Some great pictures here. Unfortunately I can't add to them.
I took my 12-year old son out during the youth only season over MEA weekend and we didn't see any deer. We were hunting south of Rochester that weekend and splitting time between our deer blind and St. Mary's hospital where my Dad had a short stay.
For regular firearm opener, we were in SoDak pheasant hunting, but got back in time to hunt the last 3 days near Little Falls. On Friday my son hunted in a permanent stand and I put my climber up about 30 feet away from him, facing a different direction. At dusk I heard the "crunch-crunch" behind me that got the heart a beating. My son strained to look but couldn't quite tell what it was. He didn't think it was a deer but described it as a long legged animal licking it's tail. Who knows what it was. Definitely not a squirrel though.
Saturday we sat in a natural ground blind up on a hill. We call it the "Crow's Nest" because it looks like a giant nest. It's been on of our most productive stand so I had some hope. About 8 or 9am he leans over and whispers, "I see a deer!!". I tell him to get his rifle and finally spotted it myself. It was a fork buck, about 50 yards out but moving at a fair pace and behind lots of trees. By the time my son gets his rifle up, it was running behind a nearby hill and gone. Oh the disappointment! He now understood, though, why you put up with so much sitting around, doing nothing, being quiet and cold. After that he was quieter and more still than I was! Not once did he complain about being cold, the long walk, or anything. He's a mighty fine hunting partner!
Soon after that the snow started and the deer quit moving. We were came out of the woods all wet, but with hope for the next day. My son was second guessing himself over and over about what he did wrong. I said the only thing he should have done differently is to not bother to tell me about the deer, just shoot it!, and that other than that, I couldn't have done any better. He felt better after that.
The walk in that Sunday, after several inches of wet snow, was one of the most beautiful walks in the woods I've ever taken. The branches were coated in an inch or so of snow, there was no wind, and it was just so peaceful. We never did see another deer though. My son is SOOOO eager to get his first deer that I think I'll look into hunting in the metro zone this weekend if I can find a place to hunt. I'd give up all my deer, except my first one, if it would bring him his first deer.
