A Proud Day for Dad

With the youth deer hunting weekend now upon us I am reminded of a day several years ago when I took my oldest son, Matthew, and my nephew, Billy, out for the youth deer hunt. My son was not 14 yet so he was restricted to using a bow and arrow, whereas my nephew was 15 so he was allowed to carry a rifle. I had placed two treestands in a nice white pine tree in the middle of a funnel of mixed pine and hardwoods crossing a field between two oak ridges. I had taken many deer in the past from this same tree and figured it would be a great place for the boys to at least see some deer. I placed third stand in another pine tree just 10 yards away. My son and I sat in the tree with 2 stands while my nephew sat in the single stand.
Action was slow for the first couple hours of our afternoon/evening hunt. Aside from the pesky redsquirrel that seems to bark at every deer hunter, the woods seemed lifeless until about 1 hour before dark. As if from no where a deer suddenly appeared just 30 yards away. Matthew and I could see it but it was hidden from my nephews view. We could see right away that it was a decent little spike horn and would be a great trophy for either of the young hunters. We slowly motioned for my Billy to be still and watch, as the deer made its' way directly toward us.
The young buck made a steady walk, on a straight line toward my son and I, closeing the gap to just 10 yards. My nephew was watching the whole time just waiting for Matthew to release an arrow. What my Billy did not realize was that the little spike horn never offered a decent broadside shot for my son to place an arrow. Then came one of the proudest moments of my life.
My son leaned over and whispered to me, " I can not get a shot so why don't we let Billy shoot him?"
Even though the buck was in easy range, my son understood the angle was wrong and that it was actually perfect for his cousin to place an easy shot with the rifle right behind the deers' shoulder.
"Are you sure?" I asked my son, surprised at his maturity and responsiblity in the situation.
"Yep" he replied, and we motioned for Billy to take him.
No more was needed to be said and a shot came instantly from my nephews' tree. A perfect shot put the buck on the ground just 15 yards from where it stood when my nephew pulled the trigger.

Tip: Teaching a young hunter that it is all about the hunt and not about the kill will instill a sense of respect for the game and responsible hunting in their future.
It is the hunt that makes the kill special.
Not the kill that makes the hunt special.