Giving family a shot

How archery and hunting brought this family of 3 together

Story and Photos by Lizz Daniels

The sun was getting low as eight-yearold Natalia Reyes headed out into the wilds of the Texas Hill Country for her first hunt with her dad. Fitted with a crossbow and guided by Raul Reyes, the father-daughter hunting team was ready to catch its prey.

And then nothing showed. Such is the nature of hunting –– a lesson Raul is glad his daughter learned on her first time out.

“We got here - we were running a little late trying to get everybody together,” said Raul. “We got here, and the blind was set up perfectly for the animals to come in and nothing came in. I think we got there too little, too late. And then the full moon, I’m sure they came in right after dark. But that’s just hunting, it’s not just shooting.”

Photo by Lizz Daniels

While it can undoubtedly be a let a down to spend all that time preparing for the hunt only to head home empty-handed, for the Reyes family, that is the most important part –– the time they spend together.

“For me, it was more about the experience for her,” said Raul. “I was just enjoying having her prepare for it, getting ready, talking her through what you’re going to do when the appropriate animal does step out –– just prepping her for that. That to me was a whole different level -- now that I’m taking her hunting versus me hunting. It’s like I’m passing this on to the next generation, hoping that she’ll continue to do this until she gets a little older. And then later on when she has kids, maybe she’ll pass it on.”

The hunting and the archery skills behind it have become a familial pastime that even mom, Monica, is in on. With her hot pink camo compound bow in hand and matching arrows, she’s just as eager to get in on the action as her husband and daughter.

“When I met him, I knew he was a big hunter,” said Monica. “I thought it was cool. One day he said, why don’t we go to the bow shop and let’s try out shooting a bow. I’ve been an athlete. I played sports and I danced, and I was in band so when I tried shooting a bow for the first time, the challenge of it hooked me in. I knew right then and there –– this isn’t easy, and I like challenges so he reeled me in. We got myself set up for a bow, and I got my bow in 2011.”

The Reyes family home lies along their local green belt, which means they can all practice their archery skills whenever they feel like it.

“We actually practice in our backyard with our bows,” said Monica. “My husband spends more time than me –– I’m a teacher –– and also being a mom and tending to our daughter who’s also in dance. I don’t practice as much as I would like. I’m getting back into it, and now that she’s into it, we’re hoping to now make this a family thing. We actually took her out last week for the first time with her crossbow, the three of us as a family and we had never experienced that as a family. It was exciting to just be there together.”

As they practice, the trio of archers help each other with Raul sighting shots and Natalia running to grab arrows before Monica sends another thwacking into a deer-shaped foam target. Then when Natalia takes her turn, roles rotate with parents guiding their daughter.

“She shoots pretty good with a crossbow,” said Raul. “But she shoots a compound bow really good for eight years old. She’ll shoot up to fifteen yards and shoot in the ten ring. She shoots competitively now in ASA. This past summer, she did her first two tournaments and took second and first, so she did pretty good.”

Quick-witted Natalia is about as sharp as a broadhead and clarifies the details of her win.

“I got first place,” said Natalia. “But I was the only one that day, so I had to get first place.”

According to Raul, she would have won anyway due to her high score and improvement over her first competition. The details of her points, however, are far less important to Natalia than the trinkets she collected for winning.

Photo by Lizz Daniels

“I got like these little dog tag medals and there was one that said my place, and then one that said it was my first tournament,” said Natalia. “I just like that I can spend time with my family. I can go outside and like to see the animals.”

And the animals she wants to hunt –– Natalia changed her mind a few times before deciding what she wanted to do. At first, she thought wild hogs would be the best bet. This is because she’s learned a lot about how they can destroy environments from her dad’s knowledge as a wildlife biologist. But now, Natalia has decided she wants to take down a buck.

“I changed my mind because he kept telling me ‘why don’t you just shoot a buck’ and I was like okay I don’t want to,” said Natalia laughing. “But then I watched his YouTube channel once and there were huge bucks. It made me change my mind.”

Having grown up in Seguin, Raul is passionate about sharing his wildlife knowledge with the community. To this end, he has served as a Buck Fever board member since 2003.

“Mainly, I do it for the kids,” said Raul. “It’s raising money for the kids. It’s a lot of work, a lot of time away from the family and I’m not getting paid for it. And I have to drive and hour to and from meetings, and then the event, it’s just very tiresome. But what it boils down to is March, April when we’re giving all that money to the kids and different organizations. That’s what it’s all about for me.”

Raul also has an archery club that meets at his property, where kids get hands-on experience with bows learning to shoot under experienced guidance. And of course, there’s the Youtube channel where he carefully films his hunts to educate viewers.

After the hunt, the Reyes family processes the meat taking it from the field to table and beyond.

“We’ll make sausage or backstrap...we will basically use all of it,” said Raul. “A lot of times when we do have to harvest extra meat –– there’s a quota –– we have a lot of friends that don’t hunt at all but do want the meat so we donate a lot of it.”

With bow season now closed, Natalia may have to wait another year for her first hunt, but the practice for the season has already begun with competitions in the future as well.

As for other local hunters, the white-tail season is now open, meaning many other area families are gearing up to spend time together in the great outdoors, just waiting for the right moment to take their shot. •

Photo by Lizz Daniels