# First Time Hunt



## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

So long story short is I've known Robert for a while now and pretty recently life has been pretty rough for him. I let him know that I'd like to take him to do something fun(anything of his choosing) in order to get his mind off of life for a bit. He let me know that if he had some discretionary income he'd love to get into hunting. I told him I'd love to show him what it's all about so we set a day to hit the hills for a morning of fun! I didn't want to do anything extreme as to not turn him off to hunting so I took him to one of my closer spots near town that would be pretty easy walking. It's just far enough away to where the 4x4's wouldn't bother us until 10am or so. Also I should add that he just wanted to observe this hunt to see what I do.

The morning of the hunt he arrived a few minutes early and we got him dressed in a leafy suit that I had. As we drove out to the desert I covered the basics of getting out of the truck quietly to watching where you step while hiking in. I explained that we would try for Coyotes and then if we weren't getting them to respond then we'd change it up and hit the thick stuff for Grey Fox.

Our first 3 stands were complete blanks, only having a few Ravens fly over head. The wind couldn't make up its mind and switched direction 2-3 times during each stand. I pointed the wind out to him on the second stand and explained that even if a Coyote was approaching it would've most likely winded us and slipped away before we had a chance to see it. At the end of our 4th stand I broke out the FoxPro and turned on Grey Fox distress. Within 2 minutes I caught movement to my far right, the largest Grey I've seen had come to a stop 10 feet away. He looked me straight in the eyes and darted for cover. I jumped up(causing Robert to get up as well) and spun on the Fox but he was simply too quick and faded through the brush with no shot opportunity. Robert didn't ever see him as he was to my left and the bush was in the way that we were sitting at.

We headed further into the small canyons of the foothills and suddenly there were 2 Jeeps right behind me. The 4x4's had arrived. I let Robert know we had time for 1 last stand before we'd need to head home for lunch. We found a pull off on the small side road and walked toward the mountain. As we came up to the edge of a brushy ravine I decided it would be best to setup here instead of cause ruckus getting down into the wash below. He sat above me and back about 10 feet on my low chair while I sat on the rocks just on the edge of the dropoff. I set the call and decoy up 10 feet to our left. The wind was finally steady and would work perfect for this location. I called for 5 minutes using some bird sounds with the hope of getting a hard charging cat. After that I bled it into the Fox distress. Only a minute went by before he was lip squeaking to notify me of an incoming predator. I quickly scanned and didn't see anything. I asked where it was and he whispered back, "Straight out in front, about 20 yards!" With the info given I quickly acquired my target but the Fox was now starting right at me. He was also standing on the edge of a berm where at any given moment he could turn away and disappear. I raised my shotgun ever so slowly as the Fox studied intently. I got the bead on him and fired a round of #1 steel shot. I watched as the shot hit a bit lower than I wanted but the Fox hit the dirt hard and screamed a bit. I never got another shot as after he flipped once he rolled over the mound out of sight. Crap, did I pull the shot?! I let the call go for another few minutes and as I stopped the call Robert let me know that he saw the flash of a tail leaving about 30 yards back into the ravine. We were fairly certain it was the Fox I shot.

I had him stay on stand as I searched the area and he would let me know if he saw any movement. There was decent blood at the sight of the shot but not a steady blood trail in the wash at all. As I made my way to his last sighting he yelled out that he saw the Fox jump twice only about 10 yards from me. I hurried up the hill but the Fox was gone and there was no blood. At that point I had him meet me and then continued up the ravine. After going another 15 yards or so I heard rustling coming from under a huge Yucca plant that was surrounded by brushy weeds. I scoured the area with no sign of the Fox which led me to believe it had somehow made it out without me seeing him. I continued up the wash and then grid searched the small area on top as well. Very discouraged and pretty upset that I injured an animal and wouldn't be able to recover it I made my way back to Robert. This was not what I wanted him to experience on his first hunt. Even though we were running late at this point I explained to him that I needed to do it right. I would do one last sweep to check for the Fox. I made my way back to the last point of contact, that huge Yucca plant. As I approached from a different angle I peered down into the shadows and sure enough, his tail twitched and my hopes were restored! Not wanting to hit him with a full shotgun load at a mere 2 feet I pulled my 45 and quickly killed the Fox.

Upon inspection it would appear that my initial shot destroyed not 1, but both of his front shoulders. How that Fox traveled 50 yards up a rock and brush infested wash simply blew my mind! I showed him the pretty fur(not near prime yet here) and sharp teeth, snapped some pictures, and talked about the Fox some. We brought out my suppressed AR-15(he's never shot one) and shot a mag worth of FMJ's at an old pumpkin and headed back to town. He said that he had a blast and would love to get into hunting after he can get back on his feet. He got to experience quite a bit on that little jaunt to the desert and I'm glad that I could show him a glimpse into my world. From the basics of stand setup to being persistent in tracking wounded game, he said he learned a lot and was glad he came along. A nice big Chipotle burrito to ease that hunting hunger was the cherry on top before parting ways.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you had almost as much fun reading this as we did living it!

- Mark
























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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Good for you, Mark. Hunting has a way of taking participants a long way from their troubles.

I'm sure you will agree that sharing a hunt with a beginner is just as much fun and even more rewarding than solitary hunts. Also, a good ethical lesson passed on by completing the kill and not blowing it off.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

I'll second Glens thoughts on taking a new hunter. Ive found it to be a good personal experience for myself as well. Congrats on a successful day afield.


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

Nice Mark... And what they said ⬆


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

Congrats Mark ! and way to go taking a new person hunting.


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

glenway said:


> Good for you, Mark. Hunting has a way of taking participants a long way from their troubles.
> 
> I'm sure you will agree that sharing a hunt with a beginner is just as much fun and even more rewarding than solitary hunts. Also, a good ethical lesson passed on by completing the kill and not blowing it off.


This was the first time I've taken someone out who has never hunted something before. Doing so was very rewarding for myself and I would like to do more of it in the future. It was cool to see him get excited about things that I just ignore or even have gotten aggravated at. Seeing rabbits bouncing around on the way into the stand or watching small birds come land around us as I called. Reminded me to be thankful for all the small beauties that are within arms reach while exploring the outdoors!

You are right Glen, being in the outdoors in general is a great stress reliever for many people. His wife was very glad that I was able to get his mind on other things, even if just for a day.

- Mark

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