AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
I’m sitting here at my desk and today, January 22nd, is the last day of our archery javelina season. Neither Sydney nor I had a chance to fill our tags this time. We didn’t even make it out once. We had a very limited time to hunt and the first weekend (January 1-4) was cancelled due to 12” of snow hitting Flagstaff. That wasn’t so bad because we don’t hunt here, but the areas we do hunt received 3-5” of snow and one of those areas is only 3,500’-4,000’ elevation! The weekend was supposed to be sunny and warmer, but the roads in those areas are more clay and caliche and they get super messy. Hunting in those conditions doesn’t excite me and I couldn’t bring myself to put Sydney through that. Cold is one thing we can cope with (most days), but wet, snowy, and messy is not a good way to get a 10-year old excited about hunting. We stayed home and went snowshoeing, sledding, and enjoyed our time as a family. My wife asked me to take a pic of her and the kids and it wasn’t until we got home that I realized what Sydney had done and that my wife wasn't actually looking when snapped the pic on her phone. Syd never fails to crack me up. This is also my screensaver at work so I have a constant source of smiles when things aren’t going well.
We were going to try and hunt part of the next weekend (January 9-11) working around two open league soccer games on January 10th, but she got very sick that week, running a high fever and having to miss both soccer games. She recovered nicely in time for a tournament in Phoenix this past weekend (January 17-18). This was a great tournament and our plan was to finally get out on Monday during the MLK holiday. Her team went undefeated and took the division championship for their age group! It wasn’t easy and they had to earn it, but they certainly earned it. She played goalie for a half of each game Saturday and two crazy-good shots got past her in the first game (she got a glove on both balls though), then shut down the team in the 2nd game. Saturday night’s game was against the team they played in December where she got stepped on and kicked in the head by the same girl. I happened to look over and see Syd set the tone at the beginning with a “look” and a few choice words right away. It was her goal box and she was in charge! I’m not sure where she gets that from, but I love her confidence! She played goalie all day Sunday and had a well-earned shutout in the semifinal game. Only one solid shot got past her in the championship game and she definitely commanded her goal box. I received a couple of comments from the opposing teams’ parents and that was a great feeling.
2015 CCV Tournament Champions!
On the drive home Sunday afternoon, I asked her if she still wanted to get up early Monday and go chase javelina for part of the day. I knew the answer, but I had to ask the question, keeping with my mantra of “Its her hunt, her choice, and there is no wrong answer.” She told me she was tired and sore and wanted to sleep in. I told her I understood, respected her decision, and explained that its just a javelina and they aren’t worth that much effort. Her first hunting season is over, but she’s excited for what next fall will bring. We have applied for her elk hunt and she’s chosen the same unit she hunted last September as her first choice. I gave her options for other units that have more elk, are easier to hunt (not as steep, less Wilderness Area, easier to access) that wouldn’t interfere with known soccer tournaments (Open League is a different story) and she made her choice. I have my fingers crossed that come mid- to late-March, my credit card will get another hit for the magic amount that indicates “successful draw.” We’ve been talking about options for deer and what her goals and desires are for deer season when that application period gets here. Between now and then, we have turkey season this April and May. Unfortunately, her team is entered into a tournament in Prescott the weekend of the youth hunt, but I will be able to take her out opening morning (a Friday) to an area about 10 minutes from the house where I know there are plenty of turkeys. There might be a day of school skipped the week after the tournament before the youth season closes, though! If that doesn’t work out or she isn’t able to fill her youth tag, I had the forethought to put her in for a leftover tag up on the north rim with me and we’ll go chase turkeys up there during the 2nd weekend, which is usually better up there.
This is my last big post in Sydney’s hunting journal, but I’m working with her teacher to get Sydney a classroom writing assignment that will entail her writing up the final entry with her thoughts, gratitude to all of you for the support and encouragement, and lessons learned. This is her journal and its only fitting that she wraps it up. I’m hoping that will be done in the next week or two. For me, I learned a great deal as a father and hunter. I have my favorite hunting buddy now. We are closer than we’ve ever been, and my wife and I have seen a huge transformation of a young girl into a young adult at only 10 years old. I told a group of kids in a Hunter Ed class Tuesday night that, although I only hunted a couple of days for myself in all of 2014, I had the best hunting season I’ve ever had because I got to take my daughter and I got to watcher her experience every aspect and emotion of hunting. She made very mature decisions, learned to live with decisions, experienced success even though tags weren’t filled, and experienced success through harvesting her first big game animal. I know you fathers out there, especially fathers of daughters, know exactly what I experienced and I thank you all for the support and encouragement for both me and Syd!
Our Champion!
We were going to try and hunt part of the next weekend (January 9-11) working around two open league soccer games on January 10th, but she got very sick that week, running a high fever and having to miss both soccer games. She recovered nicely in time for a tournament in Phoenix this past weekend (January 17-18). This was a great tournament and our plan was to finally get out on Monday during the MLK holiday. Her team went undefeated and took the division championship for their age group! It wasn’t easy and they had to earn it, but they certainly earned it. She played goalie for a half of each game Saturday and two crazy-good shots got past her in the first game (she got a glove on both balls though), then shut down the team in the 2nd game. Saturday night’s game was against the team they played in December where she got stepped on and kicked in the head by the same girl. I happened to look over and see Syd set the tone at the beginning with a “look” and a few choice words right away. It was her goal box and she was in charge! I’m not sure where she gets that from, but I love her confidence! She played goalie all day Sunday and had a well-earned shutout in the semifinal game. Only one solid shot got past her in the championship game and she definitely commanded her goal box. I received a couple of comments from the opposing teams’ parents and that was a great feeling.
2015 CCV Tournament Champions!
On the drive home Sunday afternoon, I asked her if she still wanted to get up early Monday and go chase javelina for part of the day. I knew the answer, but I had to ask the question, keeping with my mantra of “Its her hunt, her choice, and there is no wrong answer.” She told me she was tired and sore and wanted to sleep in. I told her I understood, respected her decision, and explained that its just a javelina and they aren’t worth that much effort. Her first hunting season is over, but she’s excited for what next fall will bring. We have applied for her elk hunt and she’s chosen the same unit she hunted last September as her first choice. I gave her options for other units that have more elk, are easier to hunt (not as steep, less Wilderness Area, easier to access) that wouldn’t interfere with known soccer tournaments (Open League is a different story) and she made her choice. I have my fingers crossed that come mid- to late-March, my credit card will get another hit for the magic amount that indicates “successful draw.” We’ve been talking about options for deer and what her goals and desires are for deer season when that application period gets here. Between now and then, we have turkey season this April and May. Unfortunately, her team is entered into a tournament in Prescott the weekend of the youth hunt, but I will be able to take her out opening morning (a Friday) to an area about 10 minutes from the house where I know there are plenty of turkeys. There might be a day of school skipped the week after the tournament before the youth season closes, though! If that doesn’t work out or she isn’t able to fill her youth tag, I had the forethought to put her in for a leftover tag up on the north rim with me and we’ll go chase turkeys up there during the 2nd weekend, which is usually better up there.
This is my last big post in Sydney’s hunting journal, but I’m working with her teacher to get Sydney a classroom writing assignment that will entail her writing up the final entry with her thoughts, gratitude to all of you for the support and encouragement, and lessons learned. This is her journal and its only fitting that she wraps it up. I’m hoping that will be done in the next week or two. For me, I learned a great deal as a father and hunter. I have my favorite hunting buddy now. We are closer than we’ve ever been, and my wife and I have seen a huge transformation of a young girl into a young adult at only 10 years old. I told a group of kids in a Hunter Ed class Tuesday night that, although I only hunted a couple of days for myself in all of 2014, I had the best hunting season I’ve ever had because I got to take my daughter and I got to watcher her experience every aspect and emotion of hunting. She made very mature decisions, learned to live with decisions, experienced success even though tags weren’t filled, and experienced success through harvesting her first big game animal. I know you fathers out there, especially fathers of daughters, know exactly what I experienced and I thank you all for the support and encouragement for both me and Syd!
Our Champion!
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