Cannon's first tree stand hunt...short hunt long story as usual.

The spring turkey season is far in the rear view, and I have let the faithful followers of my little blog down with a summer of nothing.  No writing, no reports, nothing.  I honestly hit a bit of a funk for writing, with two kids, a soccer business and my "real" job pulling me in several different directions, by the time I was ready to sit down and type, I was more ready to hit the sack. 

I did manage to continue to prepare for this fall, with a new bow that was a warranty replacement after problems with my last bow, I was ready already thinking about whitetails, long before the summer days were beginning to shorten.  Stands were prepped, climbing stand locations set, and trail cams out.  Since July I have monitored two farms that I spend the majority of my time on.  One is a very small farm near my home and the other is my in-laws farm.  For the first time in many years, we were able to take advantage of dry conditions in the bottoms and get approximately 1/2 acre of wheat and forage radishes planted.  Coming off the severe drought here in central IL (and most of the Midwest), that tiny field is proving to be quite the attractant for deer looking for something green to forage on.  The remaining ag fields on that farm are now in the CREP program and the deer hunting should only improve from here on out.

Flash forward...or is it backward...to the opening of bow season in IL.  The opener was uneventful, but on October 4, 2012, I got the joy of spending an afternoon in a tree stand with my oldest son Cannon.  At age 6, it was his first hunt from a stand, and we were both excited to try out the new safety line/prussic knot system, and the safety harness.  The hunt was short and sweet, but a great joy.  We snuck in after school and climbed into a buddy stand that a friend loaned us, and enjoyed father son time while we waited.  Cannon had free reign on this stand, he chose the location and I must say he made me proud.  He picked a nice walnut tree on the edge of a waterway connecting two small fields.  A natural funnel, with a creek bed behind us and another small ditch dividing a corn field and clover field on our North side.

Shortly after enjoying a snack of fruit by the foot, we had our first visitor as a mature doe worked behind the stand just out of range.  I have previously spoke about youths and hunting and specifically Cannon, who is my running experiment and as I have noted others great advice, I always make the hunt about him.  It was his call on any shot we may face, and though I make a habit of letting anything younger than 4.5 walk in the buck category, I was prepared to shoot anything that he chose.  I noticed the doe and tapped Cannon on the leg to let him know she was there, he leaned around my side of the stand and his eyes lit up when he saw the deer.  He immediately said "shoot her" but she was just out of range.  Unfortunately a random rain shower cut our trip short, and as we climbed down to head for the truck at sunset we spotted three more does in the field, heading towards our location.  I elected to avoid a blood trail in the rain and we exited the premises. 

Overall, the hunt was a positive experience that left him wanting more.  I have always taken that approach, much like training a puppy (my wife would scold me if reading this), I treat Cannon the same way, make it positive, let him want more and as always let it be about him.  He is truly a "no pro" outdoorsman in training.

Cannon on stand for the first time with dad enjoying a snack!