300magman
New member
Today, I experienced something I have been waiting for almost 3yrs to experience and really wanted to share it with you guys. My son has always been extremely interested in hunting (predator hunting more than anything), and cant wait to see my yotes, pictures and hear my stories every time I get home from a hunt. He has been asking to go with me since he was a bit older than 2, but I wanted to wait until he was a bit older for a couple reasons....I wanted to make sure he was able to sit still and only talk in whispers for 15-20 minutes, I wanted to make sure he knew exactly what was going to happen if we did call one (didnt want to turn him off hunting by taking him out too early in life), and most importantly, I wanted to make sure he was old enough to truly understand and appreciate the fun of the hunt, whether or not we were successful. Well, he has really been wanting to since I started the calling season this year, and I figured he was ready, so this evening as an early "birthday gift" we headed out (he turns 3 on Oct 7).
After a quick supper at McDonalds, we were on our way for the 45 minute drive to my closest hunting area. The whole time he was pumped right up, and was asking me almost every field we passed if we could get out and hunt there! haha! Finally, we arrived at my best stand in this hunting area, and the test of him being quiet was about to begin. I was very impressed with him...from the time we got out of the truck, he only whispered very quietly, and even asked me to carry him on my shoulders for some of the walk because, in his words, "dad, I think I'm making too much noise walking, you should carry me so we dont scare the coyotes". At that exact point, I figured I had a true little hunter on my hands!
Once we finished the walk in, I put the ear muffs on him, got him set up on a tall chair (so he could see over the grass) in a bluff of willow trees, set up the call, and got myself settled in right beside him. We had a little chat about where I thought the yotes were most likely to come from, and made sure he knew to sit as still as he could. Once our little lesson was done, I turned on some woodpecker distress. I have to give quite a bit of credit to the little guy, I dont think he moved a muscle, and just stared intently at the spot I told him a yote was most likely to come from. At the 4 minute mark, I threw on magpie fight (I usually do that for a minute or so somewhere mid stand), and right after making the switch, I saw a yote break from the trees right where I had hoped it would come from (about 400 yds out). A couple seconds later, my son saw it, and i will never forget the look of absolute excitement (and shock that it was actually working I think) on his face when he turned to me. I whispered to him to sit very still and just watch it come. Now, as soon as I had spotted the yote I lined it up just in case a quick shot was needed, but I wanted to get it good and close to give my boy a really thrilling hunt, so I coaxed it in to 42 yds, and then took the shot...down went the yote. She was an average sized female, again nicely furred up.
Now normally, I would have kept calling, but i could see that Parker was about ready to explode with excitement, so I unloaded my rifle and said in my full voice, WE GOT ONE!! He jumped out of his chair, and started bouncing around yelling we got one, we got one, over and over! I asked him if he was ready to go look at it, and he didnt even answer me, just ran full speed over to the yote. After looking every square inch of the yote over, he decided it was time to make some phone calls to everyone to tell them he got a coyote on his first ever stand....Mommy, the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc...I think he wanted to call everyone he knew! haha! Finally, we took some pictures, loaded up the yote and were off to our second stand.
Unfortunately, on the second stand, I had one hang up at 390yds. (definitly saw us...because of the wind we werent in a great position, but i had to make something happen fast for a second stand because the first one took so long). I tried everything I could to get the yote moving again, but it just kept sitting and watching, so at last light I took the shot but shot just over it. Even though we didnt get a second one, I was thrilled when my son looked at me and said "its ok we didnt get that one dad, it was fun just trying"...to me, that was probably one of the greatest things I could hear, and solidifies in my mind that he was definetly ready to start coming on hunts.
Anyway, here is a couple pictures of the yote and happy hunter (of all the times, today I forgot my camera with the timer, and all I had was my cell phone, so no field pics of me, the boy and yote). Then one in the garage of the newest yote hunting team and their first success.
The little guy is already hooked on predator hunting. All he talked about was getting back out again....so I think I have a calling partner for life, which is exactly what I had hoped for. The only problem is, I dont think the workbench and toolset from Toys R Us is gonna even compare to this birthday gift! hahah!
As far as gear, we used my .300mag (its his favorite rifle of mine, so thats the one we took), bog-pod USR rest, and and FX3.
Anyway, thanks for reading and happy hunting!!!
After a quick supper at McDonalds, we were on our way for the 45 minute drive to my closest hunting area. The whole time he was pumped right up, and was asking me almost every field we passed if we could get out and hunt there! haha! Finally, we arrived at my best stand in this hunting area, and the test of him being quiet was about to begin. I was very impressed with him...from the time we got out of the truck, he only whispered very quietly, and even asked me to carry him on my shoulders for some of the walk because, in his words, "dad, I think I'm making too much noise walking, you should carry me so we dont scare the coyotes". At that exact point, I figured I had a true little hunter on my hands!
Once we finished the walk in, I put the ear muffs on him, got him set up on a tall chair (so he could see over the grass) in a bluff of willow trees, set up the call, and got myself settled in right beside him. We had a little chat about where I thought the yotes were most likely to come from, and made sure he knew to sit as still as he could. Once our little lesson was done, I turned on some woodpecker distress. I have to give quite a bit of credit to the little guy, I dont think he moved a muscle, and just stared intently at the spot I told him a yote was most likely to come from. At the 4 minute mark, I threw on magpie fight (I usually do that for a minute or so somewhere mid stand), and right after making the switch, I saw a yote break from the trees right where I had hoped it would come from (about 400 yds out). A couple seconds later, my son saw it, and i will never forget the look of absolute excitement (and shock that it was actually working I think) on his face when he turned to me. I whispered to him to sit very still and just watch it come. Now, as soon as I had spotted the yote I lined it up just in case a quick shot was needed, but I wanted to get it good and close to give my boy a really thrilling hunt, so I coaxed it in to 42 yds, and then took the shot...down went the yote. She was an average sized female, again nicely furred up.
Now normally, I would have kept calling, but i could see that Parker was about ready to explode with excitement, so I unloaded my rifle and said in my full voice, WE GOT ONE!! He jumped out of his chair, and started bouncing around yelling we got one, we got one, over and over! I asked him if he was ready to go look at it, and he didnt even answer me, just ran full speed over to the yote. After looking every square inch of the yote over, he decided it was time to make some phone calls to everyone to tell them he got a coyote on his first ever stand....Mommy, the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc...I think he wanted to call everyone he knew! haha! Finally, we took some pictures, loaded up the yote and were off to our second stand.
Unfortunately, on the second stand, I had one hang up at 390yds. (definitly saw us...because of the wind we werent in a great position, but i had to make something happen fast for a second stand because the first one took so long). I tried everything I could to get the yote moving again, but it just kept sitting and watching, so at last light I took the shot but shot just over it. Even though we didnt get a second one, I was thrilled when my son looked at me and said "its ok we didnt get that one dad, it was fun just trying"...to me, that was probably one of the greatest things I could hear, and solidifies in my mind that he was definetly ready to start coming on hunts.
Anyway, here is a couple pictures of the yote and happy hunter (of all the times, today I forgot my camera with the timer, and all I had was my cell phone, so no field pics of me, the boy and yote). Then one in the garage of the newest yote hunting team and their first success.
The little guy is already hooked on predator hunting. All he talked about was getting back out again....so I think I have a calling partner for life, which is exactly what I had hoped for. The only problem is, I dont think the workbench and toolset from Toys R Us is gonna even compare to this birthday gift! hahah!
As far as gear, we used my .300mag (its his favorite rifle of mine, so thats the one we took), bog-pod USR rest, and and FX3.
Anyway, thanks for reading and happy hunting!!!
Last edited by a moderator:
