Thread: First walk for a while

Been a while since I went for a hunt. Had a busy winter, kids played football all winter and I decided I should join them. Between coaching, assistant coaching and playing my first season since I was 14. It was a busy but enjoyable winter plus a month in Italy.
This weekend I took my boys and dad hunting. Went in on Saturday and came home Monday. Proved to be a good move. Sunday morning was miserable and then about 2pm rain and wind stop, out with blue cloudless sky.
We had an absolutely magic weekend with 3 generations together. Was a good 4 1/2 hr walk in. I used some of the time to relax and unwind. My kids spent a large portion building a cool shelter in the bush. Sunday evening was pretty incredible. Saw 14 deer in total, 13 on Sunday. Boys got the pleasure of spooking a deer that was just off the track. Both deer and kids got a good fright, deer jumped about 4 feet off the ground before bolting back into the scrub. We watched a group of 10 deer for about 15min happily grazing away. Mixture of mature stags, mature hinds and yearlings plus a couple of 3yr old stags. I left this group alone as we had secured some meat about 10min prior got to love suppressors.
My kids were having heated discussions about who was shooting first, however as the freezer was empty dad would do the shooting.
My oldest boy shot his first goose, he cooked the breast last night. My youngest also got a goose and I cleaned up another 2. Hate the bloody things, want to be rid of
them before they get established.
1st stag was taken mid shoulder with the 223 73gr eldm at 200m. Ran 10m before cartwheeling down the bank.

Crossed the river to pick him up. Walked to the far end of the clearing, pushed through some toitoi and my youngest says 'dad there's another stag'. I hadn't seen it but eagle eyed 11yr old did. Lay down and pop a 73g into his neck at 110m. Job done and stag #2 secure.

Both kids were pretty stoked. Best part meant a sleep in on Monday, I was dreading the extra weight though going home.

Hut the kids built, complete with bed, fireplace and a shelf. This is what it's all about, letting kids be kids.
Boy's found a couple of cast antlers from different stags and they carried them home. My youngest was struggling in the last hour so I carried his pack for 40min. He then asked to have it back so he could finish the walk with it. Pretty proud of them both, not an easy walk in this particular valley.