Another 2017 pics thread
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Inspired by others pics thread...so here is ours. Two of my boys turned 10 this year so they could finally be the focus of the hunt. The twins have been tagging along with me since they were 4. We made some great memories this year. Heres some pics of our season. I love my new hunting buddies and the best part is I have two more boys coming up behind them! It's no small chore to get opportunities for two kids at a time but it means more time in the woods which is all good with me. Grateful for 2017 and making plans for 2018 as we speak! Take a kid hunting, its a game changer!
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Always start the year with some shed hunting and scouting new ground. We never pick a ton of bones but always have some good times being outside when winter finally breaks.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Spring turkey.....a couple of failed trips and the boys are thinking it will never happen. Call in the calvary, HUNTMAN saves the day and Smitty gets his first bird. We promise Mason he will be up next for spring bear. I think it was pretty much the last day of the season when we killed that bird. What a fun day it was!
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Spring bear in ID.....WE LOVE THIS HUNT! Now that there's 3 of us trying to fill a tag....it pretty much takes half of May and all of June to get it done. This year the goal was for the boys to see some bears and hopefully get a shot at one. We spent 6 weekends in a row making the trip over to bait and hunt. The boys are involved in the whole part and it's a blast.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Mason and Smith cooking up some bear crack.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
One of my favorite pics from this year! One of the boys packing in popcorn to the bait. This photo cracks me up. Popcorn is great for a 10 year old for packing in purposes!
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Headed in
From: t-roy
29-Dec-17
Keep it coming, Matt!
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Smitty shot a his first bear on our second sit. What a fun night. He made a good shot. The bear ran off into the the thick forest and left no blood. We looked all morning the next day and did not recover. Tough lesson learned. I thought the hit was good but we could not turn him up.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Mason and I were back at the next weekend. We found Smittys Bear! It was too late to do anything other then grab the skull. The bear only made it maybe 80 yards from the stand. That place is so damn thick. We must have walked by him 3 times. Bummed we didn't recover in time but glad to have closure and know that he made a good shot. Here is a pic as we found him a week later. Barely even recognizable.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Mason killed his first bear two nights later. What a first!
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Nights like this with your boy is what it's all about. Never forget it.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Summer was filled with back pack trips and fishing
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Sawyer with a great backcountry Cutty!
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Sept rolled around. I ended up killing my best bull to date.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
After hunting with buddies to help with other elk it was time for the boys to get after it for their first deer.
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
Smitty connected first....and it was a dandy
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
From: SBH
29-Dec-17
I had been working cameras and moving stands with a buddy all summer at our whitetail spot. Had been spending more time with the boys and not enough in the tree for me! Finally got to get out and hunt for myself a bit and was able to arrow my best Whitetail too. Now just need one more deer for Mason and this season is a winner!
From: drycreek
30-Dec-17
Great thread ! I'm glad I stayed up late tonight.....
From: yooper89
30-Dec-17
Love these threads. Congrats on a great year!
From: Irishman
30-Dec-17
Great story of the year especially with all of the photos.
From: Scoot
30-Dec-17
What a bunch of wonderful memories for you and the kids. Thanks for taking the time to share an congrats on one heck of a fun year!
From: deerslayer
30-Dec-17
Great season Matt. Making time for your kids far outweighs any trophy. Looks like you did good on both accounts!
From: IdyllwildArcher
30-Dec-17
Great stuff man, grats all around
From: radhunt
30-Dec-17
Thanks for sharing. Great year Matt. Great to see young hunters!!
From: Drahthaar
30-Dec-17
Thanks for sharing, you are a great dad to keep the young men in the outdoors. Forrest
From: Paul@thefort
30-Dec-17
Matt and BOYS. PERFECT! my best, Paul
From: Bou'bound
30-Dec-17
this is what it is all about. the thread of the year in my mind. so cool.
From: Bowboy
30-Dec-17
Greats pictures thanks for sharing!
From: Habitat for Wildlife
30-Dec-17
Great thread! Congrats and thanks for sharing.
From: HUNT MAN
30-Dec-17
Strong work my friend. Glad I could be a small Part of it. Can’t wait till Next year. Hunt
From: trkyslr
30-Dec-17
Great year! Great pics! Well done with the kiddos!
From: standswittaknife
30-Dec-17
Love it
From: Screwball
30-Dec-17
Congratulations, Great year and family! Stay at it.
From: SBH
30-Dec-17
Thanks guys. Had to go watch a movie with the wife, so finishing up this morning. It's sure fun to look back on these pics. I printed a bunch of photos and am framing it for the boys. Think I'm gonna do that every year with each years adventures so we can remember more often. It's fun to share with like minded guys here on Bowsite. Really unique place.
From: SBH
30-Dec-17
Mason's deer was coming down to the wire. Thanksgiving weekend. Of the two boys, Mason really is into it more then Smith I would say. He never says "no" if I ask them if they want to go horn hunting, fishing, hunting...etc. And it usually means an early morning or something challenging. He's never said no. I really wanted him to get a deer and have a hunt out of it. I have some places we could go sit a field and shoot a whitetail buck but was hoping for something different. Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with sitting a field, and we did a few times this year and didn't have any shot opportunities. Just wanted a different hunt and so did he. My parents live in Billings so we were down there for 4 days around the holiday and Mason and I had been going out to some BLM land outside of Billings but had only been seeing does. He said, "Dad, it's ok to shoot a doe right? I'm good with that, I just want to get one. Can I shoot that doe?" Normally i would have said you bet, any deer you want, but it was antlered only area. As sometimes happens mid morning I figured the deer movement was about done for the day and we slowly were gonna make a final loop out and head to the truck. Came around the corner and this little guy was standing there. Though he was a doe:) Then saw small horns, I said "Mason that's a buck if you want to fill your tag" "YUP!" was his reply. He made a terrific shot at 140 yards and piled up his first deer. My dad was with us that morning too.
From: SBH
30-Dec-17
Happy Hunter. The kid wouldn't stop smiling and talking about it for days. I think he was more excited about that small mule deer buck then the beautiful bear he killed. He said he kind of was:) We were 2 miles in so he got to learn how to cut up and bag an animal to pack out instead of drive to it or drag.
From: SBH
30-Dec-17
This was pretty cool too. My buddy shot a doe with his recurve on the last day of the season, just outside of town. He called and asked if I could come help him with the recovery. We were just getting back home from Billings, I asked him if the boys could come and he said OF COURSE! Well, the one dude who didn't get to do as much this year is my youngest Gunner. His time will come but he's only 5 right now. This would be perfect chance to get him out. It was an easy blood trail and we let Gunner lead the way to the deer and "find" it on his own. Love the guys I get to hunt with and hang with that know how important that stuff is to little boys and call us for moments like that. Here is the G man with his first of many recoveries.
From: midwest
30-Dec-17
Fantastic! Thanks for passing it along and congrats!
From: venison
30-Dec-17
Congrats on a great season ! Thanks for sharing .
From: SBH
30-Dec-17
The boys have gotten into taxidermy so we have been whitening our skulls and doing a few for friends too. That's our season! What a blast. I hope your inspired the same way i am by others on this site to get out and get after it in 2018. Bowsite is an excellent resource because of all of you. Many thanks to all of you and Happy New Year!
From: gottoohunt
30-Dec-17
What a great year and you will remember your days you spent with them long after the seasons. You are doing it right, glad to see them getting involved. gottoohunt
From: hunt'n addict
30-Dec-17
Looks like you had a great year with your family and friends. Thanks for sharing.
From: Habitat for Wildlife
30-Dec-17
I will say it again, great thread! Very special, congrats to the entire family!
From: The last savage
30-Dec-17
Matt FANTASTIC thread brother!!!! The smiles on those boys faces are absolutely priceless.Some fine parenting going on right there,,your boys will grow into fine young men! Something this country needs more of,,thanks for sharing a great year!
From: Jaquomo
30-Dec-17
Outstanding season with the boys! Priceless! Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us.
From: t-roy
30-Dec-17
Awesome pics of a great year of lasting memories!
Love the “3 Amigos” with the backpacks on. You should try and get a similar pic of those 3 every year. Would be cool to see a timeline of those pics over 15-20 years or longer.
From: otcWill
30-Dec-17
Good stuff! Soak it in. It don't get better
From: Stoneman
30-Dec-17
2nd above comment... Thread of the Year!
From: Charlie Rehor
30-Dec-17
You have it all together sir! Keep making hunting memories!
From: SBH
30-Dec-17
T-Roy- That's a good idea...and I have been doing it since they started backpacking. I believe I started taking them on a backpack trip at 8 so this is the twins 3rd year and it was Sawyers 1st. We have been camping together since they were 1 but packing in is their favorite thing each summer. Pretty soon Gunner will be with us and that will be the whole crew. I think this pic is the first year the boys went? Either way, its a good idea and I'm all over it! Again, thanks for all the kind comments. I am big on Dad's and men investing time in kids and in each other... so that means a lot. Thank you.
