So, you have to be 6 years old in Arkansas to legally hunt deer. I've got three girls, 3,6, and 8. It was my 6 year old's first year getting to hunt. The 8 year old has killed 4 now. Aura, the middle one, is a bloodthirsty little lass, and has been dying to get out and draw some deer blood. About 3 weeks ago I got to sit with her in the stand and watch her harvest her first deer.
All my girls are very small for their age...the oldest two are 40lbs, so I built a really light (5.1lbs) AR in .300 BLK. I started with a match grade blank, threw it in the lathe, and turned a pencil profile .300 BLK barrel. The rest was just scrap parts we had laying around, but it works perfectly for their small stature.
Going back to the hunt, I'm sitting in a stand with a 6 year old that can't sit still for 3 seconds. The whole time she is kicking the stand, chatting, and asking if she can shoot squirrels and birds. The conversation shifted a little. She asked me to make a hand grenade so she could kill all the squirrels at once. "No honey, I didn't bring a hand grenade making kit with me." "Well dad, we have a silencer, so it won't scare the deer if we just shoot the squirrels!" "Not quite, it's still pretty loud." This goes on for an hour, when she zoned out for just long enough for a little spike to start working it's way to the feeder. She shouldered the rifle and tracked the deer all by herself, then made a perfect shot as soon as it stopped at 35 yards.
She helped with every step of cleaning and processing. She carried the heart around for about two hours before her mother finally made her give it up. Having a sensory disorder, apparently the squishy heart felt good to her, so she was reluctant to let it go.
Another hunt the following day....
She really wants that skin off....
And this is where she gets it....
The season before last, I was at church for a men's group and my wife texted me and said she got a deer. I got home and she already had it gutted at the house and started dressing it out.
All my girls are very small for their age...the oldest two are 40lbs, so I built a really light (5.1lbs) AR in .300 BLK. I started with a match grade blank, threw it in the lathe, and turned a pencil profile .300 BLK barrel. The rest was just scrap parts we had laying around, but it works perfectly for their small stature.
Going back to the hunt, I'm sitting in a stand with a 6 year old that can't sit still for 3 seconds. The whole time she is kicking the stand, chatting, and asking if she can shoot squirrels and birds. The conversation shifted a little. She asked me to make a hand grenade so she could kill all the squirrels at once. "No honey, I didn't bring a hand grenade making kit with me." "Well dad, we have a silencer, so it won't scare the deer if we just shoot the squirrels!" "Not quite, it's still pretty loud." This goes on for an hour, when she zoned out for just long enough for a little spike to start working it's way to the feeder. She shouldered the rifle and tracked the deer all by herself, then made a perfect shot as soon as it stopped at 35 yards.
She helped with every step of cleaning and processing. She carried the heart around for about two hours before her mother finally made her give it up. Having a sensory disorder, apparently the squishy heart felt good to her, so she was reluctant to let it go.
Another hunt the following day....
She really wants that skin off....
And this is where she gets it....
The season before last, I was at church for a men's group and my wife texted me and said she got a deer. I got home and she already had it gutted at the house and started dressing it out.
Give it a few years... when they're all "sync'd" too.