you first deer ....let's hear the story

[TOMSD5]

my first was a 5 pointer...

it was a cold and frosty november morning. i went to a place i had found a week before the opening day. i got to my hunting site about 1 hour before daylight ,and heard several deer run past on the frosty floor. i was in a big cedar tree and not being able to see the oak ridge i decided to climb down and sit on the ground. shortly after i got settled down i heard footsteps on the frost. i looked around and saw the black bulk of a deer in the predawn light, but it was going away from me. i thought dang that one's leaving. well 2 seconds later the deer turned and started straight towards me. at this time it was light enough to see the small rack a top of his head. now is when i started to shiver as all my nerve's broke loose ...i couldn't keep still. well the buck walked to within 15 ft of me before he noticed me. he stopped and stared me right in the eye when i finally came to my senses and pulled the trigger. the buck fell backwards then jumped to his feet and ran about 70 yards and fell. this wasn't the biggest deer in the country but that day he was ...i've taken many true trophies in my lifetime but this was the grandest trophy of all, he was my first...

[RyanH]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

Well, My 1st Deer came into me on Thankgiving day! My best friend was sitting with me in a wheat field!!! We were sitting in a ceder tree blind!!! We cutt small cedars and made a blind out of them!!!! We were there at 2 pm!!!! Around 3:45 a doe walks out!!! She was feeding on the wheat!!! Then another "Doe" walks out!!! Well we started looking at the "Doe" and it was a spike buck!!! This was on a wednesday and could only shoot a buck!! So i get ready and I aim and shoot!!! MISS, he runs into the woods! The Doe is just standing there and goes back to feeding!! The buck then thinks that weverything is ok and walks back out!!! Then I aim and shoot again!!! He drops in his tracks!!!! I was so pumped! The Doe stood there for a minute then slowly walked off!!!!

[HarvDog]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

My alarm clock went off at 3:50am on Saturday morning. I hardly got any sleep anticipating opening day of muzzleloader season. All of my hunting gear was already packed and ready to go so I quickly showered and dressed (being particularly aware of scent control). I picked up my hunting buddy, Joel, and his gear at 4:30am then headed to our hunting site. When we arrived, we changed into our hunting (camo) gear and headed into the woods. It was still dark by the time we were both settled in our treestands about 80 yards apart. I was already scanning the woods when it started getting light around 6:00am.

Around 6:30am, I spotted two deer around Joel’s stand. After a brief scare from a fox, both deer came back together and began heading towards me on a small path. I grabbed my rifle and tried to calm myself down. At about 30 yards, they stopped at a small creek. Both deer appeared to be doe as they had no antlers, but I could see that the deer in the lead was slightly bigger so I focused on that one. They started moving from my left along the side of the creek towards my 8 o’clock. As they went behind some shrubs, I slowly got into position and cocked the sidelock of my .50 cal muzzleloader rifle. My heart was racing at a million miles an hour. I raised my rifle and began aiming in the clearing just ahead of where they were walking. The first deer came right into my sights and I began slowly squeezing the trigger. With a loud boom, a huge cloud of smoke came from the barrel along with my 295 grain hollow-point Powerbelt bullet. After the shot, I expected to hear both deer running away. To my surprise, I didn’t hear anything. As the smoke cleared, I saw the deer lying on the ground. Dropped it in its tracks! That was at 6:45am.

I was so excited that I didn’t even think about reloading. I then noticed that the second deer was still standing approximately 5 yards behind where I shot the first one. I started reloading as the second deer turned around and crossed the creek heading even closer to me. I froze as she finally stopped at about 15 yards to my left. Each time she looked down or around, I tried to finish reloading. She must have seen me moving at one point as she turned and ran back across the creek and deeper into the woods. Joel and I traded messages on our mobile phones and I learned that the deer I shot was a button buck. We hunted for a few more hours without seeing anything else before getting down to recover my deer. After a few pictures, Joel walked me through, step-by-step, field dressing (gutting) my deer. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

We headed back into the woods about 3:00pm after taking my deer to the game check station/processor and grabbing some breakfast. Around 3:30pm, I heard a lawn mower running off to my right a few hundred yards off. I turned completely to my right and watched that direction for some time hoping to see something moving around after being disturbed by the lawn mower. OK..I was completely distracted by the lawn mower man! I was annoyed that someone could be mowing their lawn and possibly disturbing our hunt. The nerve…

Anyway, after several minutes, I turned back around and looked up towards Joel’s stand. I could see him motioning for me to look down. He was trying to be discrete but it was obvious that something was on his mind. It looked like he had been trying to get my attention for some time. As my eyes fell towards the creek, I saw two doe standing at 30 yards right at the creek. My heart just about jumped out of my throat. I couldn’t believe it. While I was watching some guy mow his lawn, two deer came into shooting range without me even knowing. Joel and I got a big laugh about that afterwards.

Just as the previous two earlier that morning, these two started moving from my left along the side of the creek towards my 8 o’clock. One actually jumped down into the creek behind some shrubs so I didn’t have a shot on her. The other deer walked along the exact path as the button buck I shot earlier. She took a lot longer to come into the clearing but when she did…BOOM…dropped her in her tracks as well. The other doe didn’t even flinch. I couldn’t believe it. I reloaded and watched her move around between us quite a bit before she actually ran off. We hunted for another hour or so then collected our gear to recover my second deer. I couldn’t believe that I had shot my first two deer EVER on the same day! They definitely weren’t monster bucks but what an exciting day!

[horst]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

My first deer with a gun I honestly dont remember to clearly, it was a lotta years ago and due to the party hunting laws someone else tagged it and took it home, all I remember was it was a small basket rack 8 pointer killed with a shotgun.

My first deer with a bow I remember well.It was my first year bowhunting, and I had no idea what I was doing.I ruined a lotta good stands that year by overhunting them and not watching the wind.Me and dad were getting gas before we headed out to our stands for the night and 2 gys I know pulled up.They asked if I was still hunting and I said yeah.They told me a big doe was lying in a cornfielda mile outside of town and you could see her from the road.We went out and they followed us, showed us where she was lying about 100 yrds down the cornrows and they drove up around the corner to wait.Me and dad studied the situation and being relatively new to bowhunting I told him Id walk down the cornrow and shoot her, simple plan right

There was a few inches of snow on the ground which made it quiet walking and I started towards her.I went right down the row she was lying in and soon i was within 30 yrds of her, it became pretty obvious how Id managed to get this close, she was lying with her head in the next row and her butt in the row behind her, problem was the way she was laying i couldnt tell what to shoot at, so I let back down.Again I started sneaking in towards her, 20 yrds this time I drew back again, still cant tell what ends what so I keep the bow drawn and keep walking, about 10 yrdsfrom her i can see her shoulder poking outta the corn row and know where to shoot.I aim, let t fly and she explodes outta her bed.Id never shot a deer with a bow before and wasnt expecting anything like that, when you shoot em with a gun that close they usually stay down and she came up and took off through the corn so violently i stumbled backwards and landed on my butt.Got back to the road and dad asked me what happened, I told him Id hit her but wasnt sure of anything else.He asked me if Id stood on her tail to shoot her Id been so close Me and one of the other guys went back into the corn and the rows were sprayed bright red with blood, easy to follow and the shot had went through the middle of her heart, even heart shot in her bed she had ran almost the whole length of the field before piling up.It was probably the memorable experience of me hunting life

[buckbuster11]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

Well, my first deer ever was a doe with a bow. I had been hunting a staging area, although I didn't know it at the time, for the first week of the season. I kept seeing does crossing up the hill above me, so sometime around the 2nd or 3rd week I decided to move my stand up there. The second time I hunted it two smalls does came through. I shot one of them at 20 yards, got a complete pass through and she dropped after a couple steps. That was about 10 years ago, and since then I have shot probably 10 or more deer with my bow from the exact same spot.

[c_lou]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

My first deer ever came in the 2000 gun deer season. My father-in-law had just dropped me off with instruction to walk along a fence line. We were getting set up for a drive through our woods. As I started walking a small deer jumped up in front of me and took off running broadside to me. I placed a perfect heart shot on him with my 20 gauge.

[Jeramie]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

I actually hunted for several years before connecting and then I stole a buck from my brother in law!

We set out early and had been hunting all morning. We hadn't seen a single deer. We started a walk through thick timber toward his step dad. We finally came to a clearcut in the heavy timber. We stood there for a minuted talking while waiting on his step dad.

My brother in law looked to the left (down a steep power-line run). He said "Look!" A 7-point ran into the clearing and stopped in his tracks. My brother in law set up on the buck with a .308. It was about 60 yards. The buck stood there for what seemed like 10 minutes. My brother in law had the scope on him but couldn't pull the trigger, it was his first deer too.

I kept whispering "Shoot, shoot!" He was froze up and couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. I had my rifle shouldered in case anything followed him out of the woods. My brother in law, still froze up, kept whispering "Im trying, just a second."

I whispered one more time and the buck looked straight up at us. He flinched and I knew we were busted. It was now or never. I gave him about 2 seconds and I realized he would never pull the trigger. I said "Sorry Brandon." Boom!

We never found a speck of blood and I was using a 30/30 with winchester hollow points. He took of like a rocket and I thought I had just ruined our first opportunity. We started a hike back to my truck. I kept appoligizing.... As we made it a little farther we walked up on brown hair just off of the trail. He had ran directly toward my truck and piled up just off of the road. I was on cloud 9.

[superguide]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

I went out to my bro-in-laws on a day off from college. I was driving around with his neighbor when we saw some does run out of a slough bottom-the neighbor wanted to go after them in the truck but I got out and still hunted along the edge. I came to a driveway of an old yard just as a 4x4 buck tried to sneak across. I just popped my 30.06 up and shot him in the neck-the neighbor was pretty torqued when he got back from his goose chase lol.

[DSGB]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

I had hunted for two seasons with my grandfather and missed a doe before killing my first. I was 10 years old at the time. I was sitting in a wooden ladder stand in a huge oak that is right on the edge of a road. There was another road running parallel to that one about 60 yards behind the stand. They are connected by a road that intersects the one I was on about 30 yards to my left. I was sitting there and caught movement to my left. I watched a small buck cross the road about 150 yards to my left (no shot with a .410). He apparently got to the road behind me and followed it in my direction. My heart started pounding when I saw the deer a few minutes later coming down the road. I thought for a moment he was going to go behind me and not give me a shot. He got to the road that connects the two and turned, coming towards me! I got even more excited, but had my gun ready for a shot. He took a right on the road and was gonna walk directly in front of me. I pulled the hammer back on the gun and brought it to my shoulder for a shot. Now, the road I was on had been planted with rye grass that was growing in the middle of the tire tracks and just off the sides. The bottom of my stand was literally five or six feet from the edge of the road. So, here comes the deer feeding on the grass on the side of the road closest to me, when he stops right in front of my stand. He was literally eight to ten feet from me. I put the bead behind his shoulder and squeezed a shot off. He immediatly ran to my right, straight down the road and into a patch of woods at the intersection of the road I came in on. I thought I saw him fall and could see him thrashing. I sat there and waited on someone to come (I was with my grandfather and uncle). My uncle got there about 45 minutes after I shot, which seemed like days. He got me down from the stand and started looking for blood where the deer was standing. He immediatly picked up the trail and followed it right to where I had last seen the deer. There he lay, three points on one side, and a broken off "stump" on the other. My shot had hit him perfectly behind the shoulder, went between two ribs without cracking them, and blasted the heart to jello. He weighed 106 pounds field dressed.

[Stinger-Hunter]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

My first deer ever killed was this grand 8 point buck out of the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. The story behind this deer is a long one and well-deserved.

After scounting the year before with an ol' Army buddy, I decided to hunt the furthest I could from everyone else on these public hunting grounds. Although it looked like prime hunting grounds, there was little sign of wildlife. I felt this area would serve me well when the shooting started. These deer would be moving my way, away from the other hunters.

I walked in the evening before opening day with my tent and supplies. I set up camp and spent the night out in the wilderness so that I wouldn't make much noise and spook the deer in the morning. My hunting spot was a great cut, right off of a small ridge. There was a rock set up that was perfect for sitting and the portion that was cut into the hill was high enough so that I didn't stand out at all. It seemed like a great spot.

Come morning, I broke my tent down and waited patiently. I perspired in my warm tent and sleeping bag during the night and the morning frost made the bitter cold even worse. I began to make Ramen noodles in order to warm up and suddenly I heard footsteps leading down the facing trail. With the scent of Ramen in the air, this great buck pursued his doe as if there was nothing else in the world.

As the doe made her way toward me, the buck followed anxiously. Although I was well hidden, the doe spotted me and began to warn the pursuing buck with repeated foot stomps. It had no effect on him. He was focused on the prize and it led to his demise. He stuck his neck out from behind a tree and BAM! He took it in the neck, never to rise again. My 7mm Rem Mag did the trick and the 180 grain powerpoints didn't do a bad job either.

The drag out of the woods required me to elicit help from some great guys hunting in the area. To say that their help was appreciated is an understatement. The terrain was incredibly rocky with boulders that couldn't be budged. Dragging a deer out of there was impossible for one man. It took 3 guys to get him out of that ravine and we were all exhausted at the end. Several years before a hunter was found in those woods dead of a heart attack with a deer next to him. My chosen hunting spot was not far from where that 33 year old hunter was found.

All in all it was a great hunt and got me hooked on hunting for life. It took 4 years to get the mount back, but my buddy has it in his living room for same keeping. I haven't seen it yet, but I will be bringing it home in a few weeks. I'll be taking pictures and posting it here soon. I can't wait. I am thinking of giving it to the guys that helped me drag it out of the woods. They saved me on that one.

[Chrud]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

October 25, 2001. The early T-Zone in Wisconsin, snowing, cold and very windy. I watched a group of turkeys head to a bait pile. Then I spotted a doe heading into the pile too. After making sure it was a doe (had to be for the T-Zone), I made a great shot with a .30-06. It was a great hunt!

[py_archer]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

Not too long after I got out of the Army a friend offered to take me Deer hunting with him. I said sure. He showed me which woods to sit in and offered advice on always facing in to the wind as you will not see Deer behind you. After about an hour I heard something behind me, you guessed it, Deer. I tried real hard to get turned around that tree and aim my shotgun that way without spooking them, but it never happened. Lesson #1.

About another hour goes by and here comes two Deer. A doe and a little one, so I pulls up and shoots the bigger one, dropping her. For the next ten minutes the little one kept running back and forth going baaaahhh baaaahhh. Felt kinda bad about that for awhile.

[Guest gt2003]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

November 16th, 1996. My wife, myself and my 2 month old son went to stay at my sisters in Guthrie Oklahoma so I could bowhunt, thats all I did then was bowhunt, no rifle or ml. Stopped in Shawnee Ok at my favorite archery shop to play for a bit. Realized I forgot my treestand, bought a new one then headed for Guthrie. Scouted for not very long at all, hung a stand and hunted that evening. Before long it started raining, lightning and the temp dropped probably 20 degrees in no time at all. Not wanting to get killed by lightning I left my stand and came back in the morning. Man, it was cold. There was ice on the seat of my stand when I returned on the morning of the 17th. I was on stand just about an hour and about to freeze to death. I stood up to get the circulation going and heard something behind me. A doe and fawn were behind me and the doe had stepped through the ice in the creek and made a splash. They never saw me though. I waited a little longer and saw some more deer coming towards me. I couldn't breathe! They walked the edge of the field, would eat a little wheat, walk some more. This little spike kept grunting and chasing the does. They wouldn't let him get too near. I watched them probably 10 minutes before they got to me. I could finally breathe by that time. Anyway, they got within 25 yds and the little buck put his nose up in the air, curled back his lip and I thought, Nope, you're not gonna do that to me so i flung an arrow at him. All the deer turned and ran back towards where my truck was parked. He fell maybe 50 yds from the fence and truck. What a feeling. I'll never forget it.

[JimT]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

I remember mine like it was yesturday. It was day two of the 1997 season. I missed one the first day, but went back over to that spot anyway. I walked up to the top of the ridge and sat down. Reached for a Reeses cup in my pocket, happened to look up and saw a small one about 50 yards out. I freaked, panicked etc., grabbed my 06 and shot it. It went straight down. But, that tail was quivering, and I just knew it was going to jump up and run, so I shot it again....lol. A 60-65 pound button buck.

[VTbowman]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

I started hunting late in my life.

I had gone hunting with the old man a few time but never hunted myself, and was not caught by the hunting bug until I was in the USAF; away from anyone I knew that hunted. I had no mentor or person who taught me really. I did it on my own, OJT style... LOL

I was in my 2nd marriage and stationed at Barksdale AFB in Bossier, LA. Shreveport area for those who dont know where Bossier is...

My father-in-law was a member of a large deer lease and invited me down. He and I were not real close at all and it was more of a novalty to go then a buddie-buddie trip. He lent me a 30.06 from some manufacturer I have never heard of and can not remember... I never even got the chance to shoot it before the hunt...

The lease was a 10000 acre place with about 30 box stand sites set up with food plots at each. They really had it going on. Real nice set up and decent camp house..

He set me in a very decreped wooden box stand at the very end of a "mile long" high line (power lines). Talk about "the 1000 yard stare"!!! Man it was tough. I had no binos at this time. I was raw and as green as they come... LOL

It was the 3rd of Jan. 1994, and even way down south, it was very frosty and cold. I had climbed into the blind at o-dark:30 and was not dressed well for the long wait. I wore mainly my military camos since it was all I had. That stuff is good and tough but not made for long sitting...

I was freezing and doing my best to keep warm.

The plan was to meet back at the truck at 11:30am for lunch.

After the sun rose it was starting to creep threw the front window of the blind and its warmth was very welcome. By 11am it had me fighting to keep awake.

I must of startled myself awake 3 or 4 times, wipe the drool from my chin, and looked around, then quickly fell back to sleep.

This was day 4 of very long days of nothing..

At 11:20 I again startled myself awake with a loud snork! (snoring I am sure)

The .06 was laying across my lap and in each hand, and I look straight down the high line.

Nothing.

Again.

Then as if on cue and nice little buck steps out of the scrub on the right about 120 yards out. 1/2 way out he takes a quick look up and down the long lane then proceeds to leap across the 50 yard wide lane.

Without thinking I shouldered the gun, scoped the deer in mid leap and fired. The recoil confused my sight for 1/2 a second, but I regained and saw the moment the buck made the landing of his leap. But instead of rebounding, he just crumbed and folded right there. I had actually hit him!!! I could not believe it!

I then sat there for 1 second and realized what just happened.

"I just shot my 1st deer!" I said out loud to myself. I did not even have enough time to get excited or catch buck fever it was all that quick.

I knew to wait for 20 minute but I could see the deer motionless right there so I climbed down to inspect my 1st. At that point I did not even know how many point he had. I just saw the white bone on one side of his head, shouldered and shot. I hit him in the very high front shoulder and spine area and must of killed him instantly, which at that time made me very proud. It ended up being a 3 point, with a little fork on one side and a stubby spike on the other.

(The 1st of many to sport that sort of rack in my hunting career... LOL)

My father-in-law heard the shot only being 200 yards away in another box stand, on another high line, and came a few minutes later.

Then shortly after his buddie shows up with a 3-wheeler and we load the buck up. His bud drove my deer to the trucks and we walked the 1/4 mile up the high line and another 1/4 mile on some logging roads to where we were parked.

[TOMSD5]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

great stories ...keep um coming....

[wtnhunt]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

First deer was taken November 26, 1994. Remember it like it was just yesterday. Was a cool damp misting morning. We lived about 35 minutes from here, where we now live, which is where I hunted. Got up pretty early, got my wife up, she would stay at my parents house and sleep on the couch while I was out hunting. On the way had to get gas, and spilled some on my hands. Thought to myself that was not good. Got out here and walked out about a 1/2 mile back and got where I wanted to hunt and my parents black lab found me right about the time it got light and wanted to play. Decided to move somewhere else, so I ran the dog off and ended up sitting over at this stand I had built in a tree above a fence looking down over the river. The dog came back again and eventually laid down out in front of me about 50 yards away. I was pretty agitated about the dog. Dont know why, but for some reason at about 7:45 about 40 minutes after I had gotten settled into this stand I turned around and saw a deer behind me. Did not realize at that point how nice a deer he was, and I slowly raised my rifle and got into position and put the sights right behind his shoulder and then squeezed my shot off. Was abotu a 60 yard shot and the deer raised his head up looked around took three steps and fell. The dog jumped up and was looking around guess he was looking to see if there was a duck to retrieve. I dont know how long I waited, but it was not long. Got down walked over to my deer and checked to see, he was dead. Ran back to my parents house and got the wife and came back with my parents 4 wheeler, could not get the deer on it. Ended up driving my truck back and loading the deer in the truck. Still my best scoring deer to date.

[MrWiggely]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

Here is my first deer. Thanksgiving morning 1988. I was 16 and just sitting on stand watching a grown in pasture while my family did a drive toward me. I was unable to walk around much because I had had back surgery a few weeks earlier. The guys were driving for about 20 minutes when this fella came running through the field at full tilt right at me. I just put the ole iron sites from my buck buster on his chest and let him have it. He dropped about 5 feet from me. Dad and my brother and uncle dressed and dragged the deer out for me. It dressed at 195lb. a nice fat corn fed deer. Took me about 14 years to get one better!

[Guest chicks_hunt_to]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

i was hunting with my dad we had been hunting all morning and didnt see nothen finally we saw a buck with 3 does but they were in the wrong side of the fence so my grandpa honked his horn they jumped the fence and went the wrong way so we get in the truck my dad is driving 60 on a old tractor rode so we got all set up here they came i whistled so they would stop right as i took the safte of a stupid bug landed on my scope the deer ran off fainally we got them we were walking up a round this cliff thing and he was behind us i spun around put the cross hairs on him and missed i tried again and hit him right as he turned so i broke his neck my dad got his colt revolver out and aid that if a girl was lod enough to shoot a gun i could finish off a deer i did and he was tasty

[Sam16]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

I was hunting in a funnel going from a bedding area to a bean field. At 5:00 2 does came walking perfectly and gave me a 7 yard shot. Took a total of about 30 seconds. I heard her pile up about 40 yards away. Man was i pumped!

[firefighter]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

My first deer ,,,,,, Well it was a cool morning in WV.. My buddies uncle has a farm and we get there on saturday, we go up on this one side of the mountain and set our stands up a couple hundred yards apart on a downward slope near a ridge. I set mine up on the side closest to some thick stuff, well sunday night i couldnt sleep, we get up monday morning nice and early, around 15 minutes after sun up, i spot a buck 3/4 of the way up the slope, i shoot and it jumps, it runs off following the ridge to the right. I follow it and sure enough it dropped about 100 yds from where i shot it. turns out it was a basket 6 point...I was using a ruger 30-06 that my wife had bought me as an early xmas present. After we got it back to my stand , i showed my buddy where i had shot it, he gets his range finder and we mark it off, well it was at 145yds. he said you shot all the way up there, i said yeah while i was laughing,,,, he shook his head in disbelief.... i then took 2 doe's the following 2 days,,,,, one was standing on the logging road while we were going back out after lunch, shot her from the 4 wheeler as my buddy came up behind me on his 4 wheeler,,,, he was like YOU S.O.B. Then shook my hand,,,,, I drove for him the rest of the week, he was lucky to get 2 doe's also, just wished he was able to get a buck,,,,,,

[camelNS]

Re: you first deer ....let\'s hear the story

Got my first deer when i was 16 years old.It was a spike horn.i had been hunting for about 3 weeks and should have already tagged out on the first evening of the season but the butt of my 6.5x55 hit the milk crate as i was picking it up,it was a big doe.i was in my stand for about an hour when i heard something out in front of me and looked and he stepped out from under a spruce bow at 20 yards.i shouldered the gun and he dropped at the shot.i was so excited that i got right out of my stand and ran over to him.i gutted him and drug him 60 yrds to the bike trail and loaded him on the 4 wheeler all by myself.it was quite an accomplishment to get my first deer on my own.i will never loose of forget that feeling.