Ok, on Friday we had a baby, on Saturday we came home, on Sunday we recovered, on Monday I thought it was a good idea to spend time with my other 2 boys.  We set out hunting Monday morning and while up on a hill spotting we saw a buck, a nice Muley Buck!  I told the kids that we were going to have to sneak up on this guy.  We drove off and hid the pickup, walked up and over a ridge, down into a creek and were 80 yards from the spot we last saw the deer.  We looked, we glassed, we even tried smelling the wind, but we didn't see our Buck.  My kids are not always the most quiet critters in the woods, so I thought i possible they heard us coming from a ways away and calmly left the area.  There was a ridge off to our left that would give us a vantage point to see down into the trees and perhaps give us an opportunity at our prey.  As we managed towards the ridge 2 bucks and 8 does jumped up not 40 yards from us, they were holding tight in some bushes down low just out of our sight.  They scared my 10 year old to death.  The Big Boy weaved away in and out of the trees never presenting a shot, the smaller buck circled around us with the does and presented a shot but I wanted the big one.  On the way back to the truck we flushed 3 does, my boys knew I had a doe tag as well as an any deer tag.  My sons both wanted me to kill something, and they begged me to take a doe, so I did.  This brings me to the subject of taking kids hunting, it's an important thing to do, every year towns get bigger and our hunting lands get smaller.  In South Dakota our youth graduate college only to leave the state for the big citys and more opportunities.  As all of this happens the hunting fraternity becomes smaller, and fewer hunters are being raised.  When you take a child out on a hunt make sure the hunt is about the child.  Let them call the shots, the Big One might get away but the experience will last much longer than the trophies on the wall.  I see to many parents taking their kids out and ruining the experience by telling their kids not to shoot a buck because he is to small or because he has a broken tine.  Kids out looking for their first buck just want to shoot a buck, if it's a spike, it is still the biggest buck that kid ever shot and it will mean a lot to them.  Here is my rule when hunting, if you don't have a trophy on your wall just shoot a buck, get it out of the way, the next year don't shoot a buck until you find one bigger, if you don't find one bigger shoot a doe and start over next year.  A kid needs to get that first buck out of the way, any buck is a good first buck, don't let Horn Hunting ruin your childs hunt or their desire to spend time with you in the outdoors.  The West River Deer Season has 2 weekends left, make sure the kid you are taking hunting leaves with an experience they will look back on with a smile and not a frown.  

That's my lecture for the day!  Happy Hunting!