Tough weekend of hunting...

[Scoot]

...but a great weekend with the kids! I hunted with both of my kids on Fri and Sat and hunted with just my son on Sun. I have to miss out on woods time for the next couple weekends, so I was really happy to get out in the woods a lot over the weekend.

On Fri I had both kids along and I sat in the trusty old ground blind I've posted pictures from before. I was sure to bring lots of "bowhunting essentials":

Crayons

Snacks

Leapster (I can't stand these things, but the games are eductional and I knew Morgan would need something to keep her quiet)

BB Gun (it's a Red Rider: "You'll shoot your eye out!"... we didn't do that)

Coloring book and a coulple of eager kids

Eventually (and miraculously!) a doe came out and came close (BTW, Ryan took almost all of these pictures).

Soon, a couple of fawns joined her.

[going4it]

Awesome experience and amazing photos!!

[TruthWalleyes]

Great photos! Can't say enough about deer on alert photos!!

Love the crayons!!

[Scoot]

Eventually, the deer left and Morgan kept herself busy.

Ryan kept the birds on their toes.

After a while, a racoon came out and Ryan quietly got his gun out. In the pic below you can see the coon just off the tip of his barrell on the right side of it.

He missed it three times at 18 yards. However, as it scooted away, he smacked it squarely in the behind and it darted off. It did no real harm to the racoon, but it sure did Ryan some good- he was very excited and proud of the shot! I was too...

Fri found us in a double ladder stand at my mother-in-law's place.

Sunday we were back in the area of the blind, but about 1/2 mile to the North. I put Ryan in a ladderstand and I hunted in a tree about 8 yards away. This was his first time in a treestand by himself and he was pretty unsure about it at first.

As you can see, he eventually warmed up to the idea and was his usual goofy self.

In total, it was a tough weekend of hunting, but boy did we have fun! Morgan did great and really enjoyed it and Ryan always enjoys hunting. He even missed the Vikings game on Sun to hunt, so I know he loves it! Quality time with the kids...

[Finlander]

Awesome hunt! Photo's are priceless!

[paceman]

That is just awesome! Geat photos!

[deerminator]

Very nice. Believe it or not I remember you original post about this type of blind. Looks really cool. And great experiences with the kids you can't beat! Do you ever run a heater in there? I was thinking about building a rudimentary box blind on the ground that I could run a little buddy heater in so the kids could hunt a few later season hunts with me. And so I could do those late December hunts a litte more comfortably. Nice work and great memories for sure!

[Jason_Gundersen]

Awesome picture I like how its framed up

[slimngrizzly]

Pretty cool Scoot! Its good to see your not affraid to burn up some camera batteries! Good photos are never regretted, thats for sure!

[Scoot]

Very nice. Believe it or not I remember you original post about this type of blind. Looks really cool. And great experiences with the kids you can't beat! Do you ever run a heater in there? I was thinking about building a rudimentary box blind on the ground that I could run a little buddy heater in so the kids could hunt a few later season hunts with me. And so I could do those late December hunts a litte more comfortably. Nice work and great memories for sure!

Yes, I have but only when the kids are with me. This particular blind is soooo big that a heater barely takes the edge off in there. If I wanted to make a blind for the purposes you're talking about, I'd make it smaller so it's easier to heat. I used a Little Buddy heater and I imagine a Big Buddy heater would make a considerably bigger dent in the temp. You could also put plastic wrap over the extra window to help keep heat in.

If you're interested in size of blind info, PM me and I can offer some thoughts about it.

[Scoot]

Pretty cool Scoot! Its good to see your not affraid to burn up some camera batteries! Good photos are never regretted, thats for sure!

I'm definitely not afraid to burn up camera batteries! That's why I have 'em! With digital photography, it's a waste to not use them!

[huntnfish]

That's awesome, Scoot! I'm very much looking forward to the day when I can take my kids along with me, that is of course if they want to. Last time I went out my 2 year old daughter started crying because she couldn't come along to shoot a deer. When she finally finished her tantrum she ran around with her toy lever action saying me shoot the deer.

[Scoot]

When she finally finished her tantrum she ran around with her toy lever action saying me shoot the deer.

LOL, that takes me back a couple years! I had the same thing with my kids when they were that age too. In a few years you'll probably be dealing with the same stuff I am- it's a ton of fun!

[Boar]

Wow thats really awsome, totaly captured wat its all about. Enter some of those maybe it'll win you that fishing trip to LOW.

[sticknstring]

That's what I call a successful outing! Great job with the pics - priceless! Love the one aiming out the blind port at the coon. I look forward to those days.