Asking the impossible I know but ... help me take my kids hunting.

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Hello everybody, thanks for the encouragement and comments. I've been reading them all, but have been hit hard with the flu and not really up to answering too much here. Not that I'm upright and not coughing up a lung I'm getting back into things.

I appreciate the comments about hunting not being just about filling the tag. I agree wholeheartedly, but we all know seeing game is far more fun than not. My kids realize that getting such a late start on this will only result in a filled tag if we are truly lucky so I'm not too worried about them losing heart if we are skunked. My daughter and I have already talked a bit about next year, things like putting in for special hunts she qualifies for and getting "out there" in a camp away from the main roads.

I can't use the areas I've bow-hunted due to firearms or access restrictions during the rifle season. I'm hoping to find a smallish clear cut where I can set up my ground blind for my daughter and, as suggested earlier, let my able-bodied son do some still hunting around the clearing. (I understand setting up fields of fire etc. for safety)

He may be able to push something into our field of fire and perhaps jump something himself. He's not one to sit, so he won't object. I need to keep the range short for my daughter as she will be using an SKS (for the stock fit). She can shoot iron sights quite well, but the SKS sights are not great field sights and the cartridge is not the most robust. She is sighted in for 75 yards and will not take a shot over 125. That way she can ignore holdover and still be within a couple of inches at range. It seems that I may have found an old stock for a long-action Winchester that I can cut down for her and then install a .257 Roberts Featherweight action I have. That would be a much better solution for her but that will be next year.

So hopefully we can find some suitable ground. I'm really looking at this weekend more as scouting than hunting since we have had so little time to prepare and then hopefully if we find something get back out mid-week to take advantage of the find. There are a lot of clear cut areas East of Yacolt we will try, I'm just hoping the gates are open at least a ways into the back woods due to our mobility issues. Nothing ventured as they say.

Any other ideas / comments are appreciated and thanks again for those of you who took the time to post.

Most of the clear cuts up in the forest around you are just about perfect for those ranges. Looks for the ones that have a couple to several years growth on them. Road hunt to them then set up and enjoy the morning. As someone else said Black tails spend a lot of time down low once hunting season starts. So find a set of fruit trees they are grazing on find where they enter the private and set up across that trail if you can. Otherwise you might consider, won't help much this year, but start making treks into a place and set up so deer feed. See if you can get the deer used to getting some extra goodies in a clearing. then set up accordingly. Just make sure you follow the feeding rules! Good luck