My son just turned 7 years old at the beginning of December.  I bought him a Black Rhino long bow 4 Christmases ago...since that time he's shot thousands of arrows.  For some reason, he had it in his head that when he turned 7 he can go hunting (I never said that, but he's told anyone who will listen that since he first got his bow).

So...since he is officially "7" I asked him on the last day of the year if he'd like to go out.  He about did a back flip!!!!  

We went to a property that we hunt some to just do some walking and stumping and just see what may happen.  Let me preface this - the ride to the property is about 25 minutes and this kid was like riding in an SUV with the Tazmanian Devil!!!!!  He was fired up!!!!  

We had a great encounter with a big red tail hawk just after we settled in to our first sit.  I'm assuming the hawk saw my fletching, but at any rate it zoomed out of the sky down to about a foot off the forest floor and we could see it coming directly at us in pure attack stealth mode for about 30 yards.  Then, at maybe 10 yards it realized it had made a mistake and flared it's wings (making and awesome swooshing sound) and went instantly vertical up and out of the tree line then circled for a few orbits. I looked over at Mason and he was almost laying on his back with his eyes as big as apples about to take some "evasive action."      This was a great start!

I got the new Samsung S5 phone and it has an amazing camera, so I took the opportunity to play around and get some good pics of his official "first hunt."  I hope you enjoy.

Here he is walking in - there was no leading him...Mason was in the lead!


We did some stumping on the way in...


Found some rubs and took an opportunity to explain what we were seeing...


Here's just some good pics from our sits and time together.
 


To add perspective - here he is on Christmas morning after he got this bow 4 years ago.


We had a great time!!!!  Killed a lot of stumps and leaf clusters, saw 4 deer (not close to a shot though), had an AWESOME encounter with a red tail hawk, and got the opportunity to fan the hunting flames inside my son a bit more.  What more can you ask for on the last day of a year.

***This was during rifle season in NC and we did wear our orange vests, but they blew out the colors of the pics so we took them off for pictures.***

Beautiful photographs! Be proud of that little tiger...    ...

... mike ...

Awesome! When his teacher has the class write a school paper on their favorite outing, I bet this one will be it for years to come. Dad will always cherish it as well. I have a grandson, who will turn 3 in February, and I hope in a few years to be able to make a post such as this. It sounds like you have a real good grasp of the "daddy" job. Congratulations.

That's awesome. I think I was 7 when I was "big enough to go" I think it was the age I was listening more and wouldn't be a pain in the ass to my dad. Looking back when I wasn't allowed it was cause he and my uncle and older cousins actually wanted to hunt and not baby sit. That first picture is awesome... He's in full stomp mode... Man on a mission...
Enjoy it brother.    

   

What a great post! Thanks for sharing!  

That is golden

That is awesome. Thanks for sharing. It's great to see the next generation out of doors!

I love it....    Here's to many more days like that...  

It dont get any better than that brother! I started taking my son when he was 6 and he is eat up with hunting and the outdoors.

Aweome pictures too..great job!!!

Simply AWESOME    
Wait til he draws first blood, I think you got a new hunting buddy

What a nice outing to build a lifetime of memories!  Great pictures also!

Bernie

Fantastic...enjoy these times, they fly by.

Excellent read and awesome pictures! I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Great pic's,it just doesn't get any better than that.Thanks for sharing.      

That pic with him sitting up against the tree is a CLASSIC! You should print that and frame it for your wall or mantle. Great post!  

awesome

Just awesome!!!!!

Awesome, J.  Those days are priceless.

Love it, Love it, that part about the Red Tail Hawk had me in your minds eye, was living it with you.  Could see little Mason speechless and his mouth slightly open in the sheer awe of what he was experiencing maybe even Dads heart flutter for a second    

Great memory was made on that first hunt, thanks for sharing.