Before I get to far let me just say that I have been hunting alone for so long that I am used to it but, I have a opportunity to pass on what I have learned about whitetail deer and deer hunting and everything in between to my son Tyler who is 5. I had decided to teach him what I know since the day he was born in hopes of him carrying on the fine tradition of whitetail hunting and my love for the outdoors.

I am really the first in my family to put so much time and effort and passion into hunting, nobody other than my grandfather maybe had hunted at all. Since Tyler’s birth I had been showing him and telling him bits and pieces to which he has showed some interest even at his age. Today even though it was cool damp and overcast I decided to take him out with me on a shed hunt. I did not expect him to act the way he did which was quite a happy surprise.

First we had an errand to do, we had to go to the transfer station to get rid of a couple weeks worth of trash. Then it was time to head for the deer woods. Beside the fact that he was going into the deer woods with dad to look for antlers he was excited and full of questions. I proceeded to try and answer every one of them. As we headed out Tyler had asked me if we would see any deer and I said that it was possible. He had asked me also that what if we get lost, how will we find our way back and I reassured him I new every inch of the area and I knew all the shortcuts. I actually did, I’ve been hunting the area for 18 seasons now.

As we headed into an area that I had been wanting to look at a little closer because I consider it a busy funnel which is nestled between a high ridge and a swamp we came up to a spot that had a very active trail and as I looked around I spotted a brand new climber that was cabled and locked to the base of a tree.

Now I was surprised to see it because deer season ended 2 1/2 months ago and I could not understand why some one would leave a brand new climber out there for so long. I will be keeping an eye on it and might have to report it before it get’s stolen.

Tyler and I continued on and covered the funnel fairly well and proceeded up the ridge to an old overgrown field which is used for travel and bedding. We peeked around a bit and like before Tyler was full of questions which I answered the best that I could where he would understand.

It had been 2 hours now and I figured he was getting tired so I told him we were going to head out looking as we went along. Tyler to my surprise said he did not want to go but wanted to look some more. I said ok as long as he promised to let me know if he was getting cold or tired. We headed over to this other ridge to take a look around.

What you see in the picture above is a real nice rub that I spotted half way down the ridge. Using Tyler as a scale to judge the height of the rub I had him stand next to it as I took the picture. Tyler height is 3′ 7″ so the top of that rub is 3′ high, a good size buck had to have done that.

After about 3 hours of looking around my arthritis from the Lyme Disease starting kicking in so I said we had to go and another surprise, he wanted to stay and look some more. I could not have been happier that he was having fun doing what I am so passionate about but it was time to go.

We stopped on the way home and got some munchies for movie watching later on and then headed home. It was a great day and a lot of fun for both of us. I can’t wait to do it again.

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