My first opening day with my Dad 1984 gun season. About 1030 twin 8-pointers came into the valley we were in and I shot one then he shot the other.
Honestly the day I remember the most didn't include a harvest. It was just a few days prior to firearms season in IN and my father and I set up along our creek which holds our #1 stand I sit every time wind is right. Well the deer had been slipping behind me some on a prior hunt so my father put his climber attached to the tree (treelounge) a few days prior to the hunt and that morning we both got in extremely early to a cold crisp morning...everything was perfect. I could just barely see my dad through some thick/large trees to my left where he sat 24 some feet high at about 50-60 yards away. If deer came by one of us would have a shot...and we knew deer would it was just a matter of what caliber of buck would be with them. You see this spot is a strip of woods that runs between houses connecting two large softly hunted properties and then on to the west one more property is a huge marsh and county park where no hunters are....bucks travel this corridor all the time cruising! Well it wasn't even light yet and we could hear the 1 1/2 acre marsh bedding area to our northwest coming to life with movement and soft grunts...the next 2-3 hours were crazy! We had bucks chasing does everywhere that morning! They were coming from any and every direction. A lot of 4's 5's and one really nice pesky young 6 pointer. That whole morning we were signalling to the other one that they had deer behind them and coming...non-stop at times it seemed. That 6 pushed does everywhere, he'd push them off to our west, be gone for 10 or 15 minutes than he'd come busting back through our area heading East to the bedding area that way...only to pop back our way this time chasing a different doe he'd just picked up from the Briar Patch (the East bedding area). We did have a beast of a buck slip us though about an hour after daylight...my dad signaled to me to look behind him and up by the neighbor's house to the South...all I caught was a glimpse of a big butt end of a deer, later my father would proceed that it was easily a shooter buck with tremendous mass! The morning was waning on and I was finally starting to relax (morning like this one make you on edge) when after about a half hour of nothing I caught my dad out of the corner of my eye waving at me. I had gotten good about checking behind me periodically due to that was where the Briar Patch was but I'd not looked for quite awhile now. I couldn't hear what my dad was pointing at but I knew it had to be something so I slowly peeked behind and to my right...nothing....slowly turned and peeked behind me and to my left...nothing. At this point I look at my dad with the "what shoulder shrug hand raise method"...to this I get a look like, "IDIOT FIND WHAT I'M TELLING YOU IS THERE!" At this point I lean around the tree and to my right only to see that a nice 110-120 inch 8 pointer is basically directly behind me and coming in fast....come to find out my dad had been trying for 15 minutes to get my attention because this buck was working a scrape, then a rub, then browsed some before I finally caught his signals. Needless to say I missed the buck at 15 yards broadside....amazed as just two days prior I had been shooting coffee mug ring groups. Well after missing we sat and watched that 6 pointer chase a couple more times past us and then we got down and headed in. That's when we found out my site pin was loose! To this day I have no idea how it'd happened but that is what made the miss possible...either way that day was some of the most rutting activity I've ever seen and the fact I shared it with my dad just a stone's throw away is something I'll remember for years.
Last year I bought a guided hunt during a church mission auction. I gave it to my then 13 year old son, Zach, for Christmas and he killed a 120 class 8 point over the Thanksgiving holiday. I had it mounted for him and the taxidermist had it ready for him by Christmas... he is so proud of his deer. The taxidermist did an awesome job in only three weeks when I told him the hunt was a Christmas gift. Ken's Taxidermy Autaugaville AL.
I only have 3 deer seasons under my belt, but this one tops all stories so far. http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?28398-Little-Brother-Sends-Chip-Up-To-The-Deer-Gods
Every year during gun hunting me and my dad make some great memories sitting together due to are small amount of acreage
Some of my greatest memories were waterfowl hunting with my father starting when i was 8y/o to this present day. But just recently my most memorable hunt to place with my daughter getting her first deer kill. Which i just recently did a thread on. http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?30416-Youth-hunt
Probably an elk hunt I went on with my dad before he died. Back in the 80's, twenty mile pack trip. I was 11 yrs old. My dad , my grandpa, and his brothers all killed mature bulls. 8 day hunt, in the back country of Idaho, pack string, we packed out 5 mature bulls that week. It was unreal elk hunting and great times with my dad. All on public ground.
That's a tough one, to pick just one. I think my most memorable are yet to come, when my kids are old enough to hunt.
2 years ago my oldest son wanted to go hunting for the first time @ 26 years old he really never had a interest in it till then so i said lets go sit in the cadalac stand (6x6 fully inclosed w/deck . He's talking and talking i tell him keep it a little more quiet, hour in stand 3 big does come over the ridge. Dad can i shoot 1 (rifel season) go for it and he dropped her in her tracks , told him let me get my knife and things together and we'll go check her out 5 secs later i turn around and he's on the ground running to it. Awsum back strap dinner. Sorry to end on a bad note but he passed away last may @ the prime age of 28,RIP Sgt.Solots!
There are 2 for me. First, my Grandparents taught me about the great outdoors. Gramps was in the Army Corps of engineers, so wherever he was , they found a way to get outand Hunt and Fish. The first time I got to shoot my Grandpas gun (Weatherby 270 Mark V) on a hunt was in Wyoming, antelope hunting. He was on the ground next to me glassing them and told me which one to take, and talked me through the shot. He was crying after I actually hit what I was aiming at, and no not from laughter. Second is when I got to hunt with both my boys in the 2009 Mn Deer season. Awesome. They each shot deer (oldest a nice 8 pt, youngest a doe), and I finally understood why my Grandpa cried.
My first year of deer hunting when I was 12. I was sitting with my grandpa on a log and was able to shoot a doe. I climbed a steep hill to check for blood and couldn't find any so I ran back down and my grandpa told me to follow the kicked up leaves. I ran back up and followed the leaves for about 60 yards and almost tripped over my doe. I had heart shot her and to see my grandpa so proud of me is something I will never forget.
Mine was this year actually. It was 2 weeks into Rifle season and I needed a morale boost so I grabbed my .270 and sat in my old box stand. About an hour in, I see a doe down the East lane. I stared at her for a couple of minutes and then a four year old 8pt came galloping out of nowhere to right underneath me and ran up the North lane. I quietly took my gun off the doe and onto the buck. As soon as I got a clear shot, I took it and he ran East into the woods. With my heart still racing, I remembered the doe to my left and unbelievably, she was still there just staring in my direction. I pulled my gun back to her and shot. She ran North into the woods like she hadn't been hit. I checked for blood at both spots and couldn't find any. So I made my way into the woods and about 25 yards in, both deer are lying there on the ground about 10 feet apart. I had never killed 2 deer that close together until that day. I also thought it was cool that they fell so close to each other.
probally bout 10 years ago before I ever stuck an arrow in a buck, I was sitting on a branch in a cedar tree next to the platte river in central nebraska. I was half froze, and very uncomfortable. Just after sunrise a 110in 4x4 walk out and I drew back. Just as I got to full draw a monster chocolate rack buck, probally in upper 150s, charged that smaller buck and stopped broadside at 40 yards. I was shaking so bad from the excitement that I shot right under him. I was shaking even more then and fell out of the cedar tree and looked like I was playing plinko as I hit every tree limb on the way down. Wasnt hurt, didnt get the buck, but I will never forget that hunt.
My first archery buck for sure. A cold Nov day with snow flurries as I left a natural blind and started to still hunt toward a bedding area. I'm convinced that the fading light aided me in taking my first mature buck. As I slowly crept into the bedding spot my toe grazed a patch of crusty snow. I froze in place as I watched the outline of a deer stand and look my way. A few tense minutes passed and my legs started to tremble. I new I could'nt hold the position much longer as the buck checked for danger. Finally I went for broke and chattered like a squirel. It worked! and the buck dropped his guard. He took a few steps which allowed me to drop all the way to my knees. Then he began to slowly circle for a better look. As he stopped behind a small pine tree I was able to draw my bow. Another couple of minutes passed as I thought about letting my bow back down. Finally he stepped out and turned as I released. I herd the thud but no blood was found as darkness fell. I searched in the dark for another 20 minutes, damn! Not much sleep as I played it back in my mind over and over. The next morning I counted 23 steps to where he stood. I found him within 100 yards the opposite direction from where I searched !
My most memorable hunt was when my dad was part of a hunting club that ran dogs and I was maybe 7. I told him I'd watch this way as he went that way (with my BB gun lol). Well I got bored, went back to the truck and fell asleep on the tool box. Then I wake up to dad firing away and it scared the $h!+ out of me lol. He ended up getting a nice 8pt though.
