How long did you hunt before your first kill?

[Camo Queen]

Took me 3 years to harvest my first deer. Was only a doe but was still a trophy to me  Got another doe the next year, but nothing this last year due to a lack of practicing with my bow  That won't happen again ... Still hoping for a nice buck someday and hope to try for elk this year Good luck on your first season and as someone else already mentioned, if you can find someone to tag along with for your first year (at least) you will/can learn a lot.

[7mmfan]

Very first hunt with a bow nailed a nice 2 pt blacktail about an hour into the morning. 15 years old
Killed my first deer at 13 in Wyoming about 10 minutes into the first day i'd ever carried a weapon. Nice 3x4 mulie.
Hunted elk with a bow for 4 years and missed 2. First year with a rifle nailed a nice spike.
Killed my first duck with a single shot 20 ga jump shooting a pond I knew they were on. (Then missed like 40 times in a row)
Upland I've been lucky to go with people who know what the heck is going on and had great success immediately.

[matt345]

3 yrs for my first bow kill, whitetail doe 40 yds from a tree stand.
I have hunted 3 seasons early and late with my bow for elk and had many close encounters but have not closed the deal on an elk!

[Smossy]

the odds are pretty slim budy..not being rude,just realistic..youve mention in other posts your doing this all on your own so that puts ya pretty far behind compaired to people that have generations of family hunting history being passed down to them

best thing you can do is find some one that will let you tag along...even if ya dont pack a weapon and only get to use you binos and pack board it would be worth it 1000%..esp in regards to what ya do when ya get one down


but as you know hard work lets people defy odds all the time 

as for your question i think it was my second year hunting with a bow that i shot my first deer..sorry forgot your using bow riggin....

I know I know. Thats why I found this website. You can learn more in a single day out in the field then you can weeks and weeks or months even trying to study and prep.
Just gotta find my GURU Hes on here hopefully. Ill find him one day.

[Smossy]

Its really truly amazing the diversity of all the hunters in here! Thanks for all the replies. Kinda opens my eyes that its going to be a rough next couple years. Going to try to stay positive as I possibly can and get me that meat! I'm not really after trophies. Never really been that typa guy. I just like to provide food. Makes me feel good inside knowing I'm giving sustenance to someone else to help they're life continue.

[h20hunter]

Third year for deer....2nd year for bear.

[Broken Arrow]

Archery: 2 years deer. 3 years bear.  3 years cow elk, 6 years bull elk.

[DOUBLELUNG]

It was exactly 1 year for my first archery deer.  Skunked my first year, killed a 1x2 yearling mule deer buck about an hour into opening day of my second year.  Like you, I was completely self taught up to that point, except for pointers from the bow shop.

[Smossy]

It was exactly 1 year for my first archery deer.  Skunked my first year, killed a 1x2 yearling mule deer buck about an hour into opening day of my second year.  Like you, I was completely self taught up to that point, except for pointers from the bow shop.

Nice man good job! Hopefully Ill have the same luck!

[Hunt4ever]

6 DAYS... I WAS 7... FIRST WT BUCK (RIFLE)...

[swinters]

I hunted with my Dad for years but didn't have a gun until I was 12.  Took the WA Hunter's Safety Course right after I turned 12 (early 1960's) and bought a 30-30 Winchester with money I'd earned picking berries in the Puyallup Valley the summer before.  First day out about 2 hours after sunrise I dropped a blacktail spike up Deer Park road outside of Port Angeles.  I used that 30-30 for years.  Replaced it with a .270 once I figured I had learned to track cripples good enough...

[bear hunter]

Well!!! It took me 3 years to bag my first deer. It was a nice big blacktail doe in unit 513. I was drawn for a any deer permit for rifle. She was the biggest deer out of a herd of 12 I could see. So I shot her with my Remington 700 BDL in .270 at 15 yards.  Now what?  I didn't know how to gut a doe.  LOL I only watched videos on how to gut bucks. So I had to get HELP. *censored* after  the old man showed me how it was easy. I felt like a idiot That was back in "96" and haven't ate a deer tag since but I was self tote how to hunt. Well Good Luck Next year.

[blacktailcody]

Pm sent.

[KenPCPilot]

Honest to God 40 minutes.  I had always enjoyed archery shooting since at 10.  I was 16 years old and worked at a feed store and a coworker took me to Pe Ell bow hunting.  I decended a ridge and jumped a 2 point black tail 40 minutes into shooting light.  I literally crawled on my hands and knees under the jack firs and brush.  The closest I got was about 15 yards.  (close enought to smell that nasty wet dog smell deer have).  After another 40-50 minutes the buck spooked and jumped down about 35 yards.  He spotted my buddy up on top of the next ridge and he was locked on to him so I was able to stand and draw down on him.  The shot was perfect broadside.  I let it fly and the arrow passed through and stuck on the opposite ridge about 40 yards away.  I honestly believed I shot high and missed since it was down hill and the arrow did not appear to wobble or veer off trajectory.  the buck trotted around another jack fir tree out of my sight.  My buddy stood and walked down the hill.  I called for him to hide as to not scare the deer.  He yelled back "Scare what?  The dead deer."  Still probably my best hunting story ever.  I loved that I got home and was able to really rub it in to my father who thought bow hunting was a joke.  needless to say I am still hooked on bowhunting.  still looking to bag my first elk with a bow.   I have the antlers on the wall of my man cave.  The year was 1982.  The bow a Jennings Woody that was a compound bow with a maple riser. 

[Gobble Doc]

Just got my bow so I've got an official 0 hours bow hunting under my belt.  I've been working on shooting every night though.  April will be my first try on turkey.  I'll let you know how long it takes (maybe in decades).