My Son's First Deer…and a Lifetime of Memories

► article and photos by Ken Bailey

My phone buzzed about five minutes before I was about to hike into an area with no cell service. My plan was to stillhunt a massive black spruce bog that I knew several white-tailed bucks used as escape cover.

“What’s up, Austin?”“I shot a deer. A buck,” he replied calmly.

With nowhere near the same composure he was displaying, I advised him to hang tough, and I’d be there in 20 minutes. My youngest son had, apparently, just shot his first deer!

My stepsons were 10 and 11 years old when I married their mother, old enough that their interests were hard-wired. They were city kids whose leisure time was spent playing hockey, music, and a wide assortment of video games. In fact, I bet my kids could have beaten your kids at Nintendo! Fortunately, they had no concerns about coming home to find a deer hanging in the garage or duck gumbo on their dinner plate, but through their formative years they showed little interest in hunting. That changed as they grew to become young men.

At 19, Jazz, the older brother, took an interest in archery. He became an exceptional marksman with a bow, though he never did hear the hunter’s horn— targets were all that interested him. Austin, however, was 20 when he told me he wanted to hunt deer. I advised him that step one was to take the Alberta Hunter Education Instructors’ Association (AHEIA) Hunter Education Certification course, and a few weeks later he announced he had passed.

That summer we went out several times to the quarter section of mostly treed land I misleadingly call “the farm” and taught him the basics of shooting a rifle. Austin is athletic by nature and a quick learner, so it didn’t take long before he was handling the gun confidently and safely.

Our first hunt that fall was two cold November days at a friend’s camp where we alternated between still-hunting and sitting.

Unfortunately, it was a case of no deer and no luck. A couple weeks later we headed to the farm for a few days. I had a great time teaching Austin to read sign, and identify birds, trees, and animal tracks, but we saw few deer. One afternoon, we did manage to get the jump on a small buck following two does, but this fleeting opportunity was not a realistic chance for a new hunter. It turned out that Austin ended the season with an unfilled tag and unfulfilled expectations. I’m not sure what lessons he’d learned, but I came away from the experience a whole lot smarter.

Leaping ahead to the next season’s frosty November morning—when I got that fateful call—I was nearly overcome with nervous anticipation as I hiked to the blind where I had left Austin before first light. And, if I imagined he was taking it all matter-of-factly based on our brief call, that quickly changed when I walked up to him. He was shaking with excitement as he related the story.

He said it all began when two does passed within 20 yards of his blind but didn’t stop long enough to present a shot. Fortunately, just a few minutes later a 4x4 buck ambled by, clearly in pursuit of female companionship. As Austin told it, his fidgeting in the blind while trying to get a bead on the buck made enough commotion that the deer stopped in his tracks, turned, and stared directly at him.

“I think he stood there for 20 or 30 seconds, while I recalled where to aim on a deer facing directly towards me and then get him lined up properly in the crosshairs,” said Austin. “He was close, and I was having trouble getting my scope turned down. That made everything that much more difficult. I wasn’t going to shoot unless I thought I had it perfect.”

When I arrived, Austin was standing over a spray of dark blood in the snow, with no deer in sight. The volume and colour of blood suggested that he’d hit the buck well and that it wouldn’t be far, but I kept that to myself. It was an opportunity to teach him about tracking a wounded deer. We began a systematic search, him leading the way, me following. As I suspected, we didn’t have to go far, finding the buck over a rise just 50 metres from where it had initially been hit.

I’ve been very fortunate over the years to have hunted in many different places and collected more than my fair share of experiences and trophies. But I’ve never felt more blessed as a hunter, or a father, than I did at that instant, hugging Austin as we stood over his first deer. It was an extremely personal and emotional moment that I wish every hunter and parent could experience. And best of all, there is no best-before date on it.

Some things to consider when teaching your child to hunt

Naturally, I was excited when Austin told me he wanted to hunt. Probably too excited, and that can lead to problems for both the parent and the child. Over-eagerness and unrealistically high expectations can lead to disillusionment.

At the end of his first hunting season, with no deer to show for our efforts, I was probably more disappointed than Austin. I’d put too much pressure on myself to make sure he was successful, forgetting that hunting success should never be measured by game taken. I learned several other lessons in helping Austin harvest his first deer that hopefully others can benefit from:

» It’s never too late to introduce a child, spouse, or friend to the hunting experience.

» Encourage, but don’t push, those who don’t come by the interest naturally. They’ll let you know when they’re ready.

» Hunting from a blind is ideal for any beginning deer hunter as it affords them more time to prepare to shoot.

» Ensure they learn that field-dressing and butchering their deer is a step in the hunting process and every bit as important as shooting it.

» If you think they are mature enough, and they are of legal age, leave novices on their own. Most don’t benefit from a steady stream of whispered advice, especially when they are excited, and they take great pride in having done it themselves.

» Help them prepare their first meal featuring venison they harvested, cleaned, cut, and wrapped. As they fully experience the field-to-table connection, you’ll see their sense of achievement on full display.

Harvest Your Own

For more on mentoring youth hunters, check out episode 33 of the Harvest Your Own podcast: Mentoring Future Hunters at www.HarvestYourOwn.ca