The Lucky Charm

It's a matter of perspective. Our 2025 deer hunting season was one to remember. My grandson, Kyler, and I went out together on a couple of occasions. He ended up punching his tag and then I did mine. I called Kyler my "lucky charm." And he said the exact same thing about me.

Kyler turned 12 eight months earlier so 2025 would be the first season he carried a gun on his shoulder and a license in his pocket. The weekend before the two-day Montana youth hunt, Kyler, his dad and I went up in the mountains to shoot our guns. The goal was to get Kyler more comfortable with firing a rifle, even though he had before. We took turns and began with my .22. Then we fired Kenny's AR-15. When he watched us shoot our .30-06 rifles and the kicks they delivered, Kyler was like, "Uh, no thanks." Not very large in stature, he went with the AR. That was fine with Kenny and me because, first and foremost, we wanted him to be comfortable and confident. 

Montana has a two-day youth-only deer hunt, so I took both days off. Our goal was to hit some national forest land just above our house. Regulations allowed Kyler to shoot either a doe or a buck so I liked our chances. We parked the truck at a neighbor's house whose land borders the public land and slowly walked in. 

"Hey Papa, there's a doe." It happened so fast that it caught me off guard. We were literally about 50 yards behind a neighboring yard and sure enough, a doe and a yearling were only 35 yards or so away and standing broadside. Though facing away from the house, we agreed we were just too close and didn't want to freak out the people who lived there. So instead, we just stood and didn't move so as not to spook the animals as they headed into the forest. Several minutes later, with them out of sight, we slowly walked into the forest.

We didn't go far at all and there they were, silently feeding above us about 80 yards away. Kyler put the AR on the shooting sticks, slowly and patiently took his time, set the sights on the deer's vitals and pulled the trigger. The doe jumped but did not run away. He obviously hit it so I urged him to take another shot. He fired and missed. The deer walked in front of a small grove of trees and stood broadside, offering a perfect opportunity. Kyler took advantage. His third shot was right on target.

"And that's how it's done," I told him. "I got it?" "Yes, you dropped it on the spot." We walked up closer and waited several minutes for the deer to pass. Kyler ended up needed to take one more shot and that was that. The deer was a nice sized doe and would supply his family with 40-50 pounds of meat. 

We knelt by the deer and said a quick prayer of gratitude, Kyler placed his tag on it and then we took a few pictures which we texted to the family. It was so fun watching all the replies roll in. 

Aubrey: "AHHHHHHHHHH. I'm crying."

Kenny: "Yes!!!!"

Lori: "So cool!!"

Jace: "AWESOME!!!!"

Lacey: "Congrats Kyler!"

Then I got out my knife and walked Kyler through the butchering process. With the organs removed, Kyler loaded up my rifle and backpack while I put on a harness to drag the carcass off the mountain. After going about 60 yards or so, Kyler asked, "Can I drag it?" "Absolutely, it's your deer!" Though bigger than he was, Kyler answered the challenge and walked it off the mountain all the way to the truck. 

I told him you just don't have successful hunts where you only hike in 500 yards, but hey, if you don't go out, you don't give yourself a chance to make it happen. With the deer in the bed, we drove home for the real fun - showing it off. Lori, Aubrey and the girls met us in the driveway and they crowded around the back of the truck to take photos and soak in Kyler's success. 

After telling the tale of his success, we drove next door to my house to hang the deer in the garage. After skinning it so the meat could begin to cool and grabbing some lunch, Kyler and I got to work. I got out my knives and cut it up into steaks, roasts and stew meat. I showed Kyler how to vacuum seal each cut and he gladly did so. In the end, he ended up with four or five bags of meat. 

What fun! What a great day! And what a memory!

Fast forward to about a week later when Kyler and Aubrey and I returned to the same place for opening day of the general rifle hunt. I was hoping to be like Kyler and fill my tag. Unfortunately, I couldn't follow suit. We saw a few but there was not a good, ethical shot to take.

Another week later, Kyler joined me in search of a buck. We decided to take the same route that we took on his successful hunt. We would slowly make our way up a ravine and hope for good luck while looking up the mountain into the forest. As we usually do, we would hike a bit, stop and look through the binoculars for any kind of movement. The goal was to see any deer before they see us, and do so without spooking them. After repeating the process, I saw a deer about 100 yards up the mountain slowly feeding. Then I saw another. But both where does and I didn't have a tag for a doe. Not wanting to spook them, we just stood and watched without moving. After five minutes or so, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. A young two-by-two buck was off to our right on a sidehill only about 50 yards away, making its way toward the two does. I put my rifle on the shooting sticks, placed the grunt call in my mouth and put the crosshairs on it. It took a bit of a right turn so it was walking away from us. I let out a grunt and nothing. A second grunt call caused the buck to spin around, offering a broadside shot. I squeezed the trigger and it jumped and ran away from us, darting behind a slash pile. We saw movement and then no more so it either ran off behind the slash or it piled up. We slowly made out way to the slash pile, looked left and right and with our binoculars. After hiking another 20-30 yards, there it was, dead.

Again, we knelt by the deer to say a prayer of gratitude. Now, it was my turn. I texted out a couple of photos with #belikeKyler. 

Hallie: "I can't wait to hear all about it."

Jace: "Nice shooting Dad!"

Lacey: "Congrats."

Kenny: "Sweet! More venison teppanyaki."

Aubrey: "Kyler is your lucky charm!"

I field dressed the buck, put on the harness and dragged it a mere 800 yards back to the truck. Not only did we have one relatively quick and easy hunt for Kyler's first-ever deer, but we ended up having a second one for me. Though this didn't make up for days of hard hiking and unsuccessful hunting of elk later in the season, it was sure nice to get some fresh meat for the freezer for the first time in a couple of years. 

We had the routine down so Kyler and I got to work once back home. We hung, skinned and cut up the deer. The only difference is I got out my grinder so we could make some venison burger to go with the steaks and roasts. 

In the end, I agree with Aubrey. Kyler is indeed my lucky charm. But you know what? I'm his, too.

Got venison?