Your first.

[DroptineKrazy]

Did a quick search and saw a lot of first saddle kills but what about your first ever whitetail? If this has been a recent thread then I didn't see it so I apologize. Besides, there are a lot of new members on here and I love hearing "My first" stories. I can start.
I killed my first and biggest deer ever when I was just sixteen years old and that was 43 years ago. Wow where has the time gone? I shot the deer with a 12 Gauge JC Higgins pump shot gun that hangs with the deer on my wall today. I killed him at about 75 yards with 2 pellets of 00 Buck. One in the neck and one in the lungs. The deer was shot about 3/4 of a mile from the house I grew up in that still stands today. I killed him on a power line right of way on the 12th of November in 1977. He was in full rut at the time and hardly had a butt on him as he had been running does hard but he still dressed out at 190 lbs. He has a 10 point rack that has 13 inch g2s and scored in the Maine Antler & skull Club using the Boone and Crockett system at 146 3/8". I still can't believe how fortunate I am to have taken him as my first. I know,I know, When am I gonna shoot a bigger one right? After all it has been 43 years. Problem is I like shooting deer too much and have a hard time holding out for Mr. Big. My dearly departed Dad told me when I shot him that I would probably never shoot one bigger one than him but some day I sure would like to prove him wrong. Who's next?

 

[Lukeraw7]

My first was a 8 point and also my biggest. I was 12. My uncle took me hunting with him at his farm. I had a single shot .243. We had been sitting all day and as we started to get down we saw him in the food plot. We had already lowered my gun to the ground. So my uncle handed me his 35 Whelen and I smoked him. He went maybe 40. That was also the day I got hooked.


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[Allegheny Tom]

48 years ago. Elk County PA. Typical PA mountain deer. 5 point, tiny rack. Deer probably weighed 90 pounds live weight soaking wet. Model 99 .300 Sav, hand-me-down from my grandfather. I still have it.

I was 14 years old and felt like it was a B&C trophy. My uncle taxidermist mounted it for me.

 

[Robert loper]

My first was in i believe 1994. It was 189 lb doe in prime hook Delaware. Who kniew 23 years later id move here lol.
my brother killed a 3 year old 8 pointer the same night.
i remember that afternoon it was the weirdest weather . all of a sudden it started blowing about 35-40 mph them it stopped and started snowing. Wasn't minutes later she walked out and i blasted her with double oo buck from my old belgium browning humpback.

 

[St.CroixArcher]

September 1989. My dad had gotten me a youth Browning compound for my 12th birthday in May and told me if I could pull 40 pounds and hit a dessert sized paper plate 3 times in a row at 20 yard by the opener I could go bow hunting with him. I shot everyday that I could that summer and made his goal by the opener.
Went out the first evening and he put me in his favorite stand made from some 2 x 4’s and said he was going to be up the hill. A half an hour into my first sit a doe and fawn came right down the trail at 10 yards. I drew back and let it fly. My Dad had positioned himself where he could see me and watched the whole thing through his binoculars. I have killed quite a few deer since then but it’s still my favorite.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

September 1989. My dad had gotten me a youth Browning compound for my 12th birthday in May and told me if I could pull 40 pounds and hit a dessert sized paper plate 3 times in a row at 20 yard by the opener I could go bow hunting with him. I shot everyday that I could that summer and made his goal by the opener.
Went out the first evening and he put me in his favorite stand made from some 2 x 4’s and said he was going to be up the hill. A half an hour into my first sit a doe and fawn came right down the trail at 10 yards. I drew back and let it fly. My Dad had positioned himself where he could see me and watched the whole thing through his binoculars. I have killed quite a few deer since then but it’s still my favorite. View attachment 43659

Your first was with a bow? Very nice. Your Dad did a great job introducing you to the sport.

 

[Weldabeast]

My first deer was last season (19-20). That was season 5 of my hunting "career". I showed up late to the game. Every hunt prior to that had been public land because that is all I have access too. I was given permission to hunt my buddies neighbors property.... Snuck down to the creek, climbed up, hung in the saddle for 45 minutes, killed a small doe with my bow.....could have easily taken a second but I was too jacked up. I apparently have had a falling out with the buddy so back to public

 

[boyne bowhunter]

My first was with a rifle in 1976 during a deer drive in my first legal year rifle hunting. The six point buck ran out and was kind enough to stop 10 yds directly in front of me. My father had passed two years before and I like to think he "helped" me out with that. I have been unable to find pictures of this deer or my first bow deer.

My first bow deer was a five point I shot in the 2nd week of October 1979. I shot it in the rain while standing on a stump leaning against an adjacent tree. I ended up tracking it by crawling under the ferns shining my flashlight up to see the blood on the underside of them.

The picture below is my 2nd bow deer, a six point that I shot a week later. Funny story about that one is that he followed my footprints basically from my truck right to me. I took pictures of him walking toward me with my truck in the background before I shot him. Since he came from behind me I shot him while standing on a branch, leaning out from the tree while holding myself in the tree with my forehead resting on another branch.



Still in high school in those days. Seems like a lifetime ago . . . 41 years.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

My first was with a rifle in 1976 during a deer drive in my first legal year rifle hunting. The six point buck ran out and was kind enough to stop 10 yds directly in front of me. My father had passed two years before and I like to think he "helped" me out with that. I have been unable to find pictures of this deer or my first bow deer.

My first bow deer was a five point I shot in the 2nd week of October 1979. I shot it in the rain while standing on a stump leaning against an adjacent tree. I ended up tracking it by crawling under the ferns shining my flashlight up to see the blood on the underside of them.

The picture below is my 2nd bow deer, a six point that I shot a week later. Funny story about that one is that he followed my footprints basically from my truck right to me. I took pictures of him walking toward me with my truck in the background before I shot him. Since he came from behind me I shot him while standing on a branch, leaning out from the tree while holding myself in the tree with my forehead resting on another branch.

View attachment 43661View attachment 43662

Still in high school in those days. Seems like a lifetime ago . . . 41 years.

Great stories! Did you get a headache from the branch or fall out of the tree when you shot?Haha.

 

[boyne bowhunter]

Great stories! Did you get a headache from the branch or fall out of the tree when you shot?Haha.

I have fallen out of more trees than I could possibly remember but not that particular one.

Like a lot of guys here I grew up hunting before the advent of modern tree stands. Where we sat was more determined by where there happened to be a tree that had limbs we could climb rather than the best location for a sit. If a deer walked by within range it was truly a blessing.

The last few years of saddle hunting equipment development reminds me a lot of those days with tree stands. The difference for me now is I can afford saddle stuff now. Back then I couldn't afford the high prices of the luxury of a tree stand.

 

[raisins]

26 years ago, compound bow (Reflex Blacktail), shooting Easton ACCs (or ACE, can't remember the difference now) and a Rocket mechanical broadhead. Walked around a bend in a trail and a group of 3 deer (1 doe and 2 fawns) were 30 yards away. The doe and one fawn ran, but one fawn stayed looking at me but she was hard quartering away. I hit her in front of the hip and the angle was so severe the arrow disappeared with arrow travelling into the chest cavity. As she ran 20 yards before falling over, the arrow worked itself back out, which was hard to believe given how buried it was. This was in the mountains and I was hunting with my Dad. The broadhead actually cut a short stripe up her side while going in due to the angle.

 

[MattMan81]

I started at 12 bow hunting. My first took 10 years of hunting. (I think) I honestly can't recall what year it was. I had some misses with the bow along the way and a few with my gun. Funny story. The miss with a gun was on a 1.5yr old buck. I was staring at the sights on my 870 that morning thinking. That front one seems off. Well around 8 he walked by at like 30 yards. Must have went right over the back. Later I checked my gun and it was 8" high. I think the following year I shot a 1.5yr old buck with the 870. Shot him left handed cause he came the opposite way I was thinking and didn't want to turn all the way to shoot him. Amazing I kept hunting that long with out success.

 

[Kyhunter1]

Took my first in 1989 in a West Ky swamp. I was 14 then. Some does came thru, my Dad dropped the first and I shot the other one as it ran by me. Fired the old marlin 30-30 three times. She ran a little ways and piled up. A couple seasons later, I managed to take my first buck from the same stand. It was a big 9 pointer. Every time I look at Dad's old marlin, it brings back good memories. Several people in our hunting group back then took their first deer with that rifle. A few of those guys have sadly passed on now.

 

[rutjr]

I started deer hunting when I was 12, I got the mumps and to keep me in bed my uncle promised me he would take me deer hunting with him. I didn't get a deer until I was 19. I shot a doe in Norway, Maine 49 years ago with a Winchester 3030.

 

[michigandrake]

1982 for me. Small doe with my Bear 76er. I was the hero of deer camp that night and proud of all 70lbs of that deer.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

I started deer hunting when I was 12, I got the mumps and to keep me in bed my uncle promised me he would take me deer hunting with him. I didn't get a deer until I was 19. I shot a doe in Norway, Maine 49 years ago with a Winchester 3030.

Yeah for Maine!

I started at 12 bow hunting. My first took 10 years of hunting. (I think) I honestly can't recall what year it was. I had some misses with the bow along the way and a few with my gun. Funny story. The miss with a gun was on a 1.5yr old buck. I was staring at the sights on my 870 that morning thinking. That front one seems off. Well around 8 he walked by at like 30 yards. Must have went right over the back. Later I checked my gun and it was 8" high. I think the following year I shot a 1.5yr old buck with the 870. Shot him left handed cause he came the opposite way I was thinking and didn't want to turn all the way to shoot him. Amazing I kept hunting that long with out success.

Good for you having the patience to hang in there for your first!

 

[DroptineKrazy]

Took my first in 1989 in a West Ky swamp. I was 14 then. Some does came thru, my Dad dropped the first and I shot the other one as it ran by me. Fired the old marlin 30-30 three times. She ran a little ways and piled up. A couple seasons later, I managed to take my first buck from the same stand. It was a big 9 pointer. Every time I look at Dad's old marlin, it brings back good memories. Several people in our hunting group back then took their first deer with that rifle. A few of those guys have sadly passed on now.

Nice! I bet not many guys can say that they took their first on the run.

 

[Westdesign03]

I shot my first ever deer in 2016 off the ground with a Marlin 1895 GBL 45-70. It was late morning and I was in a small patch of private woods probably no more than 10 acres in size. I was in another adjacent woods not long before that and I went over to these woods to meet up with my father in law. We were literally getting up to leave when a couple does came up. We tucked back down and I set up. I’ll never forget that shot. As soon as I recovered from the recoil I looked up and saw 4 deer legs sticking straight up in the air. It was almost like a cartoon. It was around a 55 yard shot and the bullet knocked her over like a car hit her.

Like most hunts that end in a kill, it all happened so fast. It was so surreal. I was really glad my father in law was there because he was and still is my hunting mentor. Wouldn’t have had it any other way.

 

[HugeBull]

So my first was a public land 8 pt. with a .280. I parked my truck, crossed a creek, walked up the ridge, then turned around to see what was on the ridge across the road from me. He stopped briefly in the road in front of my truck, then crossed the road, climbed the ridge towards me, and stopped with his head behind a tree. One shot took out one lung and the liver; he died in a few steps.

My first bow kill was another story, 28 years in the making. "Amazing I kept hunting that long with out success." Yeah, ditto, me too. I started bowhunting with a Bear compound when I was 13. Blew my one shot a few years later with a PSE bow and a release. I hit the tree while drawing and turned to look at my elbow, then fingered the release while trying to work my elbow around the tree to get full draw. I wasn't even looking at the deer. My buddy shot him with a muzzleloader a few minutes later, and we tracked him to someone else's empty tree stand. Oh well, someone got a gift of venison . . .

Fast forward to age 41: I had taken up a recurve in my mid twenties but hadn't bowhunted seriously. Then I met some other trad guys who taught me a lot. One gave me two bits of wise advice, "get a can call and try it on every deer you see that is out of range" and "go find a persimmon that is dropping and sit there until you kill something." So I bought a can call and started looking for persimmons on state forest land 15 minutes from my house. I finally found about six small trees on one ridge, and one was dropping. I sat there for many hours, mornings and evenings. Then, one morning as I sat in my white oak near the persimmon, a group of 5-6 deer passed behind me. I pulled out my can call, and this 5 point comes back like he is on a string. He walked right under me and offered a perfect 15 yard quartering away shot. That Black Widow recurve, carbon arrow, and Bear Razorhead performed excellent. I left for my kid's soccer game and came back with a wheelbarrow to start tracking. I found him, field dressed him, and loaded him in my wheelbarrow. I was on my way out when I passed a family on bikes. I thought this could be bad, and then the little girl says, "So, ya been hunting?" I am glad that family is raising their kids right; she didn't blink but kept on smiling and riding her bike. I think I answered her simply, "Yep," but I have always wished I had said, "No, just taking this deer for a ride in the wheelbarrow."

I've killed a few more with trad gear but switched back to a compound after a shoulder injury. Now I miss those trad bows . . . Unfortunately, I have discovered that I am not much of an archer on game. I am a good hunter and can get them close, but I am struggling to connect even with my modern archery equipment. So, I generally have a bunch of close calls earlier in the season, maybe a few botched shots, and then break out the rifle to make meat. So much for becoming the bowhunter I dreamed I would be when I was 13 . . .

 

[Wirrex]

I started bow hunting with my dad at 12yo. I think I hunted two seasons but never shot anything. Then my grandpa sold his land and I didn’t hunt untill I was around 25. I shot my first deer that year, opening morning of archery with a recurve.