Passing the mile markers.

It hadn’t even occured to me, but my father pointed out that this year will be my 30th year of deer hunting.

I started at 12. I’m sure there were many boys who started before I did.

Dad was firm on the notion that deer hunting was a no-go until I passed the firearms safety training course. Needless to say, that provided plenty of motivation for me to get 100% on the final safety exam so that I could hunt that fall.

Holy Moses, it seems like a thousand years ago. I remember thinking of deer hunting as a “winter” persuit. Back in the day when northern MN got snow on either the first or at the latest the second weekend of deer season. I was always cold as a young hunter and I can remember HOPING for “warm” weather so I wouldn’t be freezing to death on the stand.

My first morning of deer hunting I recall quite clearly. I had taken up a position at the edge of a hay field with a bolt action .410 and slugs. Lots of deer had been seen in the hay field in the mornings, so dad pretty much figured I’d have my pick when it got light.

Well it got light and there were the deer, right on schedule. Unfortunately, we had not played the “range guessing game” enough. I picked out the biggest doe and squeezed off a shot. And dirt flew in front of her and the whole field cleared out.

I was thinking it was about 100 yards. Dad paced it off at just over 190. Ooopps. There was a lot to learn before I finally connected a few years later.

Grouse

Scary how the time flies by. It comes around way too fast that we put aside our desire to accomplish only to watch our kids succeed. It won’t be long and you’ll find that your in your father’s shoes with your kids

When I was a kid you had to be 14 in Michigan to gun hunt. I was ready at 12. Bow hunted at 12 just to get out since that was legal. Looking back I think that was a ridiculous law and wonder if they still do it there

This will be my 20th.
DT

I believe this will be my 21st year going deer hunting. 18th with a weapon in my hands. 15th bowhunting….although I might not get out much this year because the Mrs tricked me into having a November baby

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…although I might not get out much this year because the Mrs tricked me into having a November baby

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Jake, Jake, Jake…

I think some of the Old Bucks like me are going to have to have a little “Facts O’ Life” talk with you about–ummmm–“thinking before doing”.

Remember this when the conversation about Baby 2.0 comes ’round.

Grouse

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…although I might not get out much this year because the Mrs tricked me into having a November baby

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Jake, Jake, Jake…

I think some of the Old Bucks like me are going to have to have a little “Facts O’ Life” talk with you about–ummmm–“thinking before doing”.

Remember this when the conversation about Baby 2.0 comes ’round.

Grouse

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Oh no!! Better remember that this Feb. Those long winter nights can be tempting but I suggest beer.

This will be my 27th year. I started when I was 12. I also hunted my first year with a 410 with slugs. I was a little more lucky. My 1st doe was less than 20 yars away. I still remember how bad I was shaking trying to line up the bead. I have no idea how I managed to hit her. Only took a few steps and dropped.

Jeeze I guess I’m still a newbie. This will be my 6th year deer hunting. I have been small game hunting for about double that, but took many, many years of convincing my father-in-law to let me come up to the shack with the guys for deer season and hunt. I remember the moment he told me I would be allowed to come up – I damn near cried and I kissed him on the cheek. After all those years, FINALLY! He loaned me his Marlin 35 lever action rifle and with it I shot my first buck. That evening I told him thanks for letting me use his rifle, he smiled and told me it was MY rifle. I still use it today and I’m thankful for each passing year I get to be one of the guys at the deer shack.

36 years of pretty hard core bowhunting here. Generally the same for shotgun – except for the years I already had one in the freezer by gun season. At 50, I still bowhunt most every chance I get. However, my ambitions have changed to a point where I am usually focused on just one or two animals. If that doesn’t happen, I still consider the season a success.
On the other hand, my 16 and 18 year old daughters are hooked on gun hunting. They’ve been at it since age 12. (They also tend to keep the family stock-piled with meat.) For me, being able to be with them and to see them enjoying the hunt is also “good enough.”

One thing I didn’t mention – and one thing that still baffles me… I started deer (duck and pheasant too) hunting at age 12/13. I took gun safety then too, but in my household, absolutely nobody hunted. Nobody in the family, not my parents or even my grandparents or other uncles. A neighbor did, but absolutly nobody influenced me (except Fred Bear). I bought my fist bow, went to the archery pro shop and learned everything on my own. Heck, even when I finally shot my fist deer (a doe of course), I had to go hunt down another neighbor to show me how to gut it and process it. “I” was the one that got my younger brothers into it – and then after 7 years – my Dad, who still hunts with me every year since “I” taught him how. VERY WIERD – don’t you think?

Odd maybe, but extremely cool.

Growing up, our dad didn’t hunt either… he was busy putting food on the table the other way, but we all had gun safety and guns. I can remember squirrel hunting when I was very young (can’t even guess at what age) and they even got myself and my year older brother bows. Looking back, there is NO WAY on gods green earth, we were ever gonna get a deer, but we went all the time ! This will be around year 30, give or take one or two years for me bowhunting and believe it or not, about 2 or 3 less years gun hunting deer. Lots of milestones along the way, wouldn’t trade any of them

Pretty cool stories about everyone’s first deer. I’m in my 30 something year of deer hunting plus the couple years I tagged along.
My first deer is still the biggest buck I took to date, and unfortunately, was more of a freak accident. Nov 1978 – Opening morning. With flashlights in hand we walked a couple miles back through a tagalder swamp. We walked up onto a small knoll of higher land (maybe 5 to 7′ elevation) and I was told to “sit here” on a pine log. As daylight began to illuminate my surroundings, I could see one small deer trail coming out of the swamp and crossing right in front of me.
Just minutes later I could hear the ice cracking and crunching of snow approaching from in the swamp. I drew up in anticipation and about crapped my pants. I had a wolf stop on the trail about 15 yrds from me, stick its nose up, and do a 180…and run away. I was a bit freaked out from having a wolf come that close. I could hear it running off and the ice/snow crunch as it was getting more and more faint. Then the HOLY S#!T moment hit me as I heard it getting louder and louder. Thinking to myself that this wolf turned around and was coming back for ME. I made the decision that if that wolf came back, it was dead. I knelt down along that log and laid my 30-06 across it taking a full bead on the iron sights where the trail met the horizon. Suddenly I saw a small tree moving up the trail with a deer beneath it. Realizing it was a buck I just shot. I still don’t remember aiming or much of the details from when I realized it wasn’t the wolf and it was actually a buck. Near perfect 10pt with a 23″ spread. My Father had a head mount done for me, and 3 years later it was lost in a house fire. I’ve shot a few that were close in size, but being that young, I had no idea what I really had.

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One thing I didn’t mention – and one thing that still baffles me… I started deer (duck and pheasant too) hunting at age 12/13. I took gun safety then too, but in my household, absolutely nobody hunted. Nobody in the family, not my parents or even my grandparents or other uncles. A neighbor did, but absolutly nobody influenced me (except Fred Bear). I bought my fist bow, went to the archery pro shop and learned everything on my own. Heck, even when I finally shot my fist deer (a doe of course), I had to go hunt down another neighbor to show me how to gut it and process it. “I” was the one that got my younger brothers into it – and then after 7 years – my Dad, who still hunts with me every year since “I” taught him how. VERY WIERD – don’t you think?

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It probably was a pretty rare way to start hunting back in the day 30-40 years ago.

From what I’ve heard and seen, it tends to happen that way all the time now. I talked to a teacher in Maplewood who started a wildly successful archery club. He said there’s no end to the surprises of which kids want to get involved and for what reasons. What really surprises him is the advanced kids can sign up for the hunting class that includes a couple of weekends of metro area bow hunting. The mix is about 50/50 boys and girls and the majority of the young hunters come from families where nobody hunts.

I have been called on twice by divorced women that I work with to help with sons and a daughter who want to hunt. The situation is generally that friends or relatives outside of the metro have hunting camps or farms, and the kids for whatever reason are attracted to the sport. Good for them, I say, but I can understand in this day/age it comes with some fear/trepedation from the non-hunting/shooting single parent.

What I’ve done is talked to the young people and stisfied myself of their motives and they are of mind/maturity to begin firearms safety training. I’ve gone with both of the women to pick out firearms after the kids passed their certification and we also bought a gun security cabinet for each household.

I guess the bottom line is that while most kids used to hunt because dad, grandpa, uncles, etc all hunted, that isn’t really the case anymore. Kids have tremendous freedom/power these days to follow their own interests. Magazines, cable TV shows, etc, some of them are going to find what interests them in hunting.

Grouse

Crazy how fast the deer seasons go. This thread really got me counting years and recalling some great great memories; thank you I was pretty young when I started heading out with the “hunting party.” Counting back from from some major memories, I must have been 7 when I started tagging along with my father, brother, and father’s friends. Down here in flat farm country, doing drives is how gun hunting is almost exclusively done; every walker counts including 7 year olds Growing up on the farm, we never did much of the vacation thing so my “vacation” was 1-2 days out of school for the 4 day slug season, and 1/2 day when the bluebills made the big push through our area. I was finally able to actually hunt at 12 and my first deer was a yearling doe with my youth 20 gauge 870. The following year I was able to score a 5 pointer!!! (only one point smaller than the big brothers first, ) The following year was a big transition year for me. I was able to shoot a mature doe opening morning. I had spent every day since the prior season waiting for deer season, and with so much work to be done at home, the season was over as my father’s deer season really revolved around me. Opening morning of the slug season, 1 1/2 hours into it, it was over. It was that point that I made an abrupt right angle in my deer hunting life. 15 years old, a farm permit, and a hand me down bow; I’ve been running the stick and string ever since This will be my 20th year of heading to the wood for deer season, my 16th year of actually hunting deer, 13th year doing it stick and string, and 12th year of food plots.

Good luck to every one reliving their memories and making new memories this fall