldn't wait to tell her mom all about it and was talking all next week at school about going deer hunting with her dad! We didn't see any deer or elk, but we had such a blast together! I can't wait until she's old enough to actually hunt here in AZ (assuming she stays interested over the next 5 years). So, sorry, no harvest report, just a report of my favorite hunt with my favorite hunting buddy! Ok, so its not as quick as I intended it to be, but I'm still so proud of her and excited about our hunt, I couldn't cut too many corners. Archery season out here reopens in mid-December, hopefully, there will be an actual harvest report!
