You get him what he asked for, a hunting trip. My friend and hunting partner Joe texted me that his son Aiden, was turning 14. When Joe asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday Aiden asked to go hunting. Joe asked if we could take him. OF COURSE!!! Nothing I like better than to introduce new folks, especially the young folks, to predator hunting. So I called Char, the foxy lady that has become another predator convert and asked her to come along up into some foxy areas that she and I have worked recently.
We did several stands but nothing seemed to be moving. I was getting worried since the super moon has been up and the weather a bit warm, I knew that we would probably have to land right on them to get them moving. So after we called a really nice stand I saw some real rock areas uphill from us. We snaked our way up into this deep canyon that must have seen some recent rain because one side of it was washed out creating this nice open scree field.
I had Char cover the downhill side of the canyon. I told Joe to take the over watch and I placed Aiden alongside me tucked in between two bushes. About 2 minutes in I see this fox come out onto the scree field. I tap Aiden and point out the fox. He looks at it, then back at me and I give him the thumbs up. He had to reposition his gun to get a better angle then just like a tried and true predator hunting veteran he raised and fired the gun in one smooth motion. I see the shot strafe across the fox and it drops in it's tracks.
Joe and Aiden go up to get it and when Joe turns around and looks down on us he sees that Aiden has made over a 50 yard shot on the fox.
The smile on Aiden's face when he realized that he had made the shot was priceless. I am sorry that I didn't have a camera ready for it. I can tell you that the smile stayed on his face all day long. Char, her husband Jason and their daughter Jess made the day perfect by having us over for a celebratory BBQ and birthday pie. For a fine young man who has faced physical and personal challenges so bravely, I can't think of a better way to welcome him to the predator hunting community.
Aiden and Joe by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
We did several stands but nothing seemed to be moving. I was getting worried since the super moon has been up and the weather a bit warm, I knew that we would probably have to land right on them to get them moving. So after we called a really nice stand I saw some real rock areas uphill from us. We snaked our way up into this deep canyon that must have seen some recent rain because one side of it was washed out creating this nice open scree field.
I had Char cover the downhill side of the canyon. I told Joe to take the over watch and I placed Aiden alongside me tucked in between two bushes. About 2 minutes in I see this fox come out onto the scree field. I tap Aiden and point out the fox. He looks at it, then back at me and I give him the thumbs up. He had to reposition his gun to get a better angle then just like a tried and true predator hunting veteran he raised and fired the gun in one smooth motion. I see the shot strafe across the fox and it drops in it's tracks.
Joe and Aiden go up to get it and when Joe turns around and looks down on us he sees that Aiden has made over a 50 yard shot on the fox.
The smile on Aiden's face when he realized that he had made the shot was priceless. I am sorry that I didn't have a camera ready for it. I can tell you that the smile stayed on his face all day long. Char, her husband Jason and their daughter Jess made the day perfect by having us over for a celebratory BBQ and birthday pie. For a fine young man who has faced physical and personal challenges so bravely, I can't think of a better way to welcome him to the predator hunting community.
Aiden and Joe by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
