Fun weekend for the Engel boys!

[Scoot]

Saturday evening my son, brother, and I went out to ND to chase deer. Thanks to harvey lee we have an absolutely wonderful place to go to within an hour of Fargo. We got out there and the conditions were perfect- a very light NW wind, lots of leaves on the ground, and a fair amount of sign. Here's a pic of Ryan as he waited for a squirrel to come within range of him.

In spite of the perfect conditions both my brother and Ryan/I got completely blanked on Sat evening. Still, it was a beautiful night in the stand and we enjoyed it a bunch. At the end of the night when it was time to climb down Ryan leaned over, gave me a hug, and said "I love you, Dad". That was a moment that can't be achieved in a mall or at a movie- it was great and totally made my weekend.

Sunday the same three of us went muskie fishing in the AM (saw three fish, but no takers), then headed home to Ada for an evening in the stand. My brother's two sons, Erik and Austin, came that evening and also brought a buddy. We had the woods covered pretty well that night with all of the hunters scattered from East to West in every spot that worked for a SE wind.

Soon after getting situated a fisher came walking through the woods. He stayed about 30 yards outside of Ryan's effective range. Lucky for him! It was fun to watch him awkardly walk and run through the woods. Soon after Ryan locked on a squirrel. Here he is trying to locate him so he could try get a shot.

Soon after the squirrel gave Ryan a 22 yard shot. Ryan took careful aim at him. He was tucked in a smll opening with trees around him, but there was a definite window. Ryan released the arrow and it looked perfect. However, it was just a couple inches left and with a loud and sharp "KNOCK" he smoked a tree just a couple yards short of the squirrel. I laughed, he stared in disbelief, and the squirrel ran away wondering what the heck happened.

Not too long later I heard the crunching of leaves. A mature doe, a yearling doe, and a fawn were headed our way. Soon all three of them were browsing less than 20 yards from us. All three were inside of 10 yards from us at several points in time for the next 30 minutes. It was fun to watch them "do their thing" and we enjoyed the show. After they left Ryan expressed his disappointment in me not shooting one of them. He REALLY likes it when I shoot a deer. He was bummed I passed on the chip shot opportunities I had.

Soon after I got a text message from my brother that Austin had shot a doe. Ryan was thrilled! We packed up all of our stuff and headed over to help track. Given that my brother and I are colorblind, Ryan is often our tracker and he loves having this role.

We picked up the other boys and went to find Austin standing next to the doe he shot- no tracking needed! Austin was excited and we were all happy for him. Here's Austin with the doe.

In short, we had a great weekend! Austin filled his MN tag and we made some great memories with family and friends in the woods and on the water. What could be better than that???

[leechlake]

Scoot,

great! Another bonus is that as life breezes by your son will remember all those great times with dad. My dad is 85 and him and I sit around and talk about all the great times we've had out hunting and fishing. He can't do it physically anymore but we can both still do it by reminiscing about the good old days.

[Fishalittle]

Awesome for all of you Scoot.

Congrats to the successful hunter as well!

I have been blessed with two girls but with any luck in a few years I will get the same opportunities you experienced this weekend. We are off to a good start with them coming with to the warm rifle stand at 3. In and out of season on "scouting missions."

I'm thankful for all the hunting and fishing experiences we get together.

Sounds like your elk camp will be full of meat carriers as you get older too!!

[Cheetah]

Sounds like a good hunt! Those dang squirrels are tough to get with the bow. Let the kids loose with a pellet gun and I bet you'll be eating squirrel for a week.

Did the kids gut and drag the deer?

[PropsterII]

Couple questions for ya Scoot. If you don't mind my asking, where do you musky fish? Am I correct that you were still referring to being in ND within an hour of Fargo, or did you come back to MN? Also, why didn't your son attempt a shot at the doe/yearling? I assume it's a tag issue (maybe just the adults had one) but just curious is all. That is a solid little weekend.

[Scoot]

Sounds like your elk camp will be full of meat carriers as you get older too!!

I hope so! So far Ryan is the only one I can get out of bed before 10 AM though! Once Ryan gets into the teenage years he may be the same as the older boys in that regard too. Time will tell...

[Scoot]

Did the kids gut and drag the deer?

They dragged the deer to the truck, then we took care of it using the gutless method in another location, closer to home. They helped a little, but mostly my brother did the work. I didn't do squat this time! I went in the house and helped my wife get some food ready for the whole crew.

[Scoot]

If you don't mind my asking, where do you musky fish? Am I correct that you were still referring to being in ND within an hour of Fargo, or did you come back to MN?

[PropsterII]

Gotcha! And enjoy the heck out of it you will! My son's first when he was 11 (Indiana) was an 8 pt and I was in the tree with him, and it was a very neat deal. Then at 12 he was legal in MN and sat on his own before I even got home from work and shot another 8 pt and he met me 200 yds up the driveway when I got home to tell me about it! Then the third one when he was 13 was also an 8 pt, though a bit bigger one (just shy of P&Y) and the last time we hunted Iowa. We were in separate stands but within eyesight of each other. It all is so cool to share with your kids, better than most things we'll ever shoot ourselves. Enjoy!

[westb]

Great story sounds like you made some great memories. I don't know if you were serious about the fisher hunting part but I wouldn't brag about it on an internet forum. It could turn the good memories into bad ones. Good luck on your future hunts, sounds like there will be many more years of fun hunting with your crew.

[HooknHorns]

Sounds like you guys had a great weekend. Do you carry a video cam when your out with the kids?

[Scoot]

I don't know if you were serious about the fisher hunting part but I wouldn't brag about it on an internet forum. It could turn the good memories into bad ones.

Westb, I should have clarified-- I wouldn't have let him shoot at it. But boy was he itchin' to fling an arrow at it! In the end it was really me who was lucky it didn't come within Ryan's range because I would have been the bad guy when I didn't let him shoot. I'm often the bad guy already as it is- I won't let him shoot at a squirrel when I think I may have heard a deer coming in the woods. This gets me in trouble with a 9 year old who thinks the sole reason his arrows exist is to, at every possible opportunity, take flight and find a target of some kind.

[Wanderer]

Another great post Scoot! I dig the way you've built the anticipation of the hunt in your boys.

[harvey lee]

Soon Ryan and yourself will enjoy more outing when he can archery hunt for deer. I can say this, Ryan shoots a boy very well as I saw last weekend.

Glad to hear you had a good time, come on back anytime as you are always welcome to hunt the ranch.

[Boar]

Thats awsome scott. good for you guys! awsome weekend end with family, thats priceless and the way its ment to be. Happey for you guys to be able to spend such quality tiem doing what ya love. Thumbs up dude.

[Scoot]

Thanks guys. Tom, Ryan can hunt one week from tomorrow! His birthday is on Thanksgiving this year and we've got a bunch of family stuff planned all day. However, he absolutely insists we do a morning sit that day. I moved the ladderstand to the West closer to the trail you said the deer were using and I'm hopeful he'll get a crack at one! If the deer come down the trail he should get a 10-12 yard shot. Let's hope!!!

[Boar]

Best o luck, think the temps are gona be better than they have been.