Print edition: 
ELLSWORTH COUNTY — His own deer permit filled, Daniel Lee watched a rookie hunter he'd been working with for three years sneak up a grassy draw toward where a whitetail doe grazed on wheat.
Minutes later a shot sounded and the deer fell. A smile spread across Daniel's 15-year-old face.
"That's the first animal of any kind my dad's shot," he said as he watched his father, Curtis Lee, walk toward the deer. "I think it's the first time he's ever fired a shot while hunting."
Though he shot his first animal on Wednesday's opening of firearms deer season, Curtis Lee already had memories of times afield with his family.
"I knew nothing about hunting and had no real interest," he said. "My boys got me into it. I'm learning from them and we're all learning together. It's great."
Curtis Lee spent much of his youth snorkeling and surfing in his native Hawaii. Years in Colorado got him into backpacking, camping and hiking.
About four years ago, his oldest son, Joseph, began showing interest in shooting and hunting.
"I was absolutely clueless," Curtis Lee said.
Then he saw a tiny ad about a Harper County deer hunt designed for kids with no hunting experience. That weekend, volunteers taught his son the basics of deer hunting, marksmanship and outdoors safety.
Curtis Lee was there when the then-14-year-old was guided to two whitetail does.
Since then, he's applied for every special youth hunt he could find in Kansas.
In the last few years, he's carted Joseph or his twin sons, Daniel and Michael, to youth hunts in many parts of the state.
The boys have had successful hunts for pheasants, waterfowl, wild turkey and deer.
"I enjoyed the educational part of the youth hunts the most, though," Curtis Lee said. "The boys just wanted to get into the field, but we've learned so much from the guys. I'm serious, I knew nothing about hunting."
Curtis Lee has also taken his sons on their own hunts and target shooting. He took a hunter education class with Joseph. His wife, Margo, took the course with Daniel and Michael.
They've learned as a family to process and cook many kinds of wild game. They often implement recipes and techniques from his Hawaiian heritage and Margo's Cajun ancestry.
In the summer, Curtis Lee was researching ways to spend more time afield when he learned about the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Park's new Special Hunts on Private Lands program.
Applications were made for the program that gives hunters access to leased private lands that see limited hunting pressure.
Wednesday, he drove Daniel two hours each way to a property within the program.
"No big deal," he said of the drive. "It's another way to spend time with the boys."
For five days, they had sole access to about 160 acres of mixed creek bottom woods and crop fields nestled amid the prairie of the Smoky Hills.
Wednesday afternoon, the Lees found fresh rubs and a maze of deer trails dug deep into the prairie on their hunting grounds.
After crossing a deep gorge, they stopped at a secluded field of wheat surrounded by the kinds of prairie and brush where deer love to bed.
Daniel barely had time to get comfortable before three does trotted into the field. He shot one at about 60 yards. Nine more deer raced across the field as the Lees approached the deer.
The boy began field-dressing his deer while his dad went for a backpack to carry out the meat. Upon his return, Curtis Lee saw another doe grazing about 300 yards away.
As Daniel worked on his deer, Curtis Lee eased toward the feeding doe. He crawled the final yards to get the clear shot he made perfectly.
Four years ago, Curtis Lee was so unfamiliar with hunting he grudgingly touched the hoof of a doe shot by his son. The last 45 minutes of Wednesday's daylight he helped another son field dress the two deer they'd shot together.
