Paul had made contact with me to take he and his 9 year old daughter hunting,he told me she had done lots of shooting with a BB gun but had never fired a rifle. When they arrived it was rainy ,nasty weather.We made a few stands trying to call coyotes but didn't have much luck.So we headed out to the rifle range,which is also where I have a bone pile for a friend of mine to shoot coyotes off of. As we pulled in around noon, I saw a coyote on the bone pile.He didn't have clue we had seen him ,I called to him and he stopped perfect for Paul a shot,he fired ,the coyote spun and ran,I found him about 80 yards away in a brush pile.
Maria was fired up now ,she wanted to shoot a big gun so she could hunt.I let her shoot a .223 NEF handi rifle youth model. She did really well,I had no doubt that she could kill a critter.This girl has the drive and desire to become a real hunter! We sat in a blind that evening for her a shot at a deer,but she never got a shot at one.
Day two it rained really hard all morning,as soon as it stopped we headed out to call coyotes,we made several stands ,but they just weren't coming. We decided to hunt a deer blind again and saw two does.
Day 3 was a beautiful day with the exception that the wind could not make up it's mind which way it wanted to blow from it changed many times during the day.We called one coyote on the first stand that never offered a shot , he came in real late in the stand! We called another that came so far and hung up he would raise up and look around but would not respond otherwise. Paul decided to try a shot ,but I think wind drift got him,he missed. I told Paul it was time for a change, lets try and get Maria on a pig. We started out walking through some dense brush,I noticed a group of small hogs ahead but Maria was unable to get on them before they moved on.I had Paul and Maria set up over a draw and told them to try some predator calling while I scouted ahead,I located some hogs in an old quarry, I called Paul and told him where to meet me.As we headed towards the quarry Paul noticed some small pigs moving through some near by brush.Maria and I made a 50-60 yard stalk on them,I adjusted my stoney point shooting sticks for a standing shot ,she was quick to get on them and made a perfect 40 yard neck shot on a 23 pound guilt,man was she excited ! Her reaction was priceless! We tried to get Paul on a hog as well ,we saw lots of hogs but Paul just couldn't get on one the cover was just too thick.
Day 4 was picture perfect ,cold,crisp morning, bright sun and light steady winds from the Northwest.We saw two coyotes but were not having much luck getting them to respond,I told Paul I thought they would get going around noon if the wind stayed good.At almost noon as if someone had turned on a switch one came to the call after 18 minutes on stand! He came slow ,but steady in no hurry at all just walking along intent on where he heard the dying rabbit.Paul dropped him at about 80 yards. We moved about a 1/4 of a mile and at about the 5 minute mark another came in a little faster,Paul dropped him at about 75 yards.We made one dry stand then moved to another area,almost immediately another coyote was on his way he stopped behind a bush at about 60 yards and Maria tried a shot but missed as he faced us straight on,at a full run Paul dropped him with a Texas heart shot.
We grabbed lunch and move to a new area ,we made several dry stands ,then at last light I saw a coyote about a 1/2 mile away standing on a hill.He and another closed the distance quickly and then vanished in thin air ,we never did figure out where they went,but they didn't make it to us! A slow week ended well and I think Maria is hooked on hunting for life,and she will definitely be a great addition to the hunting family!

Taking a child hunting and seeing the smile afterwards - PRICELESS