Hunter thrilled watching daughter hunt.
By James Cantrell
There is no greater blessing than having kids. If you’re lucky enough to be blessed with children, having a girl is the best in my opinion. I always hoped my daughter would hunt but I didn’t want to push her into it. Little did I know, at the age of 6, the love Callie had for hunting would start at such a young age.
In the fall of 2017, my family and I headed to Texas for a mule deer hunt I booked for myself. I killed out in the first hour of my five-day hunt, everything was great. Then, my guide, Cal Ferguson of 4F Outfitters asked if I had my daughter’s gun with us. Luckily, I did. He said Texas had hunting licenses for kids that were reasonably priced and he had a few cull deer we could try to find for Callie to hunt. So, the next few days we looked around until we found the right mule deer. While we were riding around on one of the ranches we spotted an older cull mule deer. Then, on November 20, 2017 things in our family changed forever.
We got Callie set up on her tripod and ready for the shot. At 150 yards she lined up her .25-06 and made a great shot! The mule deer buckled in his front end and went only 40 yards and fell over. Callie was on top of the world.
We celebrated in the field and took a lot of pictures, and then we loaded the mule deer in the truck and headed back to camp. When arriving to the camp road Callie insisted on riding in the back of the truck with the deer celebrating the whole way. Once at camp the big mulie tipped the scales at 260 pounds.
In October 2018, we were back with the outfitters to try and get Callie her first antelope. We hunted all day and spotted many groups of antelope with nice bucks, but they were not in the best location for us. As light was fading on the first day we found a good antelope buck bedded in a field by himself. Callie once again got set up on her tripod and waited for the buck to stand up. She made a great 90-yard shot and the buck went right down.
To her surprise when we walked up to the antelope, she realized it had on a tracking collar. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was doing a study on the antelope in Pampa, Texas. The next day Cal asked Callie if she wanted to try for a turkey with his crossbow. So, after a few practice shots she was ready to give it a try. Late in the morning she got her chance at a very nice tom that came into shooting range. At 35 yards, Callie let one fly and made a great shot! The bird only went a short distance and expired. Just like that she had her first Rio turkey.
In November, our family headed back to hunt with Cal Ferguson for Callie’s mom to try her luck at getting a big mule deer. After a few days of hunting she was able to kill a great mule deer. Once again, the focus turned to Callie. Callie told me she wanted to try for an aoudad one day. Little did she know one day would be sooner rather than later.
While out riding around scouting, Cal got a call from his son, Cade, saying he spotted a big ram that had been kicked out of the herd. So, just like that the hunt was on again. After finding the ram, he caught sight of us and ran off. After a while of glassing, Cal spotted the ram bedded in a draw, so the hunt was on once more.
We made a plan to sneak around the ram and wait him out. We were able to work our way around using the cedar trees to our advantage and got within 60 yards of the bedded ram. The big ram bedded himself behind a cedar bush, which allowed us to get set up and wait for him to make his move. Four hours later the aoudad finally stood up and gave Callie a shot.
I couldn’t have been prouder of my little girl than during that hunt. She did an excellent job of staying quiet while waiting out the aoudad. Once again, my little girl was on top of the world!
In April 2019, my family headed to South Texas to hunt with SOE Hunts. On this hunt Callie would hunt axis and turkeys. We would hunt turkeys in the morning and axis in the afternoon. On the first afternoon we sat until right at dark. Then just like that, an axis stepped out and Callie made a great 100-yard shot on the buck. He didn’t go far into the brush before falling over. These are big tough animals, but with a crack shot like Callie, it was no problem.
The next morning, Callie was still riding the high from the night before when she got her chance at a turkey. The bird gobbled and strutted all around the blind. After walking just feet away from the blind, the turkey got in position so Callie could get a shot. Just like that Callie had her second Rio turkey on the ground.
I know everyone can’t take their children on hunts like I have, but you can always find something to hunt or do outdoors. Texas Parks and Wildlife does a great job making the outdoors accessible for kids to get out and experience the great outdoors. Other states like Georgia, where I am from, allow children at a young age to hunt, but a lot of states do not. The future of our sport lies with kids. Therefore, we all need to do our part and take kids hunting or getting them outdoors.
I have put my own guns away for the time being just so I can enjoy hunting with my daughter. I encourage you to do the same. You will get way more out of watching kids experience hunting than you ever will yourself.
