The Story Of Makiah
Makiah's step father was next to her, guiding her to look through the scope at the incoming coyote..."look through the scope and find it" "I see it" she replied, "you on it?" "yeah"...a couple seconds later "go ahead and take it" followed by a shot and the coyote dropped in its tracks! Mike, Makiahs step dad had contacted me and told me she wanted to go coyote hunting with us for her 14th birthday. I knew she had hunted deer and had the basics down, and now her birthday wish was to get a coyote. We went out that evening, 1st couple of spots were blank, with not even a howl. The 3rd set proved to be different. A few minutes after playing some rabbit distress on the caller and a coyote came out of the wood line, I was running the caller and scanning, while Mike was by her side scanning as well, Mike and I both spotted the coyote at about the same time.
The coyote came out of the wood line about 250yds away, with Mikes guidance Makiah got it in the ATN X-sight 4K night vision scope pretty quick. She kept watching it through the scope while it approached, once it stopped Mike told her to take it. She made a perfect ethical and effective shot at about 160 yards. I was watching the Coyote and running the caller to see if we could bring it in another couple of yards, but I could hear Mike congratulating her on the shot and getting her first coyote. After no more showed up we did a full congratulations, and went to retrieve her coyote. I could tell she was excited, she was shaking and smiling ear to ear. She was so excited, it is something I will not soon forget. We looked the coyote over, no fur damage, beautiful fully furred male coyote.
We got the drag line on it and Makiah even got to drag it out through the snow, we let her lead the way back to the truck, Mike and I talked a bit as we walked, it was cool seeing his excitement as well, proud of her for being a hunter, proving herself in the field and getting her 1st predator. This hunt will be a great memory for all 3 of us. Take the time to get our youth involved, they are the future of the sport. You may be surprised how well they will do with the proper guidance, and the stewards of the land they preserve as they grow. Today's youth are very adaptive and tech savvy, which makes their ability to use equipment like the ATN line of day and night vision riflescope almost intuitive. The added feature of being able to record these memories adds more to it. Both Mike and Makiah will be able to watch this hunt unfold together or with friends for years to come. Creating lifetime memories is what hunting and conservation is all about.
