Hunter skipped opening morning of ML deer today, so I headed out and ended up bumping into 3 deer, all does, before I had to go to Ryan's soccer game. Ryan's team lost by about 15 goals, maybe 20, but it was still a good time.

Hunter decided help me load some ammo this afternoon, and he decided that he wanted to head out with me for the evening hunt.

Most of our hunting is done within 5 miles of our house, so we regularly hunt the first two hours and last two hours of the day, so we left the house at 5pm. By 5:30 we saw out first deer, and ended up jumping three more, one of which was a spike, as we made a few short easy hunts. We headed out of the woods, and we ran into a suicidal 2 point with eye guards. It was a 20 yard broadside shot, and after the smoke cleared we saw him bound out into a field, and leisurely walk for a few hundred yards into some trees. Also looked for blood along his trail but it was a clean miss.

I tell you it took every ounce of patience to not drop that deer, but I had to let him try. He was pumped up about seeing all of those deer, we talked about what he needs to do different next time, and he wants to go tomorrow. I hope I have the patience tomorrow to let him fail and I'll be proud as can be if I can help him connect.

He did great with firearms safety, always keeping his finger indexed, and using the proper carry for the situation.