Any young hunters?

[Buck_stalker]

Any young hunters on here?   

Fell free to post pics, stories, anything really.   

[oneshotkill]

I am a young hunter if you consider 17 young.  I have been hunting for the last 4 years and it is my all time favorite thing to do.  Here is a picture of my first deer with the story.  I wrote this when I was 14 and my writting skills have improved.



We left on Friday and because my hunting area was on an island, we had to take a ferry.  Our ferry was scheduled to leave at 6:30pm so we made sure to be at the ferry terminal 2 hours early to make sure that we would get on.  But Murphy’s Law came into play and the ferry was about 5 hours late due to fog and engine problems and we did not get out until about 11:30pm.  After an hours ferry ride we arrived at my friend’s house where we were staying and did not get to bed until about 2:00 in the morning.  I was so excited about the next mornings hunt that I got little to no sleep that night.  The morning started by getting up at 6:00am and eating a breakfast of oatmeal with brown sugar in it which was very good although I was very excited was not very hungry.  We then grabbed our stuff and were out the door and on the road by 6:30am.  On the drive to our hunting area we saw about 3 does and 2 buck but nothing real big.  It was a slightly foggy Saturday and it was a little cold but not to bad.  The terrain we were hunting in was evergreen forests with very thick underbrush as well as a few more open fields.  I had decided that although it was legal to shoot any deer, I was going to wait for a buck unless it got near the end of the day when we had to leave (I only had the one day to hunt because we had church on Sunday), then if I saw a doe I would take it.  The people I was hunting with were my best friend, his dad, his uncle, as well as my dad as the photographer.  The area we were hunting was a small Island in the San Juan Islands of western Washington.  It was a very beautiful area with a good number of deer that were not very big, but that was fine with me.  Since I was the only one that had not ever shot a deer, my friends were very kind to make the focus getting me my first deer.  After walking together for a while, we decided to break up into three groups, my friend and his uncle on the left, my dad and I in the center, and my friend’s dad on the right.  Before we divided, we went over safe shooting zones, making sure to stay even, and general safety.  We then started walking and after about and hour, me dad and I decided to go find my friend’s dad to regroup.  We started to head to the right and the woods opened into a field.  Right before we stepped out of the woods I looked up, and about 75 yards out, a big-bodied 2x2 buck had not seen us and was heading our way.  I very quietly told my dad to slowly get down and he did and we waited.  The buck closed the distance to about 50 yards and then winded us and I rushed the shot and missed.  I was very disappointed but was glad I had not wounded it.  Right about that time I heard a shot and we went over and my friend’s uncle had one down, a nice 1x2.  After dressing it out and loading it up, we decided to head back to the house for lunch.  On the way back, out in a field that we had permission to hunt, I spotted about 5 deer, and after a little observation, we determined that one was a nice 2x3.  I got out of the truck, loaded my gun and started to very slowly stalk it.  After about 30 minutes I was pretty close and sat down to rest my Benelli Nova 12 gauge on my knees and when the buck stepped into an opening, I drilled it through the spine and it went down hard.  My friends came over and it tried to drag itself away, but a second shot put it down for good!  I was very calm during the stalk and did not start shaking until after the deer was down.  I then was able to put my reading into practice while field dressing it.  We were able to get the truck pretty close so we did not have far to drag it which was very nice!  We then drove to the house for our lunch of sandwiches and told the story to everyone there.  After lunch we hung it up and skinned it and then it was time to head back to the ferry and we were able to get right on which was nice got home and hung it up in the garage to age for a few days and went to bed with great dreams!

Here is my first archery deer taken when I was 16.



On September 1, 2008, I was able to harvest my first deer with a bow and arrow on Shaw Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.  Even though I only had one day to hunt, I was still able to go out, wait for a good size deer, harvest it, and be home before dark.  To get to Shaw Island I had to take a ferry and to catch the ferry that would get me there before first light, I had to leave my house at 4:30am.  After a ferry ride that lasted an hour and a half, I arrived on Shaw Island and drove to my hunting area.  I got out of my car and began to check all my gear to make sure that I had everything that I needed.  My list included items such as, my bow, broadhead-tipped arrows, my hunting knife, binoculars, my licenses and tags, a flashlight, my GPS, and many other small items.  After making sure that I had everything I needed, I began to hike towards a meadow where I had seen many deer earlier in the year.  After hiking for about ten minutes I began to get close to the meadow and began to creep along very slowly.  I slowly came over the top of one of the hills surrounding the meadow and began to use my binoculars to search every inch of the meadow for sign of a deer.  By the time I was done I had located three does that were bedded down.  Because it was still early in the day, I decided to hold out and see if I could find a buck.  I slowly crept away so I would not spook the does and headed toward a trail that borders a pond and often has deer coming to it to drink.  I slowly walked along for about twenty minutes and as I came around a corner I spotted a buck in the brush next to the trail and a small doe standing in the middle of the trail.  I waited until the buck wandered out into the trail where I had a clear shot and when he put his head down to feed, I came to full draw.  After he turned broadside in an area where I had a clear shot, I estimated the range to be twenty-five yards and released my arrow sending it through both lungs and out the other side.  He took off running and I was able to track were he was going by the sound of him crashing through the brush.  After about fifteen seconds, I heard him fall down, thrash around for a few seconds, and then … silence.  I waited about ten minutes just to make sure that he was dead but based on the amount of blood on my arrow and the sounds that I had heard, I was pretty sure that he was.  I started where I had shot him and began to look for the first drops of blood so I could begin to track him.  It took me about an hour to find the first drops of blood because you could only see the blood from certain angles.  After I found the blood trail, it was easy to follow.  I found him very soon after that and found that he had only made it fifty yards after I shot him.  After I found him, I had the exhausting job of dragging him back to the trail which involved lifting my one-hundred fifty pound deer over thirteen chest-high logs.  While the weight itself was not too bad, it was very awkward.  After getting him to the trail, I gutted him, dragged him the rest of the way to my Jeep, loaded him up, and was on my way back to the ferry terminal to catch my ferry home.  Even though there was some hard work involved, I could not be more proud of my deer.  As the saying goes, “The greater the conflict, the more glorious the triumph” and this definitely applies to my first archery deer.  The hard work of dragging him out just made the whole experience more special and definitely more memorable!

I have many other stories of ducks and grouse and fish that I may post later but I do not have the time right now.

[huntnphool]

Awesome Oneshot

[teal101]

If you consider 20 young

Big bird hunter.  Deer hunted a few times general and came back skunked.  Got a bow last year and cant wait to get out this year.  Put around 500 arrows through it this spring...need to get with it and shoot more.  Wish this damned wind would stop.

[Buck_stalker]

I am 17 and I was a bird hunter down in Southern California.  Dove and quail.  Those suckers are fun!!
Here I am going deer and elk hunting.  And hoping to do some duck hunting as well. 

[addicted]

If you consider 20 young

 

[alanger]

imma youngen. 15

[BigGoonTuna]

23...this will be my first year out in the field.

[alecvg]

Ya, I a 15

Here is my most recent deer from last season:

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,13058.msg146952.html#msg146952

[addicted]

one of the few things i dislike about germany hunting is that there is zero youth hunting. You have to be 18 to take the hunting class and thats it. 

[alecvg]

one of the few things i dislike about germany hunting is that there is zero youth hunting. You have to be 18 to take the hunting class and thats it. 

Thats lame...

[PA BEN]

I'm not young and my kids don't post here, but I have 5 daughters and all have killed deer and turkeys. Started them when they were 8 yrs of age. Heres some pictures.

[buckhorn2]

Pa Ben it does;nt get any better than that.kid pictures are sooo special.

[addicted]

5 daughters  holy cow 

sweet pics

[ICEMAN]

PA Ben wins. Incredible legacy. What a dad! You five daughters are very lucky, so is Ben!