This past weekend the Oklahoma Youth Hunting Program held youth hunts all over the State of Oklahoma for kids ages 12-17 that come from non-hunting families. I volunteered as a guide for the SE Oklahoma Region hunt. Wow....what a weekend! This was my 2nd year to guide a hunt in Antlers, Oklahoma and I tell you these hunts will change your life. I traveled down Wednesday with Deer Slayer and we started setting up camp at his farm. On Thursday we received shocking news from a landowner that had agreed to host 4 youth hunters and their parent or guardian and guides, that his place was unavailable for hunting or hosting. Talk about a fire drill! We were now scrambling to get all these kids and their parent a place to hunt and stay. Deer Slayer and Andy Keim pulled it off and the Battles agreed to let us move hunters over to their beautiful ranch. This meant 4 more ground blinds had to go up and spots found but we pulled it off. We had 10 kids total hunting in the SE Region, my hunter was from Edmond and he and his dad were a real treat to guide and hunt with. 8 of our 10 kids killed their first deer but it was work to get it done. It was beautiful weather but not perfect for deer movement so things were a little slow. My hunter and his dad were very interested in learning everything about deer and hunting them so we had some great conversation about habitat, where to hunt, edge, funnels, browse, stand placement etc...these kids really learn alot. My hunter tagged out on a doe the first evening after we passed on a spike and button buck, it happened really quick on a doe that was on full alert and the boy made a perfect shot! We high-fived and backslapped in the blind and then recovered, then taught him how to gut, skin and process the deer. It was a great experience. The last evening hunt Saturday we moved 2 girls over to the Battles, they had been hunting near Rattan and the deer were not cooperating. Both young ladies took a deer that evening, one of the guides (Derek Kelso) texted me that their blood trail had ran out, so I grabbed the Battles dog Scruffy and put him on the blood, he found that deer in less than 5 minutes! We were pumped and mother and daughter were so much fun and thrilled to get that deer. I could go on and on about the weekend, several hunters bagged a deer at Deer Slayers place and all of our hunters had the chance to see and shoot a deer. Roosta came over after taking his niece on her first deer hunt, I'll let him tell that story but we had a great time hanging out with guides, kids, parents, oh and we had two of the best cooks in America, I swear we ate like kings! Made several new friends and made a ton of memories I will never forget! Get involved....I promise it will change your life and you will be a better person for it. I know Bassin will be along to tell you about his hunts soon.
Here are some pics:
Here are some pics:
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