Your first deer?

[Hunting Cowboy]

The year was 1984 near Cub Creek in Winthrop WA. We had 4 hunters in our party, My Dad, My brother, me and a friend of ours. My dad had just killed a 2 point the day before and deer were running everywhere. A camp down below us was also having some success. Nothing big though. The problem I was facing is that I had blew my knee out in August in a logging accident and was still on crutches from major reconstruction surgery.

I was in charge of delivering our hunting party to their desired locations in my brothers "Bronco". After the deliveries, I hobbled into the timber overlooking some fresh deer sign. It had been snowing all morning and the deer were really moving. The bucks were rounding up the doe. After a couple of hours and me feeling sorry for myself, I heard a shot at the top of the hill and pretty soon I saw some deer coming from off the hill. It took em a while but they did move down the hillside.  Unfortuantely, they came out in a spot I was not expecting and I saw a three point go by me which I was unprepared for, consequently I didn't get a shot. I was sick about my inattention.

20 minutes later I heard another shot up on the hill and sure enough it wasn't long before I noticed some deer coming down the hill.....again?. So I prepared myself for them to pass by me where the previous deer had passed. I used my crutch as a shooting stick. Sure enough, here they came. Each deer passed in front of me one by one. All doe. Until the last deer. A buck!  He was a 23 inch 4x4 w/eye gaurds. I drilled him at 100 yards and dropped him on the spot. Fortunately for me he didn't move!

I got up to him a quick as I could and was shocked at how big he was. I decided to try to hide him until I could get some help so I started laying bows and brush over him. Just as I finished I heard a voice behind me...."Nice buck ya haver there." I thought to myself....Damn. Well, The guy offerred to watch my buck while I went to get some help.... (ya right) I thanked him but told him "Nothin personal, but I wasn't comfortable leaving a four point with someone I didn't know." He basically said something like suit yourself and walked off. As he made his way up the hillside, he ran into one of his hunting partners dragging a spike down the hill. I over heard the partner ask what was going on? and his reply was...."Some poor *censored* on crutches just killed a four point." Well to make a long story short, the guy with the spike came down and helped me field dress the buck. He had one of their hunting party deliver me and my buck to our camp. My dad was sure surprised. I was so proud of myself!

We went 3 for 4 and the camp just down from us went 5 for 6. Guess who didn't get his buck? Yep, the guy who offerred to watch mine. My brother, dad, and I all got our deer. It was the best hunt cause it was my brothers and my first deer!

[huntnphool]

Good story Cowboy, sounds like the green monster of jealousy was rearing his ugly head

Do you happen to remember what time of year it was? With snow I would assume beginning of November? Ah the good ole days when the season didnt end in the middle of Oct.

[Hunting Cowboy]

Huntingphool- Thanks man.....I don't know for sure on the date, but I know it was the last weekend if I remember correctly and it was later than we go now days. (Unfortunately, we never use to take many photos or write down all the info like we do today). It was also before the 3 point restrictions. I remember that driving over Washington pass in my old 68 chevy pick up with a beat up old camper in a snow storm and cars everywhere. In the ditches, pulled off by the side of the road choining up, spun out in the middle of the road.......My dad was with me and he's an old truck driver...."easy does it, keep up your momentum, don't spin the tires, etc. We knew that snow was going to help us out and sure enough! Good memories



"Lots of firsts that day and I remember every second of it like it was yesterday"

For sure! Love all the posts and particularly your pictures bone! Awe.... to be thirteen again!

[DOUBLELUNG]

My first was a very unlucky fawn whitetail in New Hampshire.  Thought she was the buck I was snow tracking, fortunately it was any deer.  Like a couple of others on here, grew up in a non-hunting family.  I was 19, my second year hunting, learning it all the hard way.  Shot her bedded under a spruce, couldn't see her from the neck up.  The buck track passed within 4' of where she was bedded. 

[mossback91]

I was 11 had hunted all season long an dall season the year before and it was the second to last day. I had a chance at a nice 3point bedded down but couldt get around my dad in time and he got away. Then we found my buck hunting further on down the ridge. It was a 2x3 both sides had little three points but only count the one side because its an inch anyways 21 inches wide and a huge body. Still the biggest deer Ive ever shot. I was so excited I had missed a couple chances at a few nice 4 points the year before great redemption.

[hunterofelk]

My first deer was guided to me by my hunting mentor.  We usually hunted just south of Livingston, Mt, a place we called 'the pocket.'  Now it is off-limits to the public since several houses were built there.  The picture of my first shows a background that was absent of the houses, streets and yards that now exist next to my parents house.
Seems as though the population of that county has increased ten fold since the seventies.

[boneaddict]

All great experiences guys.  Theres got to be about 800 more out there.  Love these pics from the 70's.

[addicted]

Lets see here. it was last year. i was 18 and it was my first time deer hunting.  before that i had only gone on a youth elk hunt(another story) Well anyways i was green and i really wanted to hunt again so smdave said i could tag along with him.  So i got the gear. (most of it makeshift) and some really cool bullets(first time i had ever seen nosler balistic tips) and we went on our way.  We went over to the dry side and after shooting at 5 deer in the first two days we woke to a stormy foggy rainy monday. I ended up being the only one to get up and head out and even with rain gear i was soaked in 200 yards. I hiked the mile into "the spot" sat down and i couldnt barely see 100 yards with the fog and the rain. After a little while i pulled my head and my arms inside the coat spun my fanny pack around in front and began to rummage through it with a flashlight in my mouth looking for Peanut m&ms. looked up, didnt see anything  so i went back to the search. looked up again a few minutes later and there was a nice whitetail standing about 20 feet infront of me looking at this weird stump with a flashlight in it's mouth. The deer then proceeded to boing boing boing away at this point i was battling with the raincoat almost breaking the zipper. He stopped about 100 yards away, i tried to put my shakey crosshairs on him, pulled the trigger saw his tail flip up and he dissapeared in my fogged up scope.

i was pretty pissed cuz i thought i missed him the 6th one in 3 days i waited around about 20 minutes then i started to walk toward where i had shot to look for blood. came up over the ridge looked down and there was a nice whitetail lying there dead with a nice hole through the base of the neck.     when i called up smdave and his buddy on the walky talky there was speculation that i was playing a practical joke on them to get them out of bed and a mile up the hill. there was also talk of killing me if it was a joke

[WAcoyotehunter]

I grew up in Iowa and killed my first deer with a shotgun when i was 12.  I was in a treestand on opening morning and at about 7:00 a bunch of does came through the timber with a small buck in tow.  I got him in the neck at about 50 yds.  He had one mainbeam that dropped straight down alongside his face and had two points, the other side had four points.  He wasn't too impressive- but i was pretty proud of him.  Later in the week i filled my older brothers tag with a 4X5...i was strutting around like a rooster and my Stepdad was pretty determined to shut me up.  He finally killed a 163" nontypical with 16 scoreable points on the last hour of season.   That shut me up. 

[actionshooter]

 I started hunting when I was 15 for blacktails on the west side. I was a tag bearer for the older guys, If I had a chance I could shoot a buck if I saw one but the way it worked was the old timers shot first and I (or my brother) tagged it. I was bitter for a long time but looking back those guys were all about the meat, not the hunting. Needless to say I didn't shoot a deer until I was 19, My first year hunting in eastern Wa with friends. We were in Chiwiwa muzzle loader hunting. I am really big on taking my kids now and if its possible I want them to get thier deer first.

[huntnphool]

Great stories and pics guys. Hunterofelk, what year was that pic? Addicted, not to preach but there is a very good lesson in your story. What does most of the hunters on this site with big animals and lots of success have in common? They all do the things 99% of others are not willing to do. Congrats on a super whitetail and well done on getting out of your comfort zone and sticking to it, your already in the 1% group. Actionshooter, looks like a nice buck, do you have it mounted or still have the rack so we could see a little better pics of him? Looks like you had one hell of a drag ahead of you.

[addicted]

thanks huntinphool. this is one of my favorite threads right now. reading all these stories from different generations is great. Might make some of you feel old 

[huntnphool]

"Might make some of you feel old  "

You had to go there didn't ya

[LongTatLaw]

I started hunting before I was 5.  When I was 19 I decided to figure out deer hunting on my own. I was an Active duty soldier stationed on FT Stewart GA which is swampy with pines with lots of green rye food plots.

I read some magazines, watched Real tree videos...and no clue what I was doing. I sat on a logging road in between two deep mud puddles on opening morning of Black Powder. I had to move twice for other hunters driving through...lol  30 minutes after sun up I came to find out I really couldnt hit a 6 pt buck at 100 yards with that muzzle loader. lol

3 weeks of black poder hunting and never even saw a spike.

On opening Morning of rifle... I found myself on a 8 acre rye grass field up a tree with a 300 win mag and a high powered scope. As soon as the sun broke I found 2 nice sized wild boars feeding right below me. I decided to take the bigger one...it was a EASY 20 yard shot. I shot and the pigs ran off never to be seen again. I climbed down the tree and found no blood. Confused and upset I almost packed up right then at about 7am. But I decided to climb back up.

After about an hour I was so frustrated I went to sleep in my stand. I jerked awake to see a buck standing broad side at 125 yards straight across the field. He was motionless and beautiful. I threw up the scope and got ready for the shot...by then he was walking...on a string straight toward me. I thought thousands of thoughts... I knew I didnt want him to get close enough to smell me since I didnt have any cover scent and after two tree climbs I probably stunk...

however, I had missed a large boar an hour before at 20 yards. So I better let him get close.

100 yards. 75 yards... 50 yards   coming fast and not grazing...just trying to cross the field back into the pine thickets.

At 30 yards...i couldnt take it anymore. I aimed for the front shoulder and he stopped perfectly for me.

I pulled the trigger and he dropped dead before he hit the ground. The second that I realized he went down I was so excited I truly couldnt bare to look at it for almost 10 minutes. I kept checking it out of the corner of my eye.

After I had decided to shoot him I never looked at his horns... I didnt know how many points he had until I walked up to find my beautiful 2x2    1 year old monster buck.

I had him stuffed and put him in my living room. Ive been in love with whitetails since that day.

ps- while I was waiting to calm down after shooting my buck I saw a huge hole in a limb next to me. I realized that my 50mm lens scope on a high level mount makes it hard to see something blocking the barrel from 5 feet away. I missed that boar because my effort to sneak a shot through the limbs didnt work and I killed a decent sized oak but missed a 20 yard shot at a boar.

I loved that deer but wouldnt have been mad if he would have had a 150 pound baor riding to the check station with him.

I hunted another 70+ days that year and never filled my 2nd buck tag. Ive downed close to 100 whitetails now in over a half dozen states....many are much much bigger. Im not sure any of them are more important than my first little 2x2 was.

[bowman]

It was 3 years ago when I was 12 years old.  I remember my dad and I putting in for special tags that year.  He put in for the late hunt in the Alta, Gardner, and peargain unit.  I put in for the youth any deer tag in the Alta unit and sure enough I got drawn and he didn't.  So that night before we were going out everyone was sitting around the fire and my dads friend told us were to go"the secret spot". That area is right behind my dads friend's house.  Over the years there has been about 10-15 bucks shot out of there.  Including my dads first. 

Well any way we were told to go and sit up on this nob and the deer would be there at about 8 am.  Sure enough at about 8:15 we hear click click click click.  My dad said to me "do you heat that its the deer crossing the road." He was only kidding then to our surprise there's 3 doe's working there way up the hill.  My dad thought he saw a buck so we looped around to check it out and no buck.

So back up the hill to wait it out.  Right when we sat down I spotted a 2 point about 30 yards in front of us.  So I pull up my 257-Roberts. The only problem was there wasn't a shot the deer wouldn't stop moving.  It kept walking until it was out of sight. Then my dad and I hurried over to were the deer was and it was still there.  So 40 yards away.  Pulled up the gun and placed a perfect heart shot on it.  That deer didn't go 15 yards.  That was fun skinning it and everything.