What was your most exciteing moment deer hunting ?

[TheHunter]

So, What was your most exciteing moment deer hunting?

For me it was the first time I got to take a buck, back when I was 17.  It wasn't till the end of the season, and a nice wide 6ptr came out.  It took me at least 10 min for me to gain my composure to shoot.

[Doc]

There have been so many. My first buck with a bow ranks right up there.

Then there was the huge buck last year that was working me over for about 15 minutes, playing games all that time with starting to come into my shooting lane and then stepping back. Over and over he did this. He was a monster too. By the time he got done messing with me, I'm not sure I could have pulled off the shot or not. Didn't matter because he finally left without offering a shot.

Then there was the doe that I could have stabbed with my arrow. She came off the trail and headed straight for the huge oak that I was standing behind. Why? ...... I haven't a clue. but she wound up on the opposite side of the tree, walking a circle around the tree while I was circling the tree on the opposite side trying to stay hidden. That was kind of a funny scenario. Finally she came to my camp stool that I had been sitting on and bolted out away from the tree about 15 yards and stood there broad-side. I had already drawn my bow before, so I just put the pin on and let go. I got her. That was some pretty exciting stuff. I always get excited when I get deer within touching distance, buck or doe.

Then there was another nice buck that gave me plenty of excitement. He came in at 30 yards and stood right in one of my shooting lanes, so I took the shot. Apparently there was a twig that I hadn't removed in the lane, and I saw the arrow do a bit of a dance along the way and it ricocheted right away from what was going to be a perfect shot and flew way off to the right, He took off and was out of sight right away. Leaves were still on so he was out of sight in the blink of an eye. So after blowing such an easy shot, I threw my little tantrum and went back to hunting getting madder by the minute at  blown opportunity. I only lasted about another 1/2 hour because I was so darned disgusted. So I went out to get my arrow and head home. I picked up the arrow and saw blood an hair on the entire length of the arrow. "What the ....?" I actually stood there staring at the thing in disbelief trying to figure out where the heck the blood came from. That's when a movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. At 15 yards, I saw a buck head rise up out of a small patch of cover and then go back down. That was when I realized that I was looking at the buck that I had shot at. Well, thinks got a little crazy there as I fumbled with another arrow trying to get it on the bow. I was shaking like a leaf. I stepped to the side where I saw a clear shot to his vitals as he layed there with his chin resting on the ground. By this time I was completely out of control and clean missed him completely at just 15 yards. That was enough for him to struggle to his feet and he stumbled and staggered, wobbling from side to side like a drunk, over the knoll and out of sight. I went over where he had been laying (for about 1/2 hour) and there was a huge nasty clotted pile of blood. I took off after him and found him about 50 yards away stone dead.

The arrow deflected alright, but what I couldn't see was that instead of hitting the heart-lung area, it clipped it's way through his neck. With that kind of wound which obviously hit a major vein, I have no clue how he lasted 1/2 hour and then still had the strength to get up and run another 50 yards. The "most exciting moment" was when I was trying to get that 2nd arrow into him at 15 yards. I was totally out of control.

So with those hunts and many more crazy things that have happened over the years, how do you pick out the one that provided the most exciting moment ..... Ha-ha.

Doc

[burmjohn]

Doc,

Good stories!

[brudaman340]

Mine was probably the first deer i ever saw. it was a doe and i didnt have a tag and it walked about 15 feet from me and i was sitting on the ground. i started shaking so bad that i was pouring sweat. Then it walked away and i started shivering from being cold from the sweat. My least favorite was when i dropped my gun out the stand and shattered the wood stock on a 1000 dollar set up :'(

[Taz1300]

The most exciting moment for me was my first buck. It's actually kinda funny considering I was walking through an open field going back to my Uncles house when a doe came up over the knoll with the buck right behind her. They weren't more than 20 yds away from me and not paying attention to the giant pumpkin standing in the middle of the clover field. So needless to say I got very nervous and just stood there. I did finally after what seemed like forever but was probably like 3 minutes shoot the buck. I tried for the doe but I never even got a shot off because she was gone in a flash. Would have been kinda cool to fill 2 tags for a first timer.

[fasteddie]

My most exciting moment was my 1st Archery buck in 1996 . I had been bow hunting for a couple of years at the time and was about 55 years old . It was worth more to me than any of my gun kills . What an adrenaline rush !

[capt_terry]

When my son got his first deer he was 12 years old and took it with a bow, not in New York. He's now 43 with three children of his own.

[Fantail]

One fine ball shrinking cold winter day I was hunting a hedgerow that Tee'd a large field and had myself planted about 50 yards from the 9 o`clock corner. Had been there for abit and was using a bleet call because the grunt tube froze up. I was just about ready to go and just then two deer at 1 o`clock. 10 yards away broadside. It wasn't that windy but somehow the pair snuck right up. A huge, and I mean HUGE doe, she towered the 4-point buck.

12 gauge brenneke slug - I couldn't chamber a second round as the gun jammed with a stuck spent shell. No matter, the doe took 3 steps and dropped dead. The buck looked at her, looked at me, looked back at her, back at me (with a 'you shot my doe' look on it's face), then bolted off into the corner. 1 minute later, the buck came back and stared at the doe again, at me again, back at the doe, back at me - snorted then bolted off for good.

I'll never forget the loins I got off that doe, and a freezer full of venison.

[sbuff]

Think most of us its our first deer.

Now for me its waiting to see our son/nephews or even that older hunter who has been in a slump for 20 years or so get a crack at one...

[burmjohn]

I have a few fam members that have never went deer hunting that are going to go this year or next.  I can;t wait for them to experience it....

[deerinsight]

The most exciting moments for me was when my two boys shot there first deer @ the age of 9 yrs old.

The other exciting moment was we my boys shot there first buck my oldest boy shoot a nice 8 at the age of ten years old and my youngest boy shoot his first buck at the age of 11 that was a 10 pointer. I know I was so excited that a I actually lost my composure in a big way. It was a great day and I don't think I could ever be more excited as I was those days. My boys are 13 and 15 now and we have so much fun during hunting season that very few things can compare.

[Larry]

when my 14 year old son killed his first deer

[BIGHUNTER2700537]

When I kill my first deer.

[ny hunter]

I have to say when I shot my first deer of course.That was a great feeling.And I still get the shakes when the deer is down.But the best was my first handgun deer.I was dressing a deer at the time when I heard something coming my way.I went for my rifle but left at my stand 70 yards away.So when the 6or7 doe got close all I had was a 4in 357.I took the biggest doe with a heart shot at about 30yards.Got the shakes so bad when she was down I could'nt fill out the tag.

[Doewhacker]

Mine was probaly the first one I ever shot at, it was one of my first times out. We put on a drive a out comes a 150 class with a herd of does. Where does he decide to stop but right in front of me broad side at @80 yards. I was in the middle in the spot where the deer shouldn't have gone. Now as I said it was one of my first hunts and I hadn't shot a slug gun before, I took a deep breath steadied my self and squeezed the trigger and took hair off the top of his back. I never got the bead down on the front sight which is what caused me to just nick him. Mean while the the rest of the hunting party was on the move to check on me. My Uncle was watching in my direction and the buck ran behind him acrossed a massive open field and he had no idea. We never did get him but we did track him for a loooong way. Believe it or not it happened again the next year on the same day only this time the buck was bigger, I missed a cake shot and my uncle got to shoot at him...emptied his gun and again we didn't get him. My uncle quit hunting a few years after that. After that my first two deer were fawns, so I started out with room to improve instead of getting a big one that I now chase every year.

[bubba]

Mine was the first deer I harvested with my father's rifle after he passed away.  It was a decent crotch horn which I took on a drive on state land.  We hunt a spot behind a now retired eco.  After I shot the deer, I unloaded the gun, set it against a tree cried for a few minutes then looked to the sky and said that was for you dad.  Well as soon as that was over, the eco who was also huntng appeared.  loked the deer over, waited while I filled out my tag, took the report part (yes this was back in the old days when you mailed in a report.)  He allowed me to drag it up through his land to the road to save a long drag.  I have that rack mounted on my wall and to this day t is my biggest trophy.  I dont use the old rifle much anymore due to my fear of damaging it, and I am looking forward to passing it on to a grandson or granddaughter someday. 

[Geno C]

the best would be when i took my first buck. But i have to admit, some of my most memorable hunts were some of which i never vene harvested a deer. May have been where a hunt took place and who i was lucky enough to share it with. what i saw, when i saw it.I have SO MANY great memories with hunting and i look forward to the many more i will have.

[sweet old bill]

taking a 5 year old buck that had a body weight of over 200 lbs and was checked by the DEc and was told the buck was a true mature buck 5 years old and was 8 point .

[ballbusta]

I would say in my third season on new state land closer to home ( first three spent hunting in delaware county state land I might have seen two or three deer in those years combined) The sun just came up and things started moving it was bitterly cold hunting from the ground within an hour I had a pack of turkeys pass pretty close past me then I just kept hearing leaves rustling I kept looking over my shoulder and when I seen movement i got my rifle ready and in came about twelve deer all does feeding right in front of me ( no doe permit that year of course ) I stood dead still for a while ( felt like a half hour but most  likley five to ten minutes) I had the biggest doe that just kept looking at me trying to figure out what I was ( 12 yards away) then she must have caught me blinking  and became curious for some reason ( never seen this before or after ) and started walking around the tree i was standing behind when she got up to about five to six feet away I turned my head to get a look at her and that is when she bolted along with the rest of the does but a few minutes later about half of them came back and kept on feeding for a few more minutes . ( This was with no camo on I forgot my camo jacket all I was wearing was blue jeans and a blue and black plaid jacket on the outside)

[Doc]

There must have been something really good there to eat for them to come back in. What were they feeding on ... could you tell? That might be a good spot to periodically check out in the future.

Doc

[JGaruti3]

First deer I ever killed was an exciting time and certainly the most memorable for me!  I was actually down in Virginia where driving deer with dogs is legal.  I was hunting with my girlfriends father and his hunt club.  I had still hunted hard (sunup to sundown) all week up in some tree stands and did not see anything but those pesky squirrels!  It was a Saturday and I was suppose to leave to go somewhere else but I chose to stay because I really wanted to get a deer.

So that Saturday I headed out with her father (whose name is Hunter) and we were driving deer with the club all day.  Did not have any luck all morning and the hours were starting to wane.  Then finally the last drive of the day Hunter took me to a great location.  Basically we were on top of a flat grassy ridge and there were steep hillsides sloping down on each side with woods.  On the opposite side of the ridge was where the dogs were let go.

You know when these dogs are let loose because you first hear their handlers start barking to get them all charged up.  So at this point my blood is boiling.  Then next you hear the dogs barking.  If they are barking it means they are on the scent trail.  Hunter told me to find a good deer path coming out of the woods and be ready.

First thing to come out of the woods are two dogs.  They run right past us on to the other side of the hill sniffing the ground and barking as they go.  About five minutes later I look in to the woods and a deer is running out at me full charge.  The deer was twenty yards from me when he came out so I swung my gun around.  I take my first shot (which is the first time I ever tried shooting an animal) and I completely miss this sucker.  I was using buckshot out of a 12 guage semi-auto and must have shot completely over his head.  The deer did a u-turn after I let off the shot and swung back in to the woods.

I was upset for missing, but as I am cursing at myself I look where the deer originally came out of the woods and low and behold there are two more deer there frozen.  1 buck and 1 doe.  The buckshot must have sprayed near them too so that made them freeze.  I draw my shotgun around again and take another shot at this buck.  What do you think happens?  I miss again....  To my luck the two deer are still standing there at the edge of the woods frozen.  So for this last attempt I take a good five seconds to line up my shot and fortunately for me I did not miss. 

The deer fell when I shot him but he got back up and ran no more than twenty yards.  I walked down the slope with Hunter following the blood trail and there he laid.  My first deer! 

So it turned out to be a great decision to stay that one last day!  I will never forget the memory of walking in the woods following all that blood to see the downed deer! 

So I have only killed one deer since then but that first time will certainly be one to keep in the memory bank.

[nyslowhand]

As a youngster I hunted with a bow & shotgun.

Once during gun season I got tired of sitting in the stand.

Started doing the stealth hunt, walk 30 yards and stop for 2-3 minutes.

Got into a brush lot and stopped, there was a huge buck at ~50 yards staring at me.

I froze and waited for him to look away so I could shoulder the shotgun.

Seemed like hours, but maybe 20-30 minutes we had the stare down.

Finally, I had enough and moved. He bounded away. Pretty intense!

Surprised he didn't bug out sooner, must have heard my heart pounding. Know I could feel it!

Had a lot of memorable hunts since, but as a youngster that was an adrenaline charged experience.

[mkrafty133]

Has to be my first Deer with a bow. I was hunting in the rain and it snuck up behind me out of some thicket, I was listening to some guys hunting geese on the neighboring property and all of a sudden I hear a grunt. Look down to my left and there's a 6pt stand about 10 ft from me and my bow is hanging on the holder. Luckily it quarters away and gives me a chance to grab my bow and take a 15yrd quarting away shot.

[MuzzyLoader]

1984 - Hunting with my dad and father-in-law.  My dad shot his first buck (a 10 pointer) and my father-in-law got a 6-point.  I didn't get a thing that year... but it was by far the best and most exciting day I ever had deer hunting.  Both men are now gone... but I think of that day every year in the woods.

[Doc]

There have been a lot of great experiences that rank right up there, but the most exciting has to be the time a huge doe broke off the trail I was watching and came straight over to the big oak I was standing behind. I mean, she was right on the other side, walking around the tree. I kept circling the tree trying not to let her catch up with me. finally she came to the folding stool that I had been sitting on and the pack that I left behind when this dance started. She bolted off about 5 yards and stopped. I was already at full draw, so I just let the arrow go. I got her. Boy was I hyped up. It's a wonder I even made the shot, I was shaking so bad.

Doc