Proudest moment while hunting?

[HighCountry10]

There have been many threads on biggeast buck or bull.  What is simply your proudest moment while hunting?  I'll share mine when I get a picture scanned.

[BrushChimp]

My proudest moment while hunting was probably killing my second Rosy bull when I was 15 y.o. It had snowed in early November. Real rare for SW Washington. My dad and I got up high right after daylight. As we were driving up the road we found a fresh bull elk track partially snowed in. (It had been snowing throughout the morning, though there was only a couple inches on the road) We drove further up the road to check out a clear cut to make sure he wasn't just standing out in the open for someone else to shoot. The sight seeing produced no elk so we headed back down to start tracking. Most know tracking a lone elk in early November at a walking pace is nearly impossible. But with this snow, a man could never lose the track. We started in on the track and after a short while my ol' man told "You just go ahead, I'm just slowing you down." So I did and began what turned into a four hour tracking job. I finally jumped him for the 4th or 5th time (only the second time I got to see him). I heard him take off running so I ran at him. He starting up the hill to my right and stopped behind a buncha brush/salmonberries at about 20 yards. All I could see was one small yellow patch of hair, but I let him have it. Down he went behind and old growth log. Ran up closer and put another bullet right in the back of his neck just below his skull. The first shot went just under the backstrap and slammed his vertebrae at about the midpoint of his spine.

And there you have it. My proudest moment while hunting. The first bull I ever tracked down and killed myself.

[tlbradford]

Mine was when I was 15 and killed a deer on a solo hunt.  Our car had some trouble on the way into Central Washington so my dad and mom took it to the mechanic first thing monday morning.  I threw the rifle over my shoulder and walked across the road and into some public land to try to kick something out of the draws.  I spotted a nice buck taking a dump at the top of a draw about 300 yards away.  I had the wind and back in those days, no other competition during a weekday hunt.  I waited until him and his 10 or so does got over the top of the ridge, and then hustled after them.  I snuck over the top and they were nowhere to be found.  I picked up a track that showed me their general direction and made it over to the next ridge.  I poke my head over the top and see the deer about 35 yards away.  They see me at the same time and begin bouncing out of the area.  I go to a knee and line up the buck for a spine shot since I have a little elevation.  At 120 yards I squeeze the trigger of my .25-06 and down he goes.  The bullet actually split the pelvic bone and exploded inside the chest cavity.  I gutted him out, drug him to a spot where we could drive to, and went whistling into town with blood and dust up to my shoulders.  I knocked on the door of my dad's best friend and we went and picked it up and brought to his house to get skinned out.  In the meantime his wife went and put a note on our trailer door so my parents would know to come over when they got back.  Seeing the look of pride on my dad's face was something I will never forget.  I must have smiled for 3 days straight.  It wasn't the first or the biggest, but it was a rite of passage in some respects, to be able to do it on my own.

[boneaddict]

Most of you have heard the story and seen the pics, but the biggest thrill for me so far was when my wife drew an elk tag and I took her elk hunting for the first time.  Then she bagged a bull opening mornig after a stalk and some waiting, and she got him with the first shot.  It was the highlite of my hunting carrier.  A close second was my first moose, and a close third was taking my Dad and calling in a booner for him and haveing him shoot the bull of a lifetime.  I know you asked for one, but those three are close.

[rosscrazyelk]

Anytime I hunt with rougheye is great , but my most fulfilling moment had to come when I guided one of my friends to his first elk.

[MIKEXRAY]

My proudest moment hunting was last season where after five years of bowhunting for mule deer, I finally bagged a 4x3. I had shot a number of deer with a rifle, but this buck by far was the biggest accomplishment.

[Hunting Cowboy]

For me, my proudest moment while hunting was being with both of my sons as they bagged their first bucks.

My oldest son was an 8th grader and his first buck was a spike mule deer in North Central WA. He is so proud of that buck and what it meant to him.

And my youngest son as he bagged his first buck (a four point) in North Central Washington.

Having gone through the hunters safety education with each of them. purchasing their first rifles, waking them up on those cold dark weekend mornings, and enjoying the outdoors with each of them, passing along those things that fathers pass along to their children while outdoors. And then having it all come together in the end watching them successfully bag their animals, and then watching that spark become ignited into a life long passion for the outdoors. What a proud moment for a father.

[shag]

Easily the day my 14 yr old son smashed a 127 inch 4x4 blacktail!!!   Stud shot,  a quarting away 257 yds heat seeking missle!! Flattened that buck like nothing I've ever seen before.  Doubt anything will every beat the smile he had on his face that day.

[runningboard]

sounds like a lot of us have the same answer to that one, taking my little girl hunting and being at her side when she finally tagged her first buck.

[WDFW-SUX]

My proudest moments are from the shots that I didnt take.  When I let a trophy buck walk because he was just too far or the angle was bad on the bull.  I look back at those times and am always happy I didnt Mamie and lose a awesome critter.

I feel better now

[Bookworm]

My proudest moment is when I took my wife hunting in 2006. She shot her first deer, it wasn't a monster but I will remember it forever.

[kramman]

proudest moment while hunting is the joy of helping someone get their first deer the excitrment and smile is something i will remember forever.

[washingtonmuley]

I would say one of my proudest moments was on a Montana bear hunt. I had hiked nearly sixty miles on foot over a nine day period by myself and on the last evening I shot a 6' foot black bear at 440 yds. I skinned and boned out all the meat and made it out in one trip. I earned that Bear.

[Sagedawg]

My proudest minute was on one of the last trips with my dad watching drop a nice buck.

[Sagedawg]

OOPPPs hit the wrong button, anyhow my proudest is when my dad connected on a nice buck on one of the last hunts we went on together. Still find my self going to that ridge and remembering all the good times with him and my brothers. Hard to belive hes been gone 15 years now. One day Im going to take my son up there and show him where we were at where the deer was at and explane why this is such a special place to me.


   Sage