Good stuff here. Enjoy your time now. My son left for college last year. Opening day is not near as good when your best hunting buddy isn't with you.

Great job Curt and best of luck to you both this fall!

Good luck little man!

Right after Muzzy in mid Aug., I went out and bought 3 new ladder stands. I went with a model with a flip up seat and a platform that goes all the way back to the tree. Figured these would be better for Cade, and with the flip-up seat it's easy to get against the tree when standing.

Here's Cade and his sister helping with assembly(I tightened everything after they got done)...
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We started him out getting familiar with the stands with only one section attached...
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Of course Mae-Mae had to try them out as well after her efforts putting them together...
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A couple days later we added another section to get him a little higher...
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I had gone back to the spot I'd picked back while turkey scouting, and had built the "stick wall" to ease the deer closer to the tree, to set up a trail cam to see if it had worked.  First time I went back in to check the cam, I couldn't wait to get back to see what we had. This is just a sample.

I caught myself checking to see if the trail had indeed moved...
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As you can see by the pix, it worked perfect! And deer aren't the only critters using the area. Needless to say we were excited the trail detour had worked. Like I said, I have a lot of other pix of the deer,coyotes, and turkeys....

Time to set the stand...Cade insisted we both wear our "big knives"(Cade's was another gift from his buddy Big Ed...
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Imagining what it would be like shooting...
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Awesome stuff brother!         Brings back a ton of memories.....as Kenny Chesney says, "don't blink"!

Late August he went and took his bowhunter ed course and scored a 98%!
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One step closer...
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More practice in the yard at full height...
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Man am i pumped for you guys!!!!

glad to see you taking pics and logging them. later in life this will mean allot to you both. im sure when your an old man someday and your son is making his life you will bring these back up and tears will be shed for a great life lived and memories made in them old photos.    

Looks to me like he's ready. Good luck Cade and have fun!
Great pics Curt.

A shooting session off the deck...
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Another 3D with Glenbo...
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Curt. You are one hell of a dad. My dad was not a hunter. But he took time off work to take me deer hunting when I started out with a gun. I still thank him for this a lot. He had no idea the impact it left on me and how he fueled my greatest passion in life.

We had to  go back to "Cade's stand" one last time(about 3 weeks ago) to trim out one last time and pull the trail cam. I waited for a day it was going to rain to wash away some scent after we left.  I also let Cade bring his bow and shoot out of the stand just to make sure it was positioned properly and he was comfortable with the shots. I carried in a little piece of foam and moved it around in his shooting lane's....he shot VPA SGT's...
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In this pic you can see my stand in the tree as well. The plan is for me to carry in a stand to all of the set-ups we have for Cade. I'll climb his stand and set it off the backside of the tree. I'll be right next to him the whole time...
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Shooting his Zwickey broadheads that were given to him by Terry Green...
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With my work schedule there was no way I was going to be able to bring Cade to his hunter education class. I was in a pickle!
But our buddy Glenbo came through big time for me and gave up a friday evening and a whole saturday to take Cade to his classes. There's no way I can ever thank him enough for that!
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Cade aced the test and now had his hunter education card!!

Thanks for sharing Curt, it's been fun watching Cade grow up the last few years and seeing the fine young archer he has become. I'll be waiting for the story of his first deer and the next phase of his hunting adventures.

Good luck to you both.

Wonderful stuff!  

Scouting a new spot, a couple weeks ago...a couple rubs...
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Another treestand practice session...
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Boy he grew up fast ! Great photo story. I still remember my first day bowhunting 34 years ago like it was yesterday. Enjoy every moment and keep the pictures coming.

Curt so glad your teaching Cade to hunt safe and use a safety harness.

I know how you feel my son is 10 and he is ready and it will be his first bow season also. Shooting 45lbs at his draw and is a better shot than a lot of adults i have shot with.Good luck Cade,you and eagleeye show us big boys how its done.    Great pictures Curt there priceless.

It will be great to see the Frogslayer get some venison! Curt, You have done a great job!  Thanks for all the pics, looking forward to some of his deer stories and pictures.