A few Thank U's to go with the 1st Tag pics

[rcdinaz]

Sorry this is in two posts, the original post for my daughters hunt was here:

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/44256-1st-tag-1st-trip-1st-deer/

 

Here is "the rest of the story" along with all the people we needed to thank!

 

My 12 year old daughter drew a tag for the 3C general rifle hunt. Her dad was just lazy enough to fill out her app just like her older sisters instead of finding the regs and looking up the bonus point code, because no one would ever get drawn for a trophy deer hunt with no points! Well she drew a tag and the rest of us; well we got more bonus points...

 

No hunter safety card... Now we scramble! We spend two different weekends doing the pretest and finally the final online test for hunters ed. Of course now all the field classes were booked so I called and was lucky enough to get her in on one of the classes out at Ben Avery.

 

So now we have a tag, a hunters safety card, and a couple outings of practice under out belt. I head back to Sportsman's and no ammo to be had, I head to Bass Pro and all that is left is another brand with a different wt bullet. I have no time to work on hand loads so I buy three boxes and we head back out to verify zero and make some small tweaks at 100 yards. We practice again out to 500, determine our range is 300yds and in.

 

I rent a small RV so her first trip is easy bathroom, heater, own bed, etc. Great plan!

 

FIRE! Well the tranny in the RV goes out on the climb to Payson and the thing actually catches fire when the fluid hits the exhaust. Smoke everywhere and two people frantically trying to find a fire extinguisher. Well we can’t find it anywhere! My daughters extremely quite (a very major feat) and just staring at the RV while I’m wondering how far is a safe distance! A truck stops and the driver get out and starts throwing stuff out of his tool box, he finally runs over with an extinguisher and tells me this thing is ancient lets see if it works. Well the fire goes out instantly, I thank him and he is off to an appointment... I am sure we just made him very late.

 

So now we get a lot of attention, one hwy patrol, then a sheriff, then another hwy patrol, and finally a fire truck. My kid eyes are as big as silver dollars, but they are all very professional and the officer that stays asks her about her trip and says good luck once the tow truck showed up. A friend of my dad’s who was in Payson shows up to help us load up our gear, nerves shot but we are off once again!

 

Well as the pictures show all's well that end well. We saw a lot of deer which is just what is needed for a kid to hunt and have fun and keep 'em going.

 

A lot of people to thank!

 

I will give G&F very due credit; in regards to this experience for my daughter it was nothing but positive interaction, direction, and help!

Thanks to the G&F for the hunter safety class and getting us scheduled.

Thanks to the G&F instructors who I am sure are underpaid but obviously love what they do.

Thanks to the G&F officers who were extremely positive and encouraging to my daughter and generous with their time and direction to her, my father, and I.

 

Thank you to the kind gentleman that stopped with a fire extinguisher to out out our fire! Sorry I did not get your name. Good Samaritan award!

 

Thanks to SW Transmission and Carl's towing in Payson for their sense of urgency and added help on advice on where to hunt and where to stay, and plain overall friendliness.

 

Thanks to those of you on this site that gave advice on where to hunt.

Special thanks to forum member 3C for the advice that happened to be exactly where we filed the tag!

 

Thanks to my Dad and his Buddy up in Payson for bailing us out so we could make some priceless memories!