Well, I'll bring the story full circle tonight. Jonah got his doe like I said....here's our story. Couldn't have asked for a better adventure with my boys. We learned so much - about each other and about deer!
My 11 year old and I headed out Friday to hunt the mini cold front that moved through. Wind changed for a day from S-SW to W-NW. Temp dropped 10 degrees and I figured the deer would be moving more than what we'd seen. I pulled him from school at noon to make it 7 out of 8 days hunting....the only day we didn't get after it was Tuesday while we were getting Noah's buck taken care of.
I have to preface this story with the fact that my 11 year old is the least patient of our family - not necessarily surprising, but impressive when you consider he's the one who INSISTED we go sit early on Friday. What a kid!
We parked the truck and trudged through the plowed field to get to the corn we were about to walk through. We tucked into the noisy stalks and crept towards the stand. As we exited the field we had a nice mature doe get up and trot away from us to the tree line. She never looked back and her tail stayed low so we figured we were ok. We ditched our stuff and got down for a shot, but to no avail....keep that part in mind as we get to the end of the story. We hurried to the stand and got settled.
About an hour later we saw a doe get up from the cattails about 120 yards from us. She stood broadside for about 45 seconds and I expected to hear the .243 ring out but it never did. She started moving and disappeared into the tree row....following her out was another nice buck. Exactly the same spot where my other son's buck was shot - almost the same view through the spotting scope I saw on Monday!
I asked Jonah why he didn't squeeze the trigger and he told me he was waiting for me to tell him it was ok. I realized I'd over-coached him, afraid he'd take a shot he didn't understand or wasn't practiced for. I told him that the next deer that came out I'd confirm doe or buck and let him take over from there. We'd been over "quartering to", "quartering away", distance, etc. and I needed to just trust him. Boy did that come into play about an hour later.
We saw more movement - a few does (actually probably the same one) but no good shots. A nice buck came out after the doe - not something he could shoot but cool anyway. At 6 pm a doe came out of the corn at 350 yards straight at us. I confirmed for Jonah that it was in fact a nice doe that he could shoot - the rest was up to him. We watched her disappear through a cattail draw and out the other side. She turned broadside and stopped at 275. I heard the .243 ring out and saw the white of her belly as she toppled right where she stood!
We waited about a half hour to ensure she was down. We chatted about the shot and eventually made our way to find her. Once we got to her we realized he had hit her high shoulder - the bullet entered top of the shoulder and exited her spine. I ended up finishing her with my knife and we decided to walk back to the truck together to give her some time. He couldn't have picked a better deer. She was a 3.5 year old dry doe in gorgeous shape!
Now for the unexpected adventure....My keys weren't in my pocket. We emptied backpacks and retraced our steps. Sunlight was disappearing and my phone was dying. I called my wife (who had just sat down to watch Netflix) and asked her to bring the spare keys from Casselton to Valley City. She didn't hesitate.
Jonah's deer went down 15 FEET from where Noah's buck was field dressed. Used the same path through the cattails to drag her to the pickup. I called KDM and told him my phone was going to die and what the situation was. His wife graciously came out with her pickup and we loaded the deer into the back. As we drove gravel back towards their yard we saw that my wife was at my truck. YES!
My wife gave me the spare set and the fob didn't work to unlock the truck - I used the key instead. That set off the alarm so I pushed lock/unlock a few times to see if I could get it to stop, to no avail. I then started the truck and the alarm quit. Again, YES! I shut the door and was going to tell my wife she could head home when I heard "Hey Dad, can you unlock the truck for me?"!!!!! I had just managed to lock the only spare set in my truck. All I could think was "this is Jonah's moment, don't ruin it by freaking out". Believe me, I was about to explode inside but I held it together outwardly. What's a guy to do?
We field dressed the doe in KDM's from yard. True to form he got my 11 year old's hands dirty and taught him how to do it. I was a little embarrassed that he didn't even really know how to handle the knife, but Kirk's patience shined through and he taught my son a TON about the final stage of hunting deer. "Thank you" doesn't begin to describe the gratitude.
Meanwhile, my wife called AAA and went to sit by the truck to wait for the tow truck. 30 minutes passed, then an hour, then an hour and a half. While we sat enjoying a beverage and donut with Kirk and his family he received a "Restricted" call on his phone. What do you know - my wife was called in for "suspicious vehicle" and she had two deputies at her side confirming why she was there. After KDM gave the ok, she was good to go and the tow truck showed up minutes later. She is such a champ. It's moment like this that affirm I married an absolute gem!
We got the doe hung up when we got home and hugged/high-fived on an awesome season. Jonah said "You know, I'm not really too patient but hunting sure taught me a few things". I couldn't be prouder! I also gave him a little crap about waiting 7 days to take a shot to which he replied "Yeah, well 7 days without a CRAPPY shot!". He gets it. So proud - he's absolutely right. Take a good shot or don't shoot at all.
I took Noah's buck to LaMoure to get processed. We had more hunting to do and to be honest, it was intimidating. However I decided to butcher the doe myself. It turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life! Knowing where each cut of meat came from, how it was taken, etc. is priceless. So glad I did it!
Now for the last part of the adventure - the keys. They were truly gone. To make it worse, I had put a ring my Dad wore on the key ring. He passed away three years ago and I really wanted those keys back!
The doe was shot Friday evening. I announce football for 6th graders in Casselton Saturday mornings so had to do that before I could go "hunting". Once I was done I packed the doe with ice and headed back to VC. Spent 2 hours retracing my steps - through the plowed field, through the corn, the stand, the trail back to the kill site. Nothing. I had a metal detector, used OnX "tracking" so I could grid, and watched video of my son and I's walk to get the deer so I was sure I was on the right trail. Slow, slow, slow walk....nothing.
I was certain it was back in the plowed field - had to be where my boy and I exchanged items. As I entered the corn it dawned on me that I ditched gear when we saw the first doe as we walked into the area originally. I focused on the edge between the corn and grass and by God if I didn't see a glimmer and hear the metal detector ring out. I had my keys!!!!
I'll end this long post by saying this: We are hooked. I thought we couldn't top the buck that my son shot and realized as we continued our season that it isn't about that. Each experience was unique, epic, unforgettable. Deer hunting isn't just about the animal - it's the full experience. We've put in weeks of research, work, and sit to make it happen. We learned about each other, nature, deer, and life. I wouldn't trade any of it - One of the top experiences of my 42 year life so far.
HUGE shout out to Kirk (KDM) for just being him. It's clear that he has a passion for helping young hunters understand what it means to truly be a hunter. It's about the full circle - patience, observation, harvest, and respect. Respect for the animal, nature, and landowners. He provided an experience I couldn't have done alone as a father. He was the coach, teacher, mentor that my kids needed - they would have bucked me a bit but took what he said as law and became a little more of a man along the way. My appreciation to Kirk can never be fully expressed.
As if this epic adventure wasn't enough, he's almost demanding Noah come back for a bow buck. I'm floored, can't imagine topping what's already been shared with us. Noah's excited - needs a bit of a rest - but is ready to have a whole different experience!
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Here are some pics of the adventure!
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