Great story. Great memories for you and your family. I think you're well on the way to "raising them right".

I always do an autopsy on my animals as well. Funny story. We had dissected one of my heads when my kids were smaller. The next day my wife was carving pumpkins with my son and when they started to scape out the inside of the pumpkin my wife commented that the insides looked like deer guts. My son said, "actually mom, it looks more like the inner ear!"

There you go. Give me a high two!

The North American Prong Horn....

I really enjoy hunting these little guys out on the great plains. They are fun, challenging and there are enough of them that you see game all day long keeping it interesting.

The other reason, it's a relatively easy hunt during pleasant weather (mostly) and a great hunt for kids to participate in. There is enough action to keeps their little minds occupied.

This hunt took place this morning. I awoke my two daughters at 05:30 much to their despair and with some cursory whining we were dressed fed and in the truck by 06:30. At 06:45 we arrived at a friends ranch where we started glassing from his back porch. At 06: 50 we were planning our first stalk. We drove about 600 yards up the road and pulled the truck into a large pasture of about 5000 acres of rolling prarrie.

After stopping the truck we pulled jackets, hats, gloves and orange vests on the kids and headed down a draw to see if we couldn't close the gap on this herd of antelope. We formed a line with my buddy Shane in the lead, then me, then Tori my 8 year old, Bailee my 5 year old and in the rear guard was my wife Kim.

While proceeding down the draw we put into practice our stalking skills. The girls were excited to be sneaking up on these antelope and were very animated and bustling with energy. They stayed low and quiet at one point I nearly stepped on a jack rabbit. The rabbit bolted and my 5 year old couldn�t help but to stand up, point and proclaim " look daddy a RABBIT" in a slightly raised voice..

After about of 1000 yards we came to a small rise and decided to crawl to the apex. At one point Bailee (my 5 years old) put her knee into a cactus and silently waited for her mommy to show up and pull the needles out. Needless to say I was very proud of the bravery Bailee showed by remaining silent with a cactus needle in her knee.

After about 50 yards of crawling we came to the apex of the hill and were treated to the sight whole herd of about 18 speed goats milling about not more than 200 yards below in a small draw.

The girls very quietly moved up into position and silently waited watching the antelope below. About 20 minutes into the wait the animals sensed something was not quite right and started to file out of the draw and over the next ridge line. The last animal out of the draw was a unique non-typical buck.

I was already in a tight sling and in a seated position when he the buck appeared. He fell to the shot and a 150gr corelokt from my steyr in .308. The bullet took him cleanly through the neck he was at 226 yards.

My girls have always been fascinated with animal anatomy. This time was no different. My wife is a veterinarian and these girls have been watching animal surgeries since they were tiny little babies. They were both very curios and excited asking what each part was and if they could touch it. They got to see the heart, lungs, rumen, intestines, liver, kidneys etc etc. They touched each organ and my wife explained to them what each one does.

Tori was quite proud that I used "her" knife to gut the buck and then helped me skin him when we got back to the barn. She is already quite handy with a skinning knife, she's helped recover about a half dozen animals already and has accompanied me to Africa where she was able to blood spoor a wounded wildebeest with me and then helped skin it and several other critters too.

This was Bailees first time to actually be with me when we shot something. She had quite a good time playing with the feet after they were cut off insisting that everyone give her prized hoof a "high two".

Doing my best to raise these kids right.

Greg

THE CREW.....




THE GOAT.....

Great story. What a privilege to be able share this experience with your family. Consider yourself a lucky man.
- mike

Greg,

Good job man! As the father of two daughters new to hunting, your story of the hunt reminded me of my daughter's first hunt as shooters and not observers. Interesting goat also. Keep up the effort.

Perry

Thanks for the replies,

It is really so special to be able to share this with your family...

Hey WyoJoe,

How do you like Laramie? I've had my eye on Southern Wyoming for awhile. I moved up here to Elizabeth, Co from NM about 4 years ago. It's getting a bit cowded for my tastes out here.

Any good advice on where to look for decent property. At a decent price.

Surestrike,

Great story! I love taking my little girls hunting! Took one on a bow hunt last weekend and the other will go after antelope with me this coming weekend.

Thanks.