My girls can out-hunt you!

Everyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy deer hunting. After a long fishing season is over, this is my vacation. It’s my time to rest up and clear my mind so I’m ready to go for next year.

But this isn’t all about me. Sure, I definitely look forward to my trips to Kansas where I’m looking for my next trophy, but back home, I just can’t tell you how much I enjoy hunting with my daughters.

I’ve talked before about the importance of teaching kids an appreciation for hunting, along with the tactics. Well, I have a big dose of parental pride right now because about a week ago, my youngest daughter Jaslyn killed her first buck on the same day that my middle daughter Ana killed her first one while hunting alone.

The three of us were spending a Saturday in the woods on our private land not far from home. I had dropped Ana off and showed her the way to the 2-person ladder stand and she hiked out there by herself while Jaslyn and I headed for our stand.

I like these two-person stands with my girls because I can stay close but give them their space. Also, they aren’t too high, so I don’t worry too much about Ana be up there by herself.

Now this day was starting to shape up like the previous day of the weekend youth hunt my girls were participating in. That Friday hadn’t given them any shots, but it was still time well spent.

We rode in the truck, had dinner in the woods and we even came upon a rattlesnake. No one was in any real danger, but these are things you’ll never forget.

That’s one thing I’ve stressed to my daughters: Hunting is a lot like fishing — you never know what’s around the corner and you just have to take what it gives you.

I think they understand this. For me, it’s just another excuse for a dad to spend time with his daughters.

Of course part of that means answering a wide dance of questions. For example, earlier in the day, Jaslyn saw a doe and I told her to stay alert because the doe was moving pretty fast and their might be a buck chasing her. We never saw a buck, but it made her think, so Jaslyn turns to me and asks “Why do the bucks chase does?”

That kinda caught me by surprise, but I did my best to explain to her why that happens.

That’s okay. I realize that the day will come when hunting won’t hold as much priority in their lives, so I’m committed to making all the good memories we can right now. Someday, when their lives take them off in different directions, I’ll have something to look back on.

So, back to the story. It was about 30 minutes before dark and Jaslyn had a 7-point buck walk by and she shot it. Maybe a half hour earlier, Ana had killed her first deer — a 6-point — by herself.

Now here’s where the sibling rivalry was in high gear. We heard Ana shoot and immediately Jaslyn had to know how big her sister’s deer was. Then, when Jaslyn shot hers, Ana had to know how big that one was.

We were texting back and forth and both of them were pretty excited.

I would have liked to have been there to share the moment with both of my daughters, but there comes a time when you have to do this by yourself.

Ever since I first started hunting when I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed hearing another hunter tell their story of killing a deer. To hear Ana tell her story of the first one she shot by herself was pretty special.

Back at the truck, we had both of their deer laying side-by-side and each daughter is giving her sister a hard time about which one’s bigger.

That’s the Christie family competition. We don’t like to be outdone.

We do, however, like a challenge, so now that my daughters all have rifle experience, they’re getting into bow hunting. I want to encourage them to get more into that so they can enjoy a longer season and have the ability to pick and choose when they want to hunt.

Also, now that all of my daughters have killed bucks, I’m starting to teach them that if you want to look for a big deer, you have to let the smaller ones go. In the past, our rule for my daughters was see a deer, kill a deer. Now we’re going to start letting a few go.

That’s how you learn in the woods. If you shoot the first deer you see, you don’t learn. But let some go by, you learn about how they feed and how they move through the woods.

I do try to balance all this with a fun atmosphere. I don’t want my daughters to get bored, so I let them take their phones with them and if I see that they need a break, I’ll tell them they can pull out their phone and play a game or something – on mute, of course – while I look for deer.

That’s always been my approach to sharing my personal love of the outdoors with my daughters. It’s like fishing – all you can do is put it in front of them and give them a taste. If they like it and they want more, you give them more. If not, you don’t force it on them.

I don’t make my daughters go hunting or fishing. I wake them up and if they go back to sleep then they don’t go. I don’t beg them.

I am thankful that all three of my daughters have really taken to deer hunting. My oldest daughter Ali has killed her share of deer, but she plays basketball in high school now, so she doesn’t get to hunt as much anymore. All of my girls are involved in sports, but the high school level requires more of a time commitment, so her hunting time is more limited these days.

Ali still likes to hunt and when she has some free time, she’ll ask me when we can go. Of course, I’ll take any of my girls whenever they want to go because, for me, hunting at home with them is just as important and enjoyable as my trips to Kansas.

Looking Ahead: In the coming weeks, I’ll be addressing some of the top fan questions, so visit my Facebook page and tell me what you’d like to know.

Let’s stick to fishing. I’m not going to explain why bucks chase does.