Thanks for the kind words. Life is complicated, and it's still complicated, so don't read too much into the photos posted. My pal and I are both shipwreck survivors of sorts and our similar life experiences, jobs and love for God and bowhunting and the outdoors has made for a friendship I value, much like the camaraderie here.
Have been able to get my daughters out a number of times this fall, including a night when we had 3 dink bucks and several does pose for us at 10 yards, but the big 5x6 my partner would eventually kill came up to 25 yards but by then the girls had lost some of their patience and he melted away before following the same trail the other deer had. Ouch. But my daughters are by far the best trophy I could ever want.
We've used the Double Bull, the Buddy Ladder stands, and even the double-set Morning Stand my friend and I hunt from (with me standing the whole time) while the girls are with me. Quality time that I hope will continue to bond them to me so when they get older and have to make big choices they'll defer to what their old man would want them to do.
And on one crazy evening, my friend and her two boys and her parents (from AZ) all ended up in the same Double Bull because it started raining. Good times! She noted with all those bodies in the blind she didn't think she could draw her bow. I noted that with a longbow, it can be hard with just one body in there sometimes. Ha.
My friend has two sons and a daughter and we've taken them out a bunch too. The oldest boy killed his first deer (with a rifle) during an antlerless season hunt with us mentoring, and the daughter got to watch mom take a spike that qualified as antlerless under our regs. And here's another picture showing the family angle to bowhunting.
And this last picture is of my girls from a couple years ago when they helped on a blood trail. Beats TV any day.
Thanks again for the welcome back.