The Greatest Adventure In The Woods

Robert WellerBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO, Hunting Stories & Adventures

Mentoring our youth can be one of the most rewarding things you can do as a hunter. Investing time in our young people is not only what a responsible hunter should do but it’s a way to continue your own legacy as well. Young people today seem to have a lack of good role models, so I consider it a real privilege to get the opportunity to have an impact in the life of a young person. I mentored my first youth before my own son was old enough to start hunting. I was searching for a new property to hunt and had received an invitation to hunt some property that belonged to the father of a friend of mine. My friend, Jim called me one afternoon and said his dad, George, wanted to show me the properties that I was going to be allowed to hunt on.  Not only was I surprised to receive the invitation, but I was also delighted to learn the three pieces of land had no other permissioned hunters on them and that I was being given the sole hunting permission to hunt them. When Jim’s son Nick expressed an interest in going deer hunting, I jumped at the chance to take him hunting with me. We talked about it, and I told Nick that I would call him before gun season opened so we could schedule some mornings for him and I to go hunting together.

Nick with first deer

I picked Nick up from his parents’ house very early in the morning on November 17, 2012. Nick was thirteen years old and was using a 20 ga. shotgun that Jim had used when he was a boy. I decided to take Nick to a property that his family calls “Mapes Place”. The property is a one-hundred-sixty-acre field with a small, wooded section roughly ten acres in size. The woods are about one-hundred yards off the road and a fairly easy walk. Nick and I made our way around the south side of the woods and entered on a trail I had previously cut that allowed us to access my popup tent blind which I had set up in the Southeast corner of the woods. As we settled into our spot, Nick seemed to question if we would see any deer in the location I had chosen. He told me that he thought we were going to sit on the edge of the woods so we could possibly get a shot at a deer in the field. I explained that we were hunting the Saturday after opening day and that there were likely to be a lot of hunters in the woods to the east. I went on to tell him that the deer would be pushed out of the woods and head right for the corner of the woods we were sitting in. Then I told him that when the deer got inside the woods after running across the open field that they would more than likely stop running and catch their breath which would give us an opportunity to select a deer to harvest while it was standing still rather than running. Nick nodded as I explained and seemed to understand my plan.

While we were still under the cover of darkness, I shared some of my hunting experiences with Nick. He seemed to really enjoy the stories and asked questions as I shared some of my past with him. As the sky started to get brighter, the shooting began, and it wasn’t long before my strategy proved to be a success. Just as I had predicted, a group of nice does entered the woods about forty yards from the blind. They were completely unaware of our presence as they slowed from a run to a walk. Once they entered the clearing, they took notice of the blind and stopped to try and figure out what they were seeing. That gave Nick and I plenty of time to select an appropriate deer to harvest. Nick was excited but did a great job at keeping his composure and when the moment of truth came, he did not hesitate. The old 20 ga made that ever familiar pop as the doe kicked and then ran off. Nick quickly racked another shell and took aim, but the deer was running almost straight away by then, so I instructed him not to shoot again. Nick, respecting my decision, put his firearm on safe and sat back in his chair. With wide eyes and a look of panic, he asked if I thought he made a good shot. I had seen the slug impact just behind the shoulder and assured Nick that she would not go far. We spoke for a few minutes, and I shared some more stories to help pass the time while we allowed the doe to expire.

We took to the trail about thirty minutes later. Nick picked up the blood trail very quickly and was thrilled to discover his deer had expired within 50 yards of where she stood when he made his shot. As I stood there and watched his excitement, I could not help but remember what I felt when I harvested my first deer. We took some photos, and I called Nick’s parents and let him share the news of his success with them. I took Nick hunting a few more times in the following couple of years and while he wasn’t successful on every hunt, he did fill a tag every year. We always enjoyed our time in the blind and we talked in the truck while driving both to and from our hunting locations.  I took those opportunities to share other life experiences with Nick and stressed how important good grades were to be successful later in life. His third year and our final hunt together, I got to watch Nick successfully harvest his first buck, a nice six point with a 12 ga Remington Wing master that I had restored for him earlier that year. I enjoyed every minute I spent with Nick and whenever I think about our time together in the woods it always puts a smile on my face. Nick is
all grown now with a career and family of his own, and I can’t help but think I may have had some impact however little it may be in helping shape him into the man he is today.

Author with son Jacob

I think it’s probably every hunter’s dream to have a son or daughter that takes an interest in hunting with them someday. So, in 2016, when my son, Jacob started to develop some interest in deer hunting I was of course very excited to start taking him to the woods. Jacob was only eleven years old when I started to take him out deer hunting, so I opted to buy a crossbow to start him off with as it allowed us to hunt during Michigan’s archery season. October, especially early October has warmer temperatures which are far more youngster friendly. Early archery season hunting also increased our chances of seeing more deer as they had not yet been made aware of the hunting pressure in the woods unlike the November firearm season. Jacob seemed to enjoy target practicing with the crossbow and he quickly became quite proficient with the weapon out to thirty yards. I felt confident that I could get him within that range with a popup blind allowing us to hunt from the ground and hidden where his movements and fidgeting would be much more easily concealed. At age ten, Jacob was nowhere near as interested in hunting as Nick had been at age thirteen and I quickly learned that when Jacob went with me, I needed to pack snacks and drinks, or I was going to be in big trouble. Such was the case on our very first hunt.

I had selected a nice little spot for the popup blind and had us setup just twenty yards off a trail that I was quite confident would produce Jacob a buck. We settled in the morning of our first hunt a good half an hour before daylight. Jacob had asked if he could bring his tablet to play a game on while we were hunting and against my better judgement, I allowed him to do so.  The blind was dark for the first thirty or forty minutes and the light from the screen made it hard to see out of the blind. I also feared that that same light would allow any deer looking in our direction to see into the blind. So, I explained that to Jacob and he understood why we had to turn the game off. But you can bet as soon as it was light, he was asking to have his game back. Fearing he would get too bored and want to go home, I once again, against my better judgement, allowed him to play his game.

It was about eight o’clock when a small four-point buck came strolling down the trail headed right for us. I told Jacob to quickly put the game away and get ready to shoot. Now let me tell you, quickly is a very relative term. To me, it meant, set the game down and hunt, but to Jacob that meant, shut the game down, close the application and shut off the tablet, all these things taking valuable seconds away from Jacob getting his eyes on the prize. Finally, he was ready, and I helped him raise the crossbow to his shoulder while ensuring the front of it was properly positioned on the set of shooting sticks. The buck crossed right in front of us, and I kept asking Jacob if he could see it. But Jacob kept saying “I don’t see him dad.” At first, I could not understand what was happening and I started to get frustrated. The buck was literally standing broadside within twenty yards and had no idea we were there. It was a slam dunk, or at least it should have been. As the buck slowly started to walk away, Jacob finally found the deer in his scope but by then, the shot wouldn’t have been ethical, so I did not allow Jacob to shoot. I was so frustrated. I had planned this all out and had thought when I saw the buck that I was going to watch my son get his first deer.

Jacob with harvested buck

What I failed to realize until later was that I had neglected to tell Jacob to keep both eyes open until he had the deer in his scope. I learned a great deal on that first hunt with Jacob and I quickly learned that no matter what the outcome, I had to make sure that one thing happened each time I took him hunting. I had to make sure that Jacob had fun, whatever that meant. I reminded myself each time after that it was about Jacob learning to hunt, enjoying himself and spending time together and nothing more. You cannot force someone to enjoy hunting, but you can certainly make sure they don’t have a good time if you aren’t careful. So, every future hunt was about Jacob having fun. I was sure to point out wildlife of any kind and if he wanted to talk, I let him talk.  Occasionally I would gently remind him, we needed to keep our voices down but never told him to “be quiet”.

As he grew older, he got a little more excited about hunting and on November 18th, 2020, Jacob successfully harvested his first deer. I’ll never forget that day and I doubt he will either. We had just enough time after I got out of work and Jacob got out of school to head out for those last couple hours of the afternoon and try our luck. Jacob was excited to be getting the chance to gun hunt rather than use the crossbow. The weather was extremely mild that day and we had chosen to sit in a two-man ladder stand at the South end of my hunting partner, Steve’s property. We weren’t in the stand for more than twenty minutes when a small doe arrived in front of us. As we were watching her, I remember telling Jacob to be sure to watch for a buck to show up. I had no more than whispered those words and we could hear leaves rustling behind us. I turned and looked over my shoulder and saw deer headed our way.  One of them happened to be a 5-point buck. I whispered with excitement “Jacob, there’s a buck, there’s a buck!”

The buck approached on Jacob’s right side which was not ideal because Jacob is right-handed, and the buck’s position was going to force Jacob to take a left-handed shot. To my surprise, Jacob didn’t hesitate, and he swiftly switched the gun in his hands and moved himself into position while being very careful not to spook the deer. The buck was less than 40 yards away and had started to maneuver between a few trees. I kept telling Jacob to shoot and he kept telling me not yet. I think my heart was racing faster than it ever has on any of my own hunts and I could hardly stand the thought that the deer might get away. What seemed like minutes passed and finally Jacob squeezed the trigger. Everything I had taught him, and all his previous experiences came down to this fraction of a second when we would find out what he had learned.

The bark of the 450 broke the silence of the woods and the buck jumped straight in the air and gave a forceful kick with his back legs. As the buck came back to the ground, he took off headed North and disappeared into the brush. Jacob turned to look at me and I could hardly contain my excitement as I threw my arm around him and said “Good shot buddy! You nailed Him!” Jacob seemed to doubt that he had made a good shot as he said, “but he ran away, Dad.” I quickly explained that deer often run off after they are shot, and I reassure him that the deer didn’t go far. We sat still for a little while and gathered our things before we descended the tree stand and started our track. As I had thought, it was a short track, and we found the deer less than one hundred yards from the tree stand we had been sitting in. Jacob was of course excited to have harvested his first deer and even more excited that it was a buck.

I can remember my hands shaking as I sent the picture and text to my wife sharing the news of Jacob’s harvest. I can honestly say, I was far more excited for Jacob than I had been when I harvested my own first deer.

Jacob with harvested buck

A few years later, on opening day 2023, Jacob and I were sitting together in a box blind on Steve’s property watching over an opening covered with duck grass.  We saw a deer coming across the neighboring field and watched as it entered Steve’s property.  It was a nice little eight point and you can bet I was going to do everything in my power to get that buck to walk in front of my son. As the small buck disappeared into the brush to the North, I blew on my grunt call a few times. It worked! The buck came trotting right out in front of the blind, presenting Jacob with a perfect eighty- yard broadside shot. I told Jacob that I would grunt at the deer again when he was ready so we could stop him rather than Jacob shooting at a moving target. Jacob gave the word, and I let out a grunt, the buck came to an abrupt stop and stared right at us. Jacob took a deep breath and slowly squeezed the trigger. Just as the buck started to go back about his business Jacob squeezed the trigger, and the eight-point took off towards the woods. The deer came to a stop and landed in a pile just at the edge of the woods and still within sight of the blind. I looked over and once again congratulated my son in excitement. He was grinning from ear to ear. About a half hour later, we exited the blind and went over to the eight-point so Jacob could lay hands on it. This time, Jacob got to perform the field dressing, and he did a great job. Later that year, during the late antlerless season, Jacob and I doubled on harvesting a couple of does to end our 2023 season. This past season of 2024, Jacob was eighteen and I allowed him to sit by himself several times. We had radio communication, or our phones and we were never far apart. I was glad that we had a few hunts where we still sat together and a part of me was a little sad when we sat in separate blinds.  However, a much bigger part of me couldn’t help but smile and be proud of my son, knowing that he could conduct himself ethically and that I could trust him to hunt without me directly by his side. He never harvested a deer in 2024, but it wasn’t because he did not have the opportunity. He was very selective and made the decision that he wanted to wait for a buck that was bigger and better than what he had taken the year before. He opted not to harvest a doe last year and left that to me. But, no matter what, I know he enjoyed the time he spent in the woods, and he always had fun.

Author’s son, Jacob, his senior year in lights

As the 2024 season ended, I felt a sense of accomplishment and remorse at the same time. To say I have taught my son everything would not be accurate, but I have certainly taught him enough. From here it will be his decision to determine how much he participates in deer hunting, and I will always be there to guide and direct as needed. Just the other day, I was walking through the hallway at our church and a picture on the bulletin board caught my eye. It was a picture of Jacob and a write up in honor of him being our church’s only graduating senior this year. It was titled Senior Spotlight and below was a list of things that Jacob had declared as his favorites, like favorite color “red”, favorite food “Homemade mac n cheese”. As my eyes glanced over the third line, I could not help but smile as the tears ran down my face. It read “Favorite childhood memory “Shooting my first deer with my dad”. There are few times as a parent that you get to feel like you did ok, but man that moment topped them all. Jacob made the decision to join the armed forces after he graduates high school and His mother, and I are very proud of the man he is becoming. There is no telling what his future hunting seasons will look like for the next several years but, one thing I know for sure, is that if he gets to come home and expresses an interest in going to the woods, you can be sure I will do everything in my power to be there with him.

If you are presented with the chance to mentor a youth, be it your own or the son or daughter of a friend, I hope you will consider giving yourself the opportunity. You might just find it to be The Greatest Adventure in the Woods.

As always, Happy hunting, good luck in the woods, and God Bless.

Robert Weller
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