The Story of Your First Kill

[348Winchester]

Let's hear it. Be sure to include the year, county, and weapon.

 

[Jcalder]

Overton county. 1998. 357 mag lever action. Missed twice till I finally connected on a button buck. Shot it in the chest and remember blood was everywhere.

 

[RidgeRunner13]

Blount county. 2001. American Knight muzzleloader. I was reading my left over hunter safety book when I heard movement behind me. Looked back and seen a deer running dead at me. I dropped the book, jumped up, and grabbed my muzzleloader. Shot the little button at 15 yards. Best part of the story was that my step father at the time had left his blind that was about 75 yards from me and was full suspenders between his legs when I had shot. He thought I had shot him. Made for a great story.

 

[catman529]

2011 rifle opener. November 19 I think. Borrowed a marlin 30-30 from a friend who also told me about a natural funnel he used to hunt on a particular WMA. So I scouted there 2 days before opener and saw a couple bucks on private land right next to the funnel. Opener comes and I'm sitting under a maple tree in my orange with private land behind me and deer trails in front of me. At roughly 8.15 in the morning I hear a sound behind me and turn my head to see a young 5 pt look up at me from 5 yards, then continue around to my left with his nose on the ground. He briefly paused at 8 yards and I shot him in the heart. He ran down a hill, across a creek and crashed. Gutted him by the water and made a long and very tiring drag out of the woods. Got his antlers on my wall and will never forget.

 

[DaveB]

1981, Central California A Zone east of Cholame. 30.06 Browning BBR with 150 grain factory corelokts. I was sitting on a hillside watching a stream that bubbled up, ran maybe twenty yards, and disappeared into a gravel bed. Place had plenty of sign. I figured I was 125 yards away and pretty much hidden. I sat for about 3 hours and finally a buck walked out. One shot and he dropped. Just a forkie but he was aged by CA F&G at 5 years old. I have him mounted.

 

[Bucks & Beards]

1974, Benton Co, Miss, 30.06
I had hunted for 5 years and had only come close once, most seasons we would be lucky to even see a few does. But this opening day a spike walked up behind me around 8:00 AM, I was able to get it on his shoulder and shoot and he fell down graveyard dead. I just remember that before he came up I was freezing to death wondering why I was out there, then only a few moments later I felt like I was the luckiest guy in the world.

 

[RUGER]

Opening day of "gun" season in Weakley County TN 1985.
Shotgun only.
Hunted that morning and saw nothing.

Went to lunch at K&N in Martin. I had a K&N double meat and cheese with tater tots and a large root beer.
I was hunting with my "to be" brother in law.
We were in his Chrysler Cordova.

Got back to the woods about 2:00 p.m. and then at 3:00 p.m. I heard a noise and looked to my left and saw 2 adults and a child walk into the woods and sit down 75 yards from me on the side of the hill.
The kid finally saw me and I raised my hands like WTH??
They got up and walked back the way they had come from.
Dunno who they were or why they were there but anyway....

3:00 p.m. I hear something and then I figure out it is rain drops hitting my plastic orange vest. Just great.

3:10 p.m. I hear another noise in the same area and I was thinking, if Garry sees you it is not going to be good.

Then I saw him.
The biggest buck I had ever seen in my life. (Only one too)

The sun had peaked through the clouds and was lighting up his rack like it had a light from heaven on it.

I raised the Winchester model 37A youth 20 gauge and wedged it between the tree and the 2x4 top rail of the stand I was in.

I put the bead right behind the shoulder and prayed not to miss and squeezed the trigger.

I had been told hundreds of times by Garry that if I shot one, he would run off and to watch where he went.

I shot and he dropped where he stood.

I got down and as I was walking towards him he started trying to crawl off with just his front legs.
I RAN towards him, shooting 3 more times as I ran.

Never touched him again.

I had hit him high and back, right in front of his hind quarter.
I finally put the finishing shot on him after Garry had got there.

He was a MASSIVE 3 point buck that field dressed 94 pounds.

I can remember ever moment, every sight, every smell of the entire day.
I can also remember the saddness when I arrived home and realized my dad was at work and I couldn't show him.

I have pictures but that was before the days of a computer so I can't share them here.

It fanned a fire that was there that I pray never goes out.

 

[1bow4me]

Wow. Memories. The first deer I killed was way back in 1979. I was huning by my self in the Daniel Boone nation forest in Morehead Ky. I had my little camping tent set up. Makin it on my own for the first time. Lol. The forest is a primitive weapons only place. So I was bow hunting. I had walked about two miles from camp to this ridge that had a load of an acorn crop. I ended up shooting a big doe about 7:30 one morning. My first deer ever. Gun or bow. I was so happy. Then it hit me. I had to dress and drag her back to camp alone. It didn't matter. That was the best hunt of my life. I did it alone. No help. No dad. No friend. Just me. I was never so proud.

 

[jaybird62]

December 13, 1980, in Sampson County, NC, with a Savage Model 67 12 ga. loaded with 00 buckshot. Just shy of my 18th birthday, I had been deer hunting since I was 13 and had some frustrating seasons. I had been hunting on a friend's farm for a week during either-sex season and just wanted to kill a deer. Period. No luck from daylight until about 10. At 11, I met one of my buddies at one of the old tobacco barns off the back corn field. I sat under the side shed on the ground leaning against the barn. Almost nodding off to sleep, I heard a hound bark down in a thicket at the far end of the corn field. I heard running in the woods behind the barn, so I came to full alert. I jumped up, hurdled a big stack of tar paper rolls and saw the buck just as he ran into a clump of young pines. I swung on the buck racing by at 35 yards and fired four times, cutting pine limbs and even cut one down that fell on top of the buck as he slid to a stop on his chin. I sidestepped a tree in front of me to get a better view of the buck and he raised his head to look at me. That got him another round of 00. He was an old 6-pointer about 14 inches wide. Nobody aged deer back then, but judging from the rack's basal circumference he was at minimum 3 1/2 and perhaps much older.

I've met very few bucks that got me as excited as that first one, but the times when I do I remember why I continue to chase these wonderful creatures.

 

[deerhunter10]

2001 maury county browning abolt 270 killed a spike on video.... bad thing is we lost the video but I rememeber it like it was yesterday.

 

[Hunter 257W]

It may sound strange but I came to the realization a few years ago that I no longer recall which deer was my 1st. My 1st years deer hunting were mostly full of frustration due to failure. IT was just myself and my cousin on our own with no adult to show us anything. My 1st deer may have been the one about 1980 that I shot 3 times with my 30-30. It was facing directly away from me and I got nervous and pulled the shot low and just hit the upper thigh. Took 2 more shots to drop it. The gun was a Springfield 880 - an even cheaper version of Savage's already cheapo model 340. It is ugly and has a 10lb trigger and BB gun sights but it'll whack a deer if you aim it right. I remember paying $58.50 for it with money I had earned baling hay. They wanted $60 but when I counted out the money on the counter of the gun shop and they could see I was spending every penny I had, they had pity on me and let me have it $1.50 discounted.

I do recall my 1st buck for sure. It was 1988 near Tullahoma at what we called "The Barrens". I think it was public land. Everybody hunted there back then anyway. I was in a climbing stand and about 8:00 heard something coming from behind. It was a buck so wide and fat that at 1st I thought it was somebodies hog that had gotten out in the woods. It was about 100 yards away coming though an open part of the woods. As it got closer I could see what was a pretty nice rack back then. It had 8 points and nice symmetry. He came up walking proudly with no fear of anything until he got about 50 feet from behind me. I've never seen a deer act like that before or since. Then the older buck instincts kicked back in and he froze staring right at me....from my right rear....the very worst place for getting a shot off since I am right-handed. He started that torturous walk - stop - stare - bob head routine trying to figure out what I was. It seemed to last forever but was probably no more than a couple of minutes. I knew he was going to figure out that I was a hunter and blast away at any second. At this point he was fully behind me so I couldn't turn to look to see when to shoot. Finally I heard him taking steady steps so assumed that meant he was satisfied I wasn't a threat and was walking straight away from me. I almost broke my back twisting around to look and sure enough he was walking away completely unaware that my crosshairs were now on his rib cage. One shot from my 460 Weatherby put him down instantly. 300 grain Barnes bullet and 118 grains IMR 4350

I was proud as could be that day when I drug him out of the woods and loaded him in my truck. Took him home and gutted him in the front yard right by the mailbox so people driving by could see him. Sadly the woods where I hunted that day is covered with houses now so I can no longer go back and relive that moment.

 

[TN RDG RNR]

Sitting about 10 feet up on the limb of a big white oak. A spike and 2 doe came running up thru the woods right under me. As I whirled the gun around the barrel hit a limb and the buck stopped looked up at me. I shot him inside of 10 yards with a 12ga slug. 30 something years ago on Bowater land.

 

[PcDeer]

1996 muzzleloader season. After hunting a one full season I had decided at 9 years old that I would never kill a deer because in the rare event I saw one, I would find a way to get busted. Finally in early November my second year of hunting, a nice 6pt walks out just before dark. Put the crosshairs right behind the shoulder pulled the trigger, as the smoke clears I see him running off basically dragging his back end. Started looking for blood but couldn't find any anywhere. Kept walking in the direction he went and finally about 100-150 yards from where I shot him it looked like a five gallon bucket of blood had been dumped out and their he lay. My "perfect" right behind the shoulder clean shot turned out to be a thankfully fatal shot to the neck. It was a decent 6 but I felt like the guy on tv holding up a B&C whitetail.

 

[KANATI McD]

Nov. Muzzleloader season. 2001
Started hunting in 2000 @ the ripe age of 30. Didn't have a clue. I missed 4 deer that year as I couldn't keep from drawing circles around them with my scope. I'd get shook up pretty bad.
In 2001 @ Natchez State Park off joy road, a cool, thick foggy morning. About an hour after daylight I see him coming toward me, just barely visible in the fog. He gets 25 yards straight out in front of me. As I'm drawing circles around him with my crosshairs, I pull the trigger. When the smoke clears, he's laying right where I shot him. I immediately get down, and after 2 or 3 minutes I convince myself he's dead :d I was on cloud nine. A massive 5 point that might have scored 18"
Perfect spine shot
Talk about green, I still work with my buddy that made the trip with me. Neither of us new a thing about deer hunting, but we learned pretty quick. I can remember scouting the weekend before and we ran across a fresh scrape. We had no clue what it was.
We basically talked about it one day and decided to go deer hunting
I will also add, even though we didn't kill many, the first three years of hunting were by far the most enjoyable...

 

[Fearless]

Chuck Swan WMA 1974 45 pound recurve nice doe

 

[mike243]

mid 80's Maggie Anderson farm in white county, big fog & freezing temps put 1/4" of ice on every thing, climbed a tree next to the back field without a tree climber. hard to keep from sliding off the limbs it was so icy. at daylight had 2 guys walk rite past me & never seen me lol.30 minutes later heard something coming up the hill, seen it as it ducked under a log that had partly fallen, the sun hit the horns & I swung the old 12g single shot stevens towards it & had to switch arms in order to site it, the trunk of the tree was blocking me, shot & it reared up & ran off, got down/slid out of the tree,25-30y latter I found him,5pt,been ruined ever since lol

 

[PickettSFHunter]

1999 Muzzleloader season, 11 years old, Scott Co. Bowater land. A spike came through a hardwood holler following some does and I shot it, was never more excited.

 

[MUP]

Old Moses. I think the year was 1978, maybe '79 even, not sure now, but anyway, I was hunting near the bottom of the mtn(had climbed down from the top), and had found the biggest scrape I had ever seen, to this day even. It was beside a huge hemlock tree, and the limbs of that tree had been twisted and broken. I just knew there was a giant working in there. So, I sat down in there all day, as was my customary way to hunt back then. Took a nap around midday, then moved and adjusted for the wind for the eve part of the hunt. About a 1/2 hr before sunset, I saw him, he was sneaking up from out of the bottom to my left, coming up around behind me, and the scrape. I watched him forever, it seemed, as he walked up, out, and around behind me. I just could not get the shot I wanted, as he kept stopping behind trees, almost as if on purpose! This went on as he circled me, and then I realized that I had let him almost get out of range! So I decided on a shot window, and if he passed it, I was going to shoot. As he moved thru the opening, I fired. I saw the underside white of his belly fly up and over, and he lay slightly moving, then still. I had him! Then, as if in complete rebellion, he jumped up and ran straight down the side of the mtn into the darkness! Arrrggghhhh!! I had no flashlight with me, so I had no choice but to walk straight back up the mtn, and then home to wait for morning. A cool night, thank goodness, put my mind to rest of possibly losing the meat. I went back, and to make a long story longer, I found him, lying in the creek, on a little island, untouched by yotes or cats....my big buck, a monster 3pt! :grin: And, not only just 3 points, but all on one side, and broken at that! He was smooth as silk, with only a small bump on the other side! My buddy dubbed him "Old Moses", and we still, to this day, talk of the good ol days, and monsters of the past...like Old Moses.

 

[GoldenEagle09]

Last year during the week of Thanksgiving. I was hunting with family up in McMinn County. It was my second year hunting, as the first year I was met by major disappointment. Had shot a doe but could never recover. So this last year I get into the stand and its early morning when I see two does come in toward me through some open hardwoods. I grabbed my gun as fast as I could and dropped a nice 110 pound doe with my .270, she only went about 10 yards. I was thinking to myself "You're not getting away this time"! Then as I'm sitting there I see another doe run out into the field! But as most E. Tennessee guys know, you can only take one doe during doe week. So I'm watching this deer thats now about 60 yards away and realize its a BUCK!!! Of course a my gun gets jammed so I'm moving all around. But the thing just looks up at me staring and gives me time to get a shot off! Turned out to be a little 3 pointer, but I was happy happy happy! I will never forget that experience with my family. My first buck and doe all in the same hunt!
I always had interest in hunting ever since I was a little kid. We had moved up to Wisconsin on my uncles farm. But my father would never let me go hunting out there. I have a great dad, but he sometimes lives his life in fear. My dad was born in Bledsoe County and grew up around hunting his whole life, but never had an interest in it. But he did have a rough life with an abusive father who put a gun to his head multiple times... so I can understand some of his fear and where it comes from So he has always worried or was afraid I would get hurt. Its been tough to learn by myself, but luckily my wife's family is great people and great hunters. Hopefully I will be able to pass down my learning to my children and grandchildren one day. Hunting is truly a gift from God.

 

[infoman jr.]

Phipps Bend Refuge in 1994. I used a kit muzzleloader that Dad built. It had a set trigger and a peep sight and used a patch and round ball. I killed it on my sister's birthday, Sept. 24.


You can see that I was doomed to be a hunter from the very beginning.

 

[huntinkev]

1988 I was 10 yrs old on juvenile hunt Hawkins County Ruger 44 mag Carbine. Me and my Dad was sitting on the ground against a tree. We hadn't been in the woods 10 minutes and he tells me to listen.(we heard a deer jumping over fence behind us.) Shot and it ran about 30 yards it was a 3 pointer. About the time we got it field dressed it came a down pour and we dragged it to edge of woods and sat with our ponchos and waited for a few hours for uncle and cousin to come out.

 

[Winchester]

1981 at 10 yrs old. Juvenile hunt with 4+ inches of snow on the ground, on the Jackson/Clay co line. I don't think it has snowed that early (first wknd of Nov) since. Hunted the morning and was walking out an old logging rd with my Dad and a friend of mine we took. I look down across the creek and a group of does and fawns were watching us from 40 yards away. I jerked up with my Dads Rem 7600 woodsmaster 30-06 and shot the first one the scope settled on. It rolled down the hill into the creek and I shot it again when it tried to get up! I remember literally running to that deer with my Dad taking the gun away from me as I took off. I/we were so excited we didn't know what to do? While my Dad was gutting the 46 lb BB I shot, we kept hearing something just down the creek. My buddy wealks a few yards down the creek and yanks up and shoots a doe that's just laying there watching us, she too rolls down in the creek dead now. We thought what luck and had no idea what was going on until my Dad discovered she had her guts hanging out in addition to the shot my buddy put in her shoulder. Turns out my first shot had went thru the BB and hit her low in the guts! Didn't matter as we both had our fist deer and couldn't have been happier!! Ill never forget that wknd, camping with nothing but some quilts and blankets, sleeping in the bed of the truck, living on Beanie Weanies and Vienna sausage! That wknd started one of the greatest journeys of my life with my Dad and me chasing these crazy deer!

 

[dgolden]

2001 Fayette County. It was on the season's first junior hunt. I was sitting on the ground with my dad in the woods looking over a ridge. I spotted two does coming up the ridge. I had my 270 ready for one of them to give me a shot. My dad was about 10 yeards away and did not see the deer. He then decided to turn his phone on to check the time. The noise from the phone scared the deer off.
A few months later on the second junior hunt, my father and I are on a friends farm in Haywood county. It was about 730 a.m. when a button buck started walking down the tree line towards us. My dad had his Bible with him doing a little reading. I leaned over and politely told him to be still and shut up! The deer came into 20 yards and the Winchester 270 knocked him down! Awesome hunt for a 12 year old and his dad!!

 

[Lost Lake]

Does anybody else have the music to the old Dragnet show going through their heads while reading these?!! Stewart county in the mid 80's. Six point buck. 100 lbs. just knew I'd make the outdoor section in the local paper. Didn't happen. Suspect was good eating though and started me down the path to controlled insanity.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

1998ish last juvenile hunt in Smith county. Had been hunting for 2 years with my dad in Hickman cty on the Willamette (sp) permit land but twice a year my cousin would want to go and my uncle would take us all to his land in Smith county. Had seen deer there the previous two years but couldn't get it done. Saw 7 does that morning @ 180 yards down a pipeline and I was hunting with open sights SKS. My dad let me shoot and I missed by about 8ft. We both agreed it was too far. For lunch we drove home to get the .308 (dad's gun) w/ scope. Sure enough that evening we were in "The Swingset" stand again. I was asleep bundled up freezing right at dark when he nudged me "Bud! There she is!" Lone doe about the same spot, 180yds. Rolled up a blanket and put it on the rail to shoot from. He kept saying take your time, you've done it 100 times before. I squeezed stone cold. She fell over, jumped up and ran towards us 20 yards and crashed. I started shaking so bad the stand sounded like someone rattling a change can. I finally calmed down but the stand was still shaking... it was my dad grinning ear to ear. At the time he had only killed one in his life and been hunting for over 10 years previous. Will never forget

 

[southernhunter]

my first buck was a 50" 7 point in lincoln county.i was 23 and been hunting since i was 13 teen. that evening i was hunting a green field in a 4x4 shooting house my wives grandpa built.i still recall the way he enter the field and every move he made.up to that point i dont think i had ever seen a buck while hunting other than the ones that other ppl had killed .i have havested at least 10+ bucks to date ranging from 50" to 157" and i still smile every time a see that little 7 point on the wall.

 

[MattR]

I guess around 2001, I was twelve hunting a field by myself. My dad was hunting somewhere about 300 yds away.

I seen a tree moving like it was being rubbed on. A few minutes later sure enough there he was. Seeing how that tree looked like it was getting hammered, I figured it would be a monster. It steps and it was a 3 point. .

So I take my shot. BOOOOMMMM goes my .243. And he drops, man that was easy I thought, it went just like I had planned.

So I get down from my tree and go to remove my hang on stand. I get that done and then turn around and he is standing back up eating. I thought what the heck, I didn't plan on him getting back up. So I put another round in him and that one did the trick.

 

[Brisco Darlin]

1989 Camp Buck Toms roane Co. Opening day of rifle season. little six point was trailing two does down a ridge. I was hunting from the ground and shot him as the came past me.

 

[Bone Collector]

1993 Wilson Co. 30-06 rifle.

Got up late and to the woods about 20-30 minutes after daylight. Had bumped a small 6 pt during squirrel season bedding on top of a hill. me and my buddy set up and he goes to the top of the hill, but to the right as you stand at the base. Deer was bedding to the left as you stand at the base. I set up at the base on the left side. Plan was to get him if he came out and cover both ways he could come from while staying on the property we had permission to hunt. I told him DO NOT go over there as I will be shooting up the hill and won't be able to see him. This Dumbo circles around putting himself in a safe position over the other side, but bumped the deer to me. I shot him in the neck at 30 yds. Flipped him and he died right there.

On a side note the bullet hit a sapling went through it and hit a big tree and stopped.

 

[348Winchester]

It was 1988 on Grassy Mountain in Morgan County. It was the day after Thanksgiving and unseasonably warm. I was trudging up the side of ol' Grassy that afternoon around two o'clock in dry leaves that made a terrible racket. Suddenly, two deer exploded from their shady beds only a few yards in front of me! One fled to my left and the other to my right. A 94 Winchester is a nimble rifle which made it easy to get a quick snap shot off at the deer to the left as it angled away. It showed no sign of a hit. The other deer to my right skidded to a halt about sixty yards away. It was behind a tree that perfectly shielded its vitals. All I could see was its neck and head and its rump. Taking a fine bead, I squeezed of a shot. The tree bark flew and the deer bounded away unscathed taunting me with its white flag. Dejected I was! I plodded, crestfallen, over toward where the other deer had run. To my complete surprise, there was a wide spray of bright red blood fanned out across the forest floor! The 170 grain silvertip 30-30 bullet had found the heart. A short, easy tracking job led me to him splayed out in the dry russet colored leaves. He was a fat little forkhorn. It was a long hot drag back to the car but at eighteen years old it was easier than it would be now. I put him in the trunk of my 69 Olds Cutlass convertible, dropped the top and drove home feeling that great satisfaction that all of you know!