By Bill Anderson
Although there hasn’t been a lot of talk about hunting so far, the early season on Giant Canada Geese opened on August 15 and closed on September 15; the mourning dove season opened on Labor Day weekend; and, the archery season for deer opened on Labor Day weekend, too. There is probably no experience more memorable in a young hunter’s lifetime than taking his first deer with bow and arrow. Rutland native Dan Narum, now a North Dakota District Court Judge residing in Lamoure, recently provided the following report on the first successful archery hunt by his son, Asher.
Asher is now 10 years old. This year was his third year deer hunting with his bow. He has hunted western North Dakota in my company during the last two years and has been fortunate to get three chances at mule deer bucks out there. But buck fever affected his shots each time. Fortunately, they were all clean misses. This year we decided that we would try to get his first deer on our land at Lake LaMoure. Since long before he was born I have been preparing the land as prime wildlife habitat for him to hunt. I have planted hundreds of trees and managed the grass. I have not even harvested a deer on the property. This year on opening day Asher, his classmate Owen Peterson and I set out for the blind as soon as school was out for the day. The boys were pretty slow to settle in to hunt and it took about an hour to get them to be quiet enough for any deer to come by our blind. Once the boys settled in to hunting, though, the deer started to come. After about two hours a lone doe came by and presented a 15-yard shot. Asher made a near perfect shot and the arrow passed clean through the vitals. We were able to watch the deer move off and lie down. The most difficult time for me was managing to keep the boys in the blind for an hour after the shot. Asher has hunted with me in New Mexico, the North Dakota bad lands and many areas in Dickey, LaMoure and Ransom counties. For him to take his first deer on our land means a lot to me. Someday it will also mean a lot to him. With Asher’s bow season done, the following morning I travel to Lonetree Wildlife Management Area near Harvey. I am serving as a mentor for a youth rifle deer hunt through the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Through the hunters education program we find kids who don’t have an adult to take them hunting and provide them an opportunity to spend a day learning about hunting, and then we take them out to experience real hunting. This is my third year participating in the mentored hunt. It’s been a very rewarding experience.
Thanks to Dan for the report, and congratulations to Asher on a successful hunt in the company of his Dad and his best friend. It doesn’t get any better than that!
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