My 10yr olds first Big Game Hunt

[TEAM JESUS]

Hunter is 10yrs old and this is his first big game hunt. He is accompanied by me, his Dad, his Mom and Great, Great Uncle. We are hunting the "EAST SYYDE". (Fri morn) Bugles ringing out before light. Out on the flats. Glassing many elk, bulls & cows. Just hard to get on when you get in the flats. (Fri eve) sitting water & what comes in, 5 bulls all within 30 yards. (Sat morn) Chasing them in the flats again. Then I spotted an elk right where we start every morning glassing at. Got to within 228yrd. She is laying broadside. Set Hunter up on sticks and he says he is not steady, adjust and he is better and he gets his first shot. Missed. Should have proned him. (Sat eve) water and nothing comes in. Nothing. (Sun morn) again, chasing elk in the flats. (Sun noon) Mom and uncle leave. (Sun eve) sitting the same water hole and @ 430, 4 cows and 2 bulls come in with no hesitation. One cow gives Hunter a broadside shot @ 120. Her head down and Hunter shoots. "BOOM"! I see not hit and no elk leaves. She runs to our side abut 60 yards and is now 70yrd from us. I tell him to shoot her again. He is shaking so bad, I have to pull his hammer back on is T/C. "BOOM"! Not one elk moves again. All 5 just hanging around. I am looking thru binos @ the elk he has shot and I see no blood. Now she is moving behind a tree facing us. Another cow steps into an opening and I tell him to shoot that one. "BOOM" this elks drops. We're waiting and the other elk all start to leave except the first one he origianally shot at. She lays down, my heart sank. You can tell she is hurt but is still not showing and blood. I tell Hunter that she must be hit and we have to put her down. Now he is calm and he places the last shot right in her neck. We dress the first elk. Then go back to camp and get the truck. We get both of them loaded. Now I am in a situation, I am making sure that my son know that I was the one who made the decision for him to shoot the other elk. It was not his fault, but we are going to have to make it right. One the way to get cell service. He is asking me what could happen. I told him everything that G&F could do. Get on the phone with Game Theif and they contact the unit manager. After his light interogation, he says to use to dress the other elk out and to take that one in the morning to the Flaff. G&F office. So we get back to camp around 10p & I am dressing the second elk out. 6am comes fast, too fast. We get up eat ans take the first cow to the processer trailers. Then we make the trip to Flagg. When we arrive they ask a few more question about what happened. They take the animal, tell us thank you for calling it in and then send us on our way. I expected atleast a fine, but nothing. While we were there, he is showing us the other mistakes made by other hunters. Small Bulls still in velvet and 2 poachings. I really hesitated on telling anyone about this situation because it is embarassing. Now I am sharing so you'll let your youth read to know it is always better to do what is right. Regardless of the consequences. Accidents do happen.

[ac guy]

Well, interesting first hunt if nothing else. From the horses mouth, if you make a mistake, and call g&f, there will be no ticket issued. They know if it was an honest mistake or not. If they witness you make a mistake, they will wait to see if you call it in, if you don't, you're in trouble. You did the best you could. Many would not.

[ac guy]

And when you say you hesitated to tell anyone, I assume you mean posting it on the web, not calling g&f.

[COUESAZ]

Oh sure now next week I am going to be deer hunting with a known fellon. HAHA

 

Hey great hunt Hunter. It is good to always do the right thing when you relize the mistake has been made. In the heat of the the hunt many things can go wrong. The thing we need to remember is that even if a right can not make up for that wrong the right thing needs to be done. WOW is that wisdom from my mouth or what.

 

A few of us on this site know you guys and know your ethics are of the highest that can be found. Thanks for sharing the story and the photo with us.

[Guest borderboy]

Great job kid! Good eating too!

[Oso Verde]

Children count on their parents to make good decisions and lead by example especially in high pressure situations. I am sure that you have been plenty hard on your self and mistakes and accidents do happen. How was this an accident? Click the safety back on! Having read your story and deliberating on whether or not to post I have to say something because it is obvious that people on this site just want to be nice... or possibbly don't recognize this as a lapse of ethics. Let me backup..

I have three children and have had them take 8 cows and 1 bull over the years. They haven't killed an elk every hunt. I have been in your exact position... and thought what you were thinking at that same moment. IT IS TOUGH! Success comes in so many forms and for our children it shouldn't be about just getting an animal at any cost. There are other opportunities. I look on this site and see the kids surrounded by family, friends and the great outdoors which is the way it should be...but it should be without these type of stories. God Bless you,your family and all of your future hunts.

[Ernesto C]

I have bieng in the same situation too, I admited. How could you tell you hit the first one?? There is/was no way. So what you did.....I'm sure me and many other would have done exactly the same thing........shoot the next one. You did the right thing by reporting it to the AZGF.

 

Ernesto C

[wardsoutfitters]

Being in my position as a sponsor and an outfitter I have to be careful what I say, but in this case I have to state my opinion. I would have to say you should have waited until they were gone and then looked for blood. There is really no excuse for what happened. You should have at least continued to shoot at the cow you initially shot at. You did the right thing by contacting game and fish, but I will say again you should have never shoot at another animal until you had positively confirmed you had not hit the animal you first shot at. Sorry I don’t agree with anyone who says this was the right thing to do.

[Coach]

It would be easy to play "Monday Morning Quarterback" and tell you what went wrong. In all honesty, I doubt that anyone reading this post has not been in a similar situation. You manned up, called G&F, got it all out in the open. That tells me exactly where your ethics are and I commend you for it.

 

Your son probably learned more from this hunt than many adults on here have had to experience, and you did the best you could - after the fact - to stay above board and do the right thing. Good job. You set a good example. Of course, if you could do it again, you probably wouldn't have suggested the second shot, but we are all in a continuous learning cycle. You did the right thing by bringing G&F in and staying honest - that says a lot about your character.

[bowhunter4life]

Being in my position as a sponsor and an outfitter I have to be careful what I say, but in this case I have to state my opinion. I would have to say you should have waited until they were gone and then looked for blood. There is really no excuse for what happened. You should have at least continued to shoot at the cow you initially shot at. You did the right thing by contacting game and fish, but I will say again you should have never shoot at another animal until you had positively confirmed you had not hit the animal you first shot at. Sorry I don’t agree with anyone who says this was the right thing to do.

 

 

Your right there is never an excuse when accidents happen. He did the right thing and put the extra effort to be honost and lead by example.

Now my personnel opinion is we should outlaw outfitters, all they do is provide killing opportunity for hunters that do not want to put in there own time and just want to pay a fee and have some other person point out to them what animal to pull the trigger on. Most outfitters want a slam dunk hunt and make a bunch of money off az wildlife....... Then post a picture with the critter and state" look what I done". The exception is I do know a few that truly care and are the exception like we have on this site, Lance, Jim,Geno and a few others!

I respect when someone humbles them selve to let others learn from there mistake. Hunter your Dad did the right thing and you should be proud to have a dad like him!

[bonecollector]

You did the right thing in reporting the accident I seen and heard adults do worse! Congrats on the hunt

[Ernesto C]

How could he keep shoting at the same animal if it moved behind a tree and could not see it anymore?

 

After the fact, we can come up with a dozen of different ways what should he had done. It is easier for us to say cuase we were not there, we were not feeling the pressure, emotions etc etc.

 

Like I said, I know of hunters that had being in your same situation and there was no way to tell if their firs shot was a hit. Like I said......I habe being in your same situation there fore.......I do not judge.

 

Ernesto C

[Str8Shot]

Being in my position as a sponsor and an outfitter I have to be careful what I say, but in this case I have to state my opinion. I would have to say you should have waited until they were gone and then looked for blood. There is really no excuse for what happened. You should have at least continued to shoot at the cow you initially shot at. You did the right thing by contacting game and fish, but I will say again you should have never shoot at another animal until you had positively confirmed you had not hit the animal you first shot at. Sorry I don’t agree with anyone who says this was the right thing to do.

 

 

I Agree 100 percent with this statement...... The ethics of hunting go beyond just filling our tags.... and teaching our kids that it is OK to shoot at multiple targets til one drops in its tracks is way off the course of doing it right .... from this post it sounded as there was some confidence in the first cow being hit the cow ran 60 yards without the others leaving just no blood through the binos , now add that it was a youth hunt odds are he was not using a cannon ultra mag but most likely something on the lines of a 308,270,or maybe a 243 (most likely with a lighter load) now add the fact that Elk often take a lot of abuse from misplaced bullets and don't show the obvious tale tale signs of being hit (they clot pretty quick) .... I ask the question, why trying to see sign of blood through binos seemed like the logical means in determining if the Cow was hit? ( I think it was not to determine IF, but if in your mind the shot or shots were fatal) .... As far as doing the right thing, that time was up the second you made the choice to take the other cow.... It was not an accident it was a choice and as far as going the extra mile and reporting it to G&F to somehow make it seem better IMHO is a crock... if anything it is a joke and to put up this posting stating the lack of disciplinary action taken by the department is far worse because a good percent of guys that may read this will think it is OK to pull stunts like this, if they feel that there are no consequences to poor decision making in the field.

 

IMHO... both elk should have been seized... Fines should have been set .... And at least a temporary loss of hunting privileges should have been handed down!!!!

 

Sad to think that people try to categorize Poor decisions with An Accident ... THERE WAS NO ACCIDENT ... ONLY A CHOICE AND A POOR ONE

 

 

Just my honest Opinion

 

Chris

[COUESAZ]

Well OK Chris. I sure hope we can all live up to your expectations dude. To hope for a youth hunter to have his hunting rights pulled is a joke. Many people use binos for the pupose to evaluate a shot on a game animal. Yes the fact that the cow went a diferant direction is not a sure sign that she was hit. I have seen deer and elk have a round hit under them and the run the oposite direction as the rest of the herd, Because the boogy man was trying to get them. I do believe the young man was shooting a 7mm. He is not a small boy. Dang near as big as I am.

[TEAM JESUS]

WOW! WOW! WOW! Salt to the wound. Some of you would do good to to take a lesson from Thumper. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I get the point, but now I cannot let my son read these post because it has turned into an attack. It was posted to show your youth, an opportunity to show right, wrong, ethincs and whatever else you could learn from it. I did not have to tell this story and could have left out many details and you would only have been able to say good job to my son. I choose not to. As far as the fines and confiscation of animals. I expected it. It is great that you are not my Judger for you have no Grace but will want it one day. I have accepted the resposability. I cannot change what happened. My son should and will not be the one to pay for this.

 

John 8:7(look it up)