first deer ever

[Bull_16]

When i was 12 years old ( witch is legal hunting age fro pa ) i shot a beatuiful 9 point with a 17 inch spread that was my first deer and biggest deer if my 4 years of hunting. What was everyones first deer?

[jayber]

Symmetrical 8-point with ~18.5" spread. Walked up on him and a doe in the corner of a picked corn field. I'll never forget that day....

[docapi]

6pt. With no browtines and a 7" spread. Thr rack is hanging on the wall above my computer. 20 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

[coyotebandit]

A nice Small basket 8 that I shot on opening morning my first time deer hunting. I thought it was a fork because the rack was so dark. Don't even have a picture of it, but my dad helped me mount the rack on a plaque and I still have it today 15 years later.

[BDB]

I was on my 2nd day in the woods hunting alone. I had been with my father many times in Saskatchewan but that was 8 years before and I was only a spectator. I had taken a friend that I was trying to get involved in hunting with me and we were walking through a field just after day break. As we crested a hill there was a deer feeding on the very edge down the hill and facing away from us at about 70 yards. I grabbed my buddy and we dropped down out of sight. After a little discussion and trying calm down, as this is only the second deer I had ever seen while hunting on my own, we had a plan. It was pretty basic, stand up and shoot the deer. I did but didn&#39;t hit him, he took off and I fired again thinking that I must have hit him the first time so I had better anchor him, the second shot at him running was a miss. For some reason he ran about 30 yards to my left and stopped to look back and see what the commotion was. I took aim this time and nailed him quartering away with with an exit just behind the front shoulder. He dropped in his tracks. Only one bullet touched him, I figure I pulled the first one over his back in my excitement. Just a little button buck but it was a hell of a day for me and my father was proud as hell when we showed up in his back yard while he was in his PJ&#39;s making coffee dragging my first deer in tow. He wasn&#39;t quite as thrilled when I said "OK dad now what?" http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-biggrin-aqua.gif . I hadn&#39;t gutted the deer yet since I didn&#39;t have a clue how, but I did learn that morning.

BDB

[quackmaster]

I was asleep sitting on a treestump when I was 14 or so. I woke up and a B & C 3 pointer was standing about 10 yards from me! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-shootin-green.gif I fired 5 shots from the hip with my 870 20 ga.!
He ran off over the hill and went down. No blood. One pellet hit him in the heart and that was it! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-dancin-red.gif

[Don]

Back in the days when I hunted with dogs, I took my first deer with an old Ithaca Model 37 Featherlight and buckshot. The shotgun had been given to my father by my mother early in the marriage and he had given it to me. By the way the buck was 5 point.

I will never forget that day.

I also never thought an animal would make my heart beat like that unless they were chasing me.

[bradj]

7 point 4 nice points on one side and a mess on the other with only 3 points shot him 7 times at 175 yards on a dead run. My dad told me later that it was not neccessary to fire seven shots, but I hit him every time. My mom told me if I ever do that again I will be cutiing it up myself.
By the way it only takes about one anymore.

[Gus]

A monster 3 point with about a 10 inch spread when I was about 7. I was sitting on my mom&#39;s knee in her stand http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-biggrin-aqua.gif

[GoneHuntin]

a 6 inch spike from a ground blind. I was sitting next to my dad at around age 8 or 9 with my grandfathers 30-30 lever action. Shot him in the neck at 30 yards after watching him walk slowly all the way across a 50 yard wide opening(I wanted him to stop walking and be perfectly still). I still have those horns on a board at home. A very special moment between father and son.

[StringShooter]

Mine was one of the biggest spike bucks you ever laid your eyes on. Had at least a 5 inch spread.

But it was my first and I have only improved since then.

[woodseye]

I was waiting to see if anybody else besides me shot a spike.It was a monster spike though,lotta mass http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-biggrin-aqua.gif OK it was a basic spike but they were pretty long.Didn&#39;t see another deer to shoot for 11 years http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/afraid_face.gif

woods

[mi-hunter]

Mine was a doe.I shot her with my bow at 12yrds.she only ran about 30 yrds.the next week was a 6 pt.i was 20yrs old my stepdad turned me onto it when i was 12.hunted till i was 16 then girls took over.I could never understand why my dad never seen anything till i got older and learned more about how to hunt.well that was 14 yrs ago and i still have the tanned hide and mount. wow time flys

[RSB]

1st time I shot at a doe and missed with 12 ga. the next year i had a 30-30 lever action rifle. Just had climbed the tree and heard a deer walking towards me. It was still dark but he stayed around eating acorns till I could see him one shot and I had a 8 point, 11" spread. I was 28 at the time, had
a late start at deer hunting. Hooked on it now thanks to my Father-in-law! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-dancin-red.gif

[Arrowhead]

Forkhorn shot it with a 20 guage slug. It was a bolt action made by Western? Sold through Montgomery Wards. Had a two shot clip. Also a polychoke.

I shot the deer right at dusk at ~40 yards. when the muzzle blast lit up I saw three other deer I didn&#39;t even know where there...... Actually shot my first three deer with that gun. All forkhorns.

[TIMOTHY WILCOX]

My first one was a nice 3 point (had a point broke off), my dad was in the hedgerow above me and was able to watch the whole thing. I&#39;ll never forget that day, ever. I was also fortunate enough to know how my dad felt, I was with my son when he shot his first deer, it was a nice 4 point. Got to love that warm feeling to know that we have taught our kids right !!! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-dancin-red.gif

[snipes]

My first was a doe. Took her with a bow. Woke up late and was walking to my ambush spot, when the woods exploded with deer, I mean everywhere. One doe turned around about 50yds away, and bolted straight at me. Not knowing if she was going to run me over, I released an arrow straight into her chest at ten yds. Spent about three hours following the blood trail. Was alot of work, but was worth it. I did finally get her. Was alot of work dragging her back! Won&#39;t ever forget it. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-biggrin-aqua.gif

[Hawk+]

Button buck when I was 15. Weighed 95 lbs. but was my best tasting and tenderest venison ever! Could cut EVERY piece of meat on the deer with a fork. Shot it once in the heart at 20&#39; with the old 30-40 Krag.
Hawk

[Tominator]

Same as Don, I killed my first, an 8 pt, on a dog drive with an 1100 and buckshot. I was 12 at the time and see the deer everytime I walk in my mom and dad&#39;s house.
Tominator

[OhioBowHunter]

Mine was a Basket racked 8 Pointer with about a 10" spread.. Shot him with Crossbow on the ground at 5 yards. I was 14 years Old.
Never will forget the 1st one.. after I shot him he ran off about 40 yards Looked back swayed, back legs dropped out from under him and down he went, I recall that becuase after I shot I thought I missed this deer?. wondered how and why he did not drop in his tracks, well thats before I knew anything about shock power.

Similiar Incident I was Elk hunting in Meeker County in Colorado and was sighted for 300 yards. Was on top of a Mountain in a Pine Grove, gonna get along the Edge to glass the Mountainside for Elk, seen Movement thru the woods in front of me, they were Elk, Thought I best sit put here and see what develops for a bit, Sure enough 3 Broke and came strait at me and I raised the Gun at about 8-10 yards away from me, ALL I SAW WAS BROWN, recall turning the gun sideways and shooting... Sucker ran away like it was never hit, Got out about 80 yards and ready to drop over a Canyonside, thought I better shoot again, Racked and shot twice, and over the canyon he went. Got up to the animal all 3 shots were thru the Bushel Basket. Recall saying D... 7 mag shoulda dropped that sucker in its tracks. Well bullets moving past 3000 FPS at the Muzzle, ripped thru that animal like a Hot knife thru butter, delivered NO KINETIC energy, Thats when I really learned the meaning of Kinetic Energy and Knockdown power.

OFF TRACK, But thought I would share...

[postcards]

My 1st was a doe, taken with a 303 Savage, open sights. It was my first year of hunting and I was 12. Very special to me besides being my 1st because my Dad was with me and that&#39;s where the story gets funny. We are sitting back to back, I&#39;m looking down the hill, he&#39;s looking up when he whispers here they come! 5 or 6, I can&#39;t remember the exact number because we probably never counted. They were moving pretty quick but not as fast as they were after my Dad shot his first! Thanks Dad, like it wasn&#39;t challenging enough without you getting them going in 15 different directions, running like lightning. Anyway all I remember is him saying "do you want me to shoot one for you? There going to get away, shoot!" That&#39;s about the time I dropped one. He went to his deer, I go to mine. It&#39;s still moving and being inexperienced I shoot again. But the deer is scrambling around and I missed so boom! I shoot again and again. I think we figured I shot 6 times AFTER it was down but never hit it after the first time. My Dad said he was yelling no! don&#39;t shoot it again, thinking there goes the hams, there goes the backstraps, but I never heard him. It was still moving and I wasn&#39;t letting it get away. Anyway I got him back years later when I got into archery hunting. After a couple of years I wanted him to go with me. I tried to convince him how great it is. He never tried it before and wasn&#39;t interested to try so I bought him a bow for Christmas, being the good son that I am. What he didn&#39;t know was that all of the accesories like the arrows and the rest and the release,etc. cost as much or more than the bow! In the end though he fell in love with archery and shoots year round in leagues, goes to 3d shoots, and hunts with a bow as well!

[Bull_16]

This is a very interseting forum i liek to hear what everyone shot. Everyone else keep adding yours

[MBullism]

First one was a spike. Nothing special about him other than it took me 15 years to finally score. Talk about "puttin&#39; your time in"!

[bersh]

My first was a fairly nice 8 pointer, about a 15" spread, 180 lbs., 3.5 years old. This was a really nice deer, and the biggest reason the rack wasn&#39;t bigger (so I was told by DNR biologist) was that the winter before was really severe, so he was lucky to have lived through it.

The biggest story behind it was that I was using a 12 gauge Remington 1100, a rifled choke tube, sabot slugs, and open sights. I was a poor college student, so this was the best setup I could put together (plus the 12 gauge was my small game weapon as well). I practiced as much as I could afford on my measly budget, and was pretty damn good out to about 75 yards (pretty much automatic at 50). When the buck came in, I had a lot of time to watch him, as he was about 40 yards away feeding, but his chest was behind a couple trees. Took forever for him to finally step into a clearing, but the strange thing is that I was totally calm (more calm than I should have been anyway). When I took the shot, I heard a smack that sounded like wood and figured I missed him the way he ran away. This was at 10:30 in the morning (important later in the story).

What I didn&#39;t realize at the time was that the slug had grazed a small branch about half way between us (found this out later when I went back the next day and walked the clearing and found a half-moon shaped divot in the small branch). Due to the deflection, the slug ended up hitting the buck in the lower leg. Alfter giving it a half hour, my buddy and I started tracking it and found a couple spots right away where he had laid down, and due to the spot on the leg that I hit him, it looked as if it was a lung hit. We figured it was a good hit, so didn&#39;t think twice about it.

To make a really long story short, at about 5:00 pm, after tracking it through all kinds of nasty stuff, kicking it up a number of times, throwing a lot of lead at him, we were both out of ammo, and realized we didn&#39;t have a clue where we were and that we had to somehow mark the spot so we could find him later. We were dead tired, starving (didn&#39;t eat or drink a thing since starting to track), and soaking wet as neither of us geared down for the walk, figuring it was a good hit (hadn&#39;t found the branch with the divot yet). We ended up coming back out the next morning, got back on his trail (thank God for snow, but no fresh stuff to cover up the tracks), and finally finished him off. Than damn deer had been pumping blood out pretty solid all day, and it even got to a point where we were running after him (when we realized where he was hit) just to try to get him to bleed out. He was still alive the next morning, but barely. It was the strangest thing when I gutted him, as there was hardly any blood.

Wow, this is long. In any event, there is actually a lot more detail to the story than that. That was in 1991, and it will stick in my mind forever. Looking back I&#39;m really glad that we kept on him and that we were able to find him again the next morning and finish him off. Afterwards, based on photos and maps, and a walk a couple years later with a GPS, we figured that we tracked him about 6 miles. I never take anything for granted in the woods after that, nor do I take a shot that I&#39;m not 100% sure about.

Scott

[bat]

A huge 6 pointer, the first time I went hunting. On a dog hunt back in &#39;65. Darn deer tried to run over me. Double barrel buckshot down the side just under the skin turned him. 2nd. shot in the side, reloaded and when he tried to get up, third shot up the azz hehe. My trophy was not gonna git away. Besides he made me mad trying to run over me like that! Rack mounted and I still have a picture...BIG picture in the hallway. bat http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-dancin-red.gif

[davidj7]

15 mins into opening day i shot a fork horn/spike 3 point with my featherlight ithaca deerslayer 20 ga slug that was passed down to me from my father. The deer was marching through the woods with his nose to the ground. My father-inlaw never lets me forget that day. He was so pissed because all he wanted to do was sit against a tree and recover from a bad hangover. 15 mins after he left me at that spot, he heard the shot and had to come back to show me how to gut it.

I have shot a deer from the same spot the pass 4 years every opening day with the same gun. I went from 3 pointer, to a 6 pointer, to a huge 9 pointer(mounted it), to a decent 8 pointer this year. I picked up a bow 2 years ago and got my first bow kill this year, a nice 8 point that was sparring with a spike during mid-oct while I was still hunting from the ground.

David

[swampfox]

first one was a button buck with a bow. sitting on a fence row overlooking 40 acres of blueberries and strawberries. 15 minutes into the hunt and I put a muzzy threw him. No need to bloodtrail ,he ran 30 yds and piled up. i&#39;ll never forget it. thought he was a doe when I shot him but he had small little nubs under the skin. He ate good anyway.

[stony]

I hunted for 7 years before even getting a shot. IN those days you could only kill bucks, and I wanted my first deer to be legal. So, my first shot was at a trotting 8 pt that I shot at 4 times with slugs at about 15 yards. As soon as I fired my last shot, I figured out I didn&#39;t need to lead the buck at that range.

Next year found a trail and sat down near it. Around dark, a buck snuck up behind me and stood broadside. My first shot missed. I shot 3 more times as it ran down the hill. Once it got to the bottom, I took a desparation shot as it was heading dead away. It went down, and bled to death in short order. It was a 3 pt. I&#39;ll never forget that hunt as long as I live. Not only for the thrill of a first kill, but also because my older brother was hunting just across the ridge and got to help me get it out. He was as proud for me as I was. He has now gone on to be with the Lord, so that memory has even more meaning.

Last word from me. Cherish those family moments. You never know when they may come to an end.

[HollisMSU2002]

y&#39;all are a lot more luckly than me.
my first: a doe that grew tiny nubs and small *alls by the time I got to her.
I felt pretty bad being that my dog weighed more than she did.

[Mailman29680]

Spike http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-banghead-yellow.gif

[nascarhunter]

1968 i was 14 years old. shot a 5 point buck with a 20 gauge slug from a mossberg bolt action

[Speckmisser]

First deer was a unicorn.. had one 7" spike. It was my first season carrying my own gun (I think I was 11 or 12).

Little guy came down the hedgerow trying to slip around behind the dogs. I took one shot and he cut a full flip. Dragged his head on the ground and pulled the horn out of his head. This was way before they allowed antlerless deer in NC. My dad came running up as I was standing there looking in horror... all I could say was, "He had horns when I shot him!"

I dug around in the dirt until I found the one horn stuck in the ground and buried under some branches. The other was already gone before I shot him, apparently. The club where we hunted had a 6" or better rule, so I spent the morning measuring the little spike against two shotshells.

I still have the antler and the silver dollar one of the old-timers gave me for my first deer. I had the shell casing and a couple of recovered buckshot too, but those have since disappeared. I&#39;ve put a fair bit of venison in the freezer since then, but nothing will ever compare to that first one.