2 youth hunters get it done

[sigfour]

I’ve had a great couple of weekends hunting with my son- 15 and my cousins son- 10. My son drew his first ever bull elk tag, an early muzzleloader tag. We scouted and practiced shooting several times leading up to the hunt. My cousins son drew a youth javelina tag that would start 2 weeks after. With my truck loaded with camp and gear my son and I left home around 11pm the night before the hunt. Arriving to our hunt spot about 3am, I listened for bugles in the dark while my son slept. 45 minutes before light, I woke him up and he got dressed, we geared up and headed out. After glassing, walking and calling for about an hour we finally got a response. Soon we saw an elk coming from the valley below us. We set up the shooting sticks and waited, cow calling some to keep him interested. After a few minutes he came into an opening and we could finally tell he was a branch antlered bull, our goal. One look through the scope and my son said he wanted to take him. With the muzzleloader sighted in at 200 yards, I tried to stop him around that distance but couldn’t. He kept coming straight to us. Finally at 125yards, after trying bugles, cow calls, etc, I let out an awful squeal/howl/sound and that stopped him. Reading the script he turned broadside for us. Guessing he would be around 10” high at that yardage he held the crosshairs at the bottom of his belly and behind the front leg. Smoke clouded our view at the shot and when it dissipated we could still see him standing there, although hunched up a bit. I frantically reloaded the rifle as my son kept watch. Reloaded, I put the gun back on the sticks and told him to aim for the heart. I moved a bit to the side so I could watch without the smoke. At the shot, a high shoulder hit, the bull went down. After yells, screams, hugs and High fives we went down to the bull. His first shot was a perfect heart shot. We tagged him, took pics and started the hard work. After breaking him down and hanging him up in the shade of a tree we hiked back to the truck so he could start his online school (lucky we had service).  By the end of the day we had homework finished and the bull in the truck. A truly amazing hunt. 
2 weeks later my son and I are joined by my cousin and his son. This will be his first ever hunt. Opening day found us helping a stranger get his vehicle unstuck, which took a few hours. Afterwards we decided to take a quick look at where we wanted to hunt before lunch. We jumped a single javelina but he was too quick for a shot. The rest of the day was uneventful. Day 2, we went back to the same area and got into a decent group of 8-10. We got him and the youth .243 rifle onto the shooting sticks. After several minutes of trying to “find javelina in the scope” he finally sees them as they bust and go over the next ridge, ignoring my calling tries to bring them back. We let him drive the side x side and shoot BB guns for the rest of the day as per his wishes. As long as he had fun I didn’t care what we did. Day three was uneventful except for a few nice bucks we saw. Day 4, Monday we are back in the same spot glassing early. We spot 2 javelina and slowly move into shooting range, just over 100 yards. We get him set up on the sticks again and he finds one in the scope. After a few heart pounding moments he says he is ready and touches one off. A perfect hit and the collard peccary rolls down the hill. Some hooting and hollering are followed by the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. After an easy recovery and pack out, we headed back to camp all smiling and fist pumping. At the end, just before they left for home the young hunter told me he couldn’t wait to do it again. Music to my ears.

[eddielasvegas]

Congrats to all and great, great story.

Which unit for the elk?

Eddie

[sigfour]

Thank you. The elk hunt was in 22s and the Javelina Hunt in 37b

[Roosevelt Mark]

That's cool, congrats guys!

[cactusjack]

great job.  I love seeing the kids having a great time and having success.  

[AzDiamondHeat]

2 hours ago, sigfour said:

At the end, just before they left for home the young hunter told me he couldn’t wait to do it again. Music to my ears.

Best thing EVER.

You guys are doing it right.

[CatfishKev]

Great job dad! Good karma comes back around. Noce of you to spend a couple hours helping someone in need.  Congrats.

[Coach]

Awesome job and great post - loved it!

[az_runner]

Bad to the bone man. Congrats.

[mattys281]

Good stuff! Congrats to all

[AZbowhntr]

That is awesome.  Congrats to everyone.

[Will K]

Awesome job.