Back Where It All Started: A South Dakota Family Hunt

There’s something different about hunting the ground you grew up on. I was out in this country since I was three years old chasing coyote, birds and bucks with my dad. This is where I am from, this is where I learned to love hunting.

The same prairie, the same draws, the same country that taught me what hunting means. But this year, it wasn’t just about me, it was about my family. My wife and our three kids. Two full weeks together in the outdoors, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

We hunted public land, hiking and glassing hoping to turn up a decent white tail buck for my wife. It’s exactly how we wanted our kids to experience it as well. My wife harvested her first whitetail buck a few days into the hunt, an awesome moment. We had been getting close but playing the public / private land game is one of the biggest challenges in South Dakota.

We shifted our focus to my oldest son; he had an antlerless whitetail deer tag to fill. Again, a few days of grinding and it all came together with my oldest son harvesting his second deer, this was his final doe tag before he can get his very own buck tag (watch out November 2026).

We set out with three deer tags, after the first week we had two of them filled. Now it was time to focus on my archery tag. We did not have much time nor ability to really cover country hunting with the three kids, but we made the most of our opportunity. After a few stock attempts, it came together and by golly at 40 years old (I know – late to the archery game), I harvested my first buck with a bow. A beautiful young muley buck. The day was cold, extremely windy and my wife and bumped this buck but were able to watch him re-bed in a location we could get tight on him with good wind We made our play, I crawled into 43 yards, drew my bow from my back, slowly rose and executed the shot – it was pretty awesome.

Being a husband who brought your wife into hunting, and now raising your children to hunt really showcases hunting through a different lens for me now… It becomes about teaching, sharing, and passing on tradition of this passion and way of life. Watching my kids experience this life means everything to me. Public land and wildlife depend on responsible management, passing that mindset on is just as important as the hunt itself, we work hard in our home to holistically discuss and partake in what hunting really means.

Back where it all started, with the people who matter most to me!