Father & Son Deer Hunt Success
Sunday, October 13th, 2019
Jack is a 15 year old adventurous young man that attends Maize High School. At Maize, Jack is a member of their high school trap team. Jack’s dad, Matt started his hunting career when he was in the army and continued when he moved back to Kansas where he currently resides with his family. While Matt has experience hunting big game in the mountains of Colorado, this was his son’s first hunting trip.
Land manager Damon Cox hosted 3 youth hunters and their parents down in Eureka, KS on the Spring Creek Ranch. This ranch is owned by Koch Industries and is part of their Matador Cattle Company. Damon generously allowed both our youth and their parents a chance to deer hunt together at the ranch. For first time deer hunter Jack and his dad, it was particularly exciting that they both would have the chance to harvest their first deer together.
Matt is passionate about the outdoors and strives to share that with his son. “I love the outdoors, I’ll use any excuse to get out. One of my goals with Jack is for him to develop a love for the outdoors. I also want him to learn self reliance, confidence and all of the outdoors skills that come with hunting.” said Matt.
Outdoor Mentor Eric Brown assisted Matt and Jack on their hunt. “The experience was great. Both Matt and Jack were excited to be out there. Jack was able to tag out early in the evening making a perfect heart shot and dropped the doe within her tracks. After some celebration, I quickly showed him how to field dress his deer which left plenty of time for his dad to have a chance at a deer.” Shortly after getting set back up in the blind, Matt got his chance at a doe that only ran 80 yards or so after being shot. “Overall this was a fantastic hunt that couldn’t have come together much better” said Brown.
Matt elaborated on how supported the hunt was with guide, Eric Brown. “When we got to the doe that Jack shot, Jack was hesitant to touch her but became more comfortable once his nerves settled. He helped the guide field dress her, timidly at first, but was more involved as he got used to things. We couldn’t convince him to take a bite of the heart but he did let the guide smear some blood on his cheeks!” After Matt harvested his own deer minutes before legal shooting time expired, Jack and Matt were losing sunlight quickly. “Jack and I got headlamps from our backpack and returned to the area where I shot it. I think that was my favorite part, showing him how to track, successfully, through tall grass at night!” said Matt.
Often times, hunting can be viewed as an individual sport, however, making it a family activity can bring great joy and memories to cherish for a lifetime. Eric couldn’t agree more. “My son is 5 years old and is starting to understand why I hunt and I try to bring him along as often as possible. I know that a big buck may not make his way by with an antsy little 5 year old in the blind, but I’ll take the experience of having him with me over any trophy I could hang on the wall.”
Matt concluded his experience by saying, “It was an excellent way to introduce him to deer hunting under perfect conditions with experienced and knowledgeable folks to teach him. Seeing how much fun he had and knowing how much he wants to do it again, I definitely want to take him more. I just need to find some land!” With 2 successful deer hunts at the end of the day, we can say with great confidence that Matt and Jack will be taking the field again!
Special thanks to Damon Cox and Matador Cattle Company for making this hunt possible.