Timothy's Mentored Hunt Experience

[JLS]

Great story Gerald, there's a lot of life lessons in there for Timothy. Fist bump to the young hunters.

 

[RobG]

Nice job.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Also, I'm not sure what Olivia's commission is from Big Fin for wearing her lucky hat, but after seeing that photo of her I decided to go to the store link and buy my own lucky hat.

Funny story about that hat. All my kids love watching "Randy" videos. Olivia took it upon herself to write Randy a letter letting him know how much liked his videos and how excited she was to finally get to hunt herself. She showed me the letter and asked if she could send it. I told her that she could and didn't think much more of it.
A few weeks later a package arrived on our doorstep. Randy, being the generous guy that he is, had sent her that lucky hat and his new DVD. She was over the moon and both my boys quickly retired to their rooms to write letters of their own. I had to laugh quite a bit as I explained to the boys it doesn't work that way.
If you notice in all the pictures I post, only she is wearing that hat. After her success this year, I might see if I can sneak it out of the hunting room when she isn't looking.

 

[1_pointer]

Absolutely amazing season, post, and pictures. Taking the kiddo's adds a whole menagerie of elements and most of them are great! Well done.

 

[----]

Zero worries of that young man being raised right.

Congrats to Timothy. Pretty cool to see him stick to his standards as well.

 

[npaden]

Very cool! Congrats to you and Timothy! Sounds like some great time spent together. I can only imagine some of the great conversations you guys must have had!

I am so ready for my 8 year old to take more of an interest in hunting.

 

[Festus]

Awesome post! Made me smile several times!
Congrats to the Martins - very blessed and making the most of it!
Wonderful family memories (and meat).

 

[bobbydean]

There is always one thing that amazes me about the guys and gals on this forum, The statement made earlier that there is no doubt that the kid is being raised right.

I do not know if it is a Montana. Idaho. Colorado. or Wyoming thing. I have such respect for how the kids are being raised and involved in the outdoors.

As parents, your are remarkable. One of the best aspects of the forum!

 

[NoWiser]

One of the best threads of the year! Congrats on a great season with the kiddos!

 

[Elkoholic]

Gerald, you'll remember this year for life and find yourself reminiscing about it with them when their all grown up. Congrats to them both and kudos to the Mrs. and you! It's been a very busy exciting year on the Martin homestead.

 

[Nameless Range]

That is really cool. I know I could've never passed on any animal the first few seasons I hunted. Congratulations to your son and family.

Since the rule change just happened this year, was Timothy already shooting big game rifles? Granted, he slayed a deer with the muzzleloader two years prior. With the new rules and children of my own not too far off, I am curious as to when parents are moving beyond the .22 caliber. Obviously it depends on the individual child.

 

[Gerald Martin]

That is really cool. I know I could've never passed on any animal the first few seasons I hunted. Congratulations to your son and family.

Since the rule change just happened this year, was Timothy already shooting big game rifles? Granted, he slayed a deer with the muzzleloader two years prior. With the new rules and children of my own not too far off, I am curious as to when parents are moving beyond the .22 caliber. Obviously it depends on the individual child.

Timothy had extensive experience with the .22. Moving to the centerfire was a real big step for him since the smallest centerfire I own is a .270 that kicks harder than my 30-06. I shortened the factory stock on my '06 about an inch so it fit them better.

In practice, Olivia was definitely more comfortable with the recoil than Timothy was. I spent a lot more time with him dry-firing the rifle than with live rounds. I knew that when the moment of truth came on game, recoil wouldn't be an issue but he was having trouble overcoming his fear of the unknown at the beginning.

They both did well for the size of the gun they were shooting. Having said that, before any more seasons roll around they will be shooting a different gun. Still undecided whether a .243 or a .260 is going to join my other guns or whether the 30-06 is going to find a new identity as a 25-06.

Key for both of them in my shooting strategy, was controlled shots off of bipods. I want them to be confident that what they are shooting at is going to die before they ever pull the trigger.

Olivia firmly believes that when she pulls the trigger, the animal is going to die. At some point reality is going to teach her a hard lesson like it does all of us, but I'm sure not going to shake her confidence. All her shooting in target practice and at game reinforced her confidence.

Timothy has been more hesitant at what ranges he is confident at. I'm sure the two year age difference has some bearing on that. The 100 yard bang/flop he pulled off on that doe has him feeling pretty good though. He shot a friends .260 and said it didn't kick much at all, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him getting a bunch of rounds down range before bear season.

 

[1_pointer]

Super job on getting both Timothy and Olivia shooting properly and well! IMO/E it's easier to start them slowly than to try to fix problems later.

Don't forget they are making some super bullets in .224" now for hunting big game. A 223 or 22-250 easily turfs deer sized game and kicks less than either the 243 or 260. If you don't load your own, I'd lean towards the 243 as there's more factory options, including reduced/managed recoil. If you load your own, a 100gr bullet in a 260 could be loaded to pretty darn low recoil.