1957-1st deer hunt

[baldopepper]

I was 10 years old, so excited I hadn't slept well in a week.  My father, two brothers, uncle and cousin were among the 200,000 Utah hunters heading out for the annual winter supply of meat. (state only had a population of 500,000 -at that ratio in Washington now about 3 million hunters would be hitting the road Friday) Deer hunting was a rite of fall, you did'nt bother to ask if people were going deer hunting , you only asked where they were going. Schools across the state closed the Friday before the opener because attendance was so low they feared loosing their federal funding (that and all the teachers went hunting also).  LIke most others at that time our camping gear consisted of an old army surplus tent, white gas lantern and camp stove and sleeping bags that kept you warm down to about 50 degrees.  Many, many big camps then looked more like army encampments because there were very few trailers or campers but the supply of surplus tents was good.  Took us about 8 hours to get from Salt Lake down to our spot in central Utah ( a drive that now takes about 2 hours, but there were no freeways then and you had to go thru every small town with their stoplights and traffic was bumper to bumper-all hunters heading out) To a ten year old the drive seemed more like a trip to the moon  but the excitement of all the other hunters was very catching.  Everyone was decked out in red ( no flourscent orange then, you only had to wear red), even people on the street started wearing their red a week before the hunt opened - I used to think it was mandatory, but they were just breaking in their new duds.  We were traveling in my fathers 52 jeep wagon and were very cocky because we had one of the few 4 wheel drive vehicles you saw at that time, top speed was about 55 mph.  We passed many big camps (many families took the whole week off, but getting that week of vacation required years of senority at most companies) - was very common to see 3-4 generations in one camp, kind of like a big family reunion for many families.  We finally found our spot at the end of a rutted, dusty road in the middle of a oak brush valley surrounded by pine covered hills extending up to high peaks.  By now I was so excited I just could not stand it, and hated the thoughts of actually having to try to sleep thru the night.  With out tent up and a dinner of tube steak and beans down, we fnally crawled into the tent only to be kept awake most of the night by my fathers snoring imitation of a grizzley bear.  Did'nt bother me, I could'nt sleep anyway.  Next morning about 2 hours before sun up my father finally gave our ears a break and crawled out of his bag.  He insisted on fixing a big eggs and bacon breakfast, but I was far to anxious to get going to have an appetite.  Finally he and I headed out, my two bothers going one direction (my oldest brother could carry a gun as he was 16, the legal age for deer hunting at that time) and we going another.  After about an hour of hiking he fnally told me to settle in on a good lookout on a trail on the hillside above the valley.  Daylight came very slowly, but when it fnally did the valley floor was literally alive with deer.  Honestly must have been able to see 200-300 moving below us, but thru his crappy (state of art at time) binoculars we could only make out does and fawns (legal to shoot, but my father was a trophy hunter-which at that time meant you only shot bucks).  Suddenly as I sat gazing at all the deer below, a nice 4 point (that's what my father called it, but it would now be considered quite a trophy) popped out on the trail not 30 yards away.  To say I nearly crapped my pants would be very close to the truth.  My father calmly leveled his trusty  "ot 6" and put it down with one shot.  I jumped about 6 feet in the air and was down that hillside like a jackrabbit-it was without doubt the most awsome experience of my young life!  My father, who had shot countless deer before was quite amused that I could be so excited.  He patiently showed me the proper way to clean it and we spent the rest of the morning dragging it back down to camp.  The next couple of days hanging around camp and going over about every half hour to make sure that buck was still hanging there seemed like heaven to me. 
Have to say I've been on many, many deer hunts since then and shot a lot more deer than I can possibly remember, but that first hunt stands out above all others.  For all of you taking sons or daughters out this weekend on their first hunt, I can only hope that they come back with memories as good as mine.  Getting that big deer was icing on the cake, but as I look back on it now I realize that being out with  my father (he's been gone several years now) and brothers  in the wild and bonding as we did was every bit as important.  Good luck to all, and remember to make those memories for those kids as important as mine are to me.

[sirmissalot]

That's the coolest story I've read in a long time, thanks for sharing you told it very well.

[Sneaky]

Awesome story! Good reminder to get the kids out and make it an awesome time for them this upcoming opener.

[Wea300mag]

Wow, that was very similar to my first deer hunt, some 20 years later, in the Methow Valley. Great Story!

[bearhunter99]

Great story!   

[95powersmoker]

Thanks for sharing. This is my first time on this site and I will be hunting for the first time this year as a 21 year old. It's great to hear those stories and I hope I can share that with my children someday. It's something I never got as a child for hunting, however, my grandpa spent many, many days taking me fishing and teaching me to love the outdoors that way.

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

Gosh making me wish I grew up in a different decade, great story!

[actionshooter]

    The memories are the most important part.

[Timberstalker]

Great Story.  That is what its all about.

[tmike]

Awesome. I remember my first deer (a doe) on the breaks of the Klickitat when I was 12 with my dad like it was yesterday. My 11 year old and I are headed out this Friday to try for his first. Taking the drift boat, a 68 Eastside which was my dads to try for a buck on Saturday, and have a back up plan for a doe on Sunday. Can't wait!

[dvolmer]

Makes me more excited to take my son and two of my daughters out for opening morning.  Great strory!

[littlemac]

Reminds me a lot of my first hunting memories and I don't miss the old Jeep wagon, boy were they noisy at 55.  Loved every minute of it as a kid and still do.

Thanks for a great story and description of hunting camp back then.

[hambone]

Great story brings back alot of memories it wasnt my father it was  my older brother that started me on the path of hunting i cant tell how much it meant to me we dont get to hunt together these days but we still talk about it all season

[silverdalesauer]

What a great story. The memories of my first hunt with my father and grand-father are flooding through my heart now. Thanks for sharing.

[cedarriver]

Wow, That was a great story.Family friends the way it should be. Many great memories. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.