The 2012 hunting year started like any other year .
I contacted my dad and we put in for moose . We have been putting in for moose for the last 4 or 5 years with no success and this year was no different . When announcements were made we were unsuccessful again . On a fluke I decided to check the second chance draws this year , I have put in on them in the past but the odds were so much worse than the first go around I had decided not to waste the time and money again . This year was different in the fact that there were a significant amount of area 39 doe tags available for the second chance draw . Normally I would not have looked at a doe hunt but my oldest daughter is now 9 and has expressed an interest in hunting . Before going to the effort of getting her into hunter ' s safety , which is another story into itself , I wanted to make sure that she truly was going to be able to handle hunting and had an interest . So with seventy odd doe tags left over in unit 39 I decided to try and put in for a second chance hunt . Since I was putting in any way I also chose an antelope hunt with one tag available and a late season muzzleloader cow elk tag with three tags left . Come draw time I was expecting to maybe end up with the doe tag . I was amazed to find that I had successfully drawn all three tags .
Fast forward to the start of the 2012 deer season . I was going to be greedy thinking that the doe tag would be a gimme hunt and super easy I decided that I would also attempt to become the fourth generation hunter to fill a tag with a family heirloom . My great grandfather back in the day had purchase a 303 savage rifle new to hunt with and it had been passed down to my grandfather . I never knew my grandfather on that side of the family but was told that he had used the rifle successfully to provide for his family . The only deer I have seen my dad shoot was with this rifle . It does not have a scope so I figured that my effective range would only be about 100 yards .
The first day out saw my dad , daughter , and I making a loop past Arrow Rock Dam , up and past Thorn Creek Lookout , and dropping over and down into Idaho City . The only deer we saw was up on top by the lookout and it was a forked horn , go figure , and me with a doe tag .
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