Best deer hunting experience without scoring

[Adkhunter1590]

I have a ton of fun stories but I guess the most memorable one was the day I shot my first deer. I was 15 at the time and had been hunting with my bow for almost a week at hunting camp with my dad and uncle. Me and dad always sat close to each other usually no more than 100 yards apart and everything we saw was always out of bow range for me and he wasn't going to let that browning 30-06 rip until I got something. So on our last day after being skunked all week and hammered with snow, rain, wind and crazy temps I begged him to let me use his rifle even though it was technically illegal but screw it it's hunting camp there isn't any game wardens around these parts! Lol. He finally gave in and let me take his browning and he unpacked his mossberg 500 slug gun. My uncle left that morning and he told us to go out by his stand as he had seen a lot of action out that way all week. We decided we would go sit in our stands until after light as my uncles stand is across a nasty creek bottom that's a pain to cross in the daylight let alone dark. So about a hour after sunrise we made our way down the hill crossed the creek and climbed the hill and got up to my uncles stand. My dad told me to climb up into my uncles stand and he would walk out and around to a field about 500 yards away and walk back through the thick area to try and push a buck out to me. So I climbed up in the stand and got all set and waved to my dad as he began to walk off slowly to my right. I started to turn my head to the left and caught movement and sure enough it was 2 does running up the hill towards me. I watched for a second and saw there was a small buck chasing them. My blood started pumping like crazy! I raised that browning up and saw that the does were going to run across in front of me roughly 70 yards away. So I positioned the gun out in front and picked a nice open spot I would shoot the buck looked like it was headed for. Mean while my dad isn't 60 yards away yet still walking slowly. The does crossed through the open spot at full speed as I looked through the scope I saw the second doe pass and saw the buck coming. Held my breath and squeezed the trigger. I looked up and didn't see the buck all I saw was the two does running off. My dad starts yelling "what the hell are ya doing!??? You didn't shoot a damn squirrel did ya!?". I yelled back "No I got a buck!!!!". I was practically falling out of the stand I was so pumped up. I climbed down and my dad walked back over and he said he didn't see anything but two does after I shot. I said I know I think he went right down. He was skeptical on whether or not I was tellin a good story or not lol. We walked over to where I said the buck should be and he's asking me if I was sure it had horns I said yes dad I'm sure. As soon as we got to where I said it would be he stopped and looked at me and said "well shit look at that boy you were right!". (probably the last time I ever heard those words). I had put a double lung shot on a nice little spike with 16 inch long spikes. not a monster but it was my first buck and I couldn't have been happier. My dad actually teared up a bit as he was so proud of my first buck and that I made such a good shot. We dragged that buck down to the creek and gutted him out and tagged him and dragged back to camp was interrupted by our hunting camp tradition of when you shoot a deer you always stop at the halfway point back and crack open a cold beer and drink to the deer gods in thanks for harvesting a great buck and memory. I will never forget that day as long as I live and I can't wait to share a day like that with my son when he grows up. Thanks for reading!

[nyantler]

Great thread... I have always believed these kind of stories are the most exciting.

 

[Fantail]

On a old lease about 10+ years ago now I ran into a neighbor who turned out to be a cool old friend. This guy used an old Ithaca and went out for just one deer a year. Hunted in brown cord pants, old style square pattern flannel jacket and a Russian hat. Found out he was in the Korean war he didn't talk about that to much.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Fantail