Just like @p_ham, I was able to take my son on his first big game hunt this weekend. I drew this limited entry tag in Utah with 0 points, so I did not have any sort of expectation on size of an animal. All I wanted was my son to have a positive experience and to learn and have fun.
We arrived in the unit the evening before the hunt, set up camp, and went to bed. He was really excited to put his new set of hunting clothes on and be a "real hunter like dad". We woke up with the sun and packed into the truck. My little brother and his son joined us on this hunt. After driving oil roads for about 30 minutes, I glassed up what appeared to be a lone pronghorn.
The spotter showed he was a mature animal and that was good enough for me. I was going to go after anything the boys wanted to go after. I put the iPhone on the spotting scope and took a few pictures. Showing the boys, they were excited to see an animal (the first one we had seen mind you) and when I asked if we should continue hunting or if they were okay with ending the hunt less than 2 hours after it had begun. They both responded enthusiastically that they wanted to go after that buck.
The buck was about 800 yards from the truck. We made a big loop to get the sun and wind right. I made it a point to take things slow and explain what we were doing and why we were doing it along the way so the boys would understand. We got within 350 yards and put the rifle on the tripod. After making sure that buck was the one the boys wanted, I sent a 150 NABLR his way.
This was my first pronghorn hunt and I can assure you it will not be my last. Walking up on the animal with my oldest son and being able to share this experience with my brother and nephew is something I won't forget. Back at camp we looked at the buck, ate breakfast and broke camp to head home. I had a 5 hour drive and the smile never left my face. Every hour or so, my son would ask if we could get another tag and do that again because "it was really really cool".
We arrived in the unit the evening before the hunt, set up camp, and went to bed. He was really excited to put his new set of hunting clothes on and be a "real hunter like dad". We woke up with the sun and packed into the truck. My little brother and his son joined us on this hunt. After driving oil roads for about 30 minutes, I glassed up what appeared to be a lone pronghorn.
The spotter showed he was a mature animal and that was good enough for me. I was going to go after anything the boys wanted to go after. I put the iPhone on the spotting scope and took a few pictures. Showing the boys, they were excited to see an animal (the first one we had seen mind you) and when I asked if we should continue hunting or if they were okay with ending the hunt less than 2 hours after it had begun. They both responded enthusiastically that they wanted to go after that buck.
The buck was about 800 yards from the truck. We made a big loop to get the sun and wind right. I made it a point to take things slow and explain what we were doing and why we were doing it along the way so the boys would understand. We got within 350 yards and put the rifle on the tripod. After making sure that buck was the one the boys wanted, I sent a 150 NABLR his way.
This was my first pronghorn hunt and I can assure you it will not be my last. Walking up on the animal with my oldest son and being able to share this experience with my brother and nephew is something I won't forget. Back at camp we looked at the buck, ate breakfast and broke camp to head home. I had a 5 hour drive and the smile never left my face. Every hour or so, my son would ask if we could get another tag and do that again because "it was really really cool".
