How Old Were You When You Got Your First Deer

[TXGunNut]

Mine was a nice big-bodied (for TX) 8 pt with a smallish rack @ the ripe old age of 27. I never got to hunt growing up but I did get to take my dad hunting a few times before he died. Don't think he ever chambered a round but he sure like sitting in the woods listening to the sounds of nature.
Still use the horns for rattling, btw.

[Matt_G]

I was 14 and it was the fall of '74.
Fork horn mulie in area 3 NW of Craig, CO.
My Dad and I, my best friend Craig and his Dad Ed on that trip.
We filled all four tags that year.
The four of us did a lot of hunting together over the years and had a lot of real good times.
Still have the Remington 700 in .270 Win. that killed that buck.
I'll never let that gun go.

[Artful]

15, First year hunting - had to pass safety course, then mom bought me a 7x57mm Mexican Mauser and Ben Metz put a 3x9 Tasco on it and fixed handle and safety to work with it. Still have it. No more 7mm surplus around though.

[JMtoolman]

I think I was ten when I shot my first, a doe. My family lived on deer and elk all the time I was growing up. Went with my folks deer hunting at around age six. I was hooked! The toolman.

[Ozarklongshot]

13 for me with a savage M24 20 gauge slug. We ate a good amount of squirrel and the deer was welcome food. Never have been much of a horn hunter, it was always for the meat. 37 years later now and I can't count them. Never really thought of keeping track. I do have one small 8 point (140 class) mounted that I did take with a bow from 32 feet after an open field stalk. We have lots of deer here, and we keep a couple small fields planted just for the deer. Have 3 in the freezer now and need to put a couple more in before the end of winter. We're blessed here in that we can pick and choose the ones we want to put in the freezer and I'm thankful

[badbob454]

had a chance when i was 54 , now 57 had 2 large bucks standing in front of me @ 150 yards open sights i knew i could hit either one but didnt think i could hit it clean enough for a quick humane kill ....passed on the shot followed them up a hill and another hunter was so loud he got within 3 feet of me and didnt see me so i calmly said dont shoot scared the bejesus out of him . and my deer too ...

[ilcop22]

My first deer hunt was this year (26 yo). I bagged a large doe on the run opening day in SE Missouri with my Springfield 1903a3 using open sights, a bi-lead Lee C309-180-R boolit, 34.5 grains of 4895, Wolf Primer, HXP brass, Felix Lube.

[BossHoss]

Got my first deer , a doe, with a Marine Corps K-Bar (My Uncle's then, now mine) duct taped to a broom handle. Jumped on top of her, from a tree stand, at age 11.

Story:.,

My Uncle Matt, WWII pilot, sportsman, had 4 sons, all of whom were girlie (pu--y's), and he told me so. He said, (lying to me, like you lie and embelish to a child), that to become a man, I had to kill a deer with my bare hands. LOL.

At age 11, I believed him!! Really!!

He took me hunting , pheasant and deer, across the road from his home in what is now suburban Chicago, Mt. Prospect.

He over and over again told me his fib, that I needed to kill a deer with my bare hands, and his sons were sissies , and they never did it.

SOOOOO.....I loved my Godfather, and wanted to be the apple of his eye.

I always watched the deer in his stand across Wolf Rd., in MT Prospect...In July of that year, while he was at work, and my mom and aunt were in the house, I took his K-Bar, and waited for this doe I had been watching.

I had jumped from the stand many times, so no problem.

I got her, got scuffed up a bit myself, but I got her. LOL.

I gutted her as best I could, after watching Uncle Matt do it many times. And Waited for Uncle Matt to come home. LOL. I left her in the woods on the skirt of the field. I was gonna need help to drag her. I didn't tell Aunt Betty or Mom.


When Uncle Matt came home, I told him. His first reaction was:

HOLY **** MIKEY!!!!.....It's not DEER SEASON!!! You did what??? With what gun??? Did you take one of my guns???

No , Uncle Matt, I killed her with the K-Bar.....did I pass the test?? Am I Man, now??

He was laughing and pis--ed all at the same time. We walked across the street and there she was, dressed, with all the ice in the cavity I could steal from the refrigerator with Aunt Betty and Mom knowing.

We waited till dark, dragged her across the road,...hung her, and ate the tenderloins an hour later.

I had my first taste of beer that night, and became the apple of my Uncle Matt's eye. As a Man. I still carry the wallet made from THAT buckskin, 38 years ago.

My uncle introduced me to being a Sportsman, a Marine, and a honorable man, I was lucky to have such a great uncle.

[vmthtr]

11, sat with Dad and he gave me the rifle. 7 pointer on the car before 9 a.m. opening morning.

[quack1]

14 years old, my second year of hunting, first day of doe season 1965, pre-64 M-70 30-06. Still have the gun. Lived in Pa. all my life and have never shot a buck. I would much rather spend my hunting time chasing ducks, but like to eat deer, so only hunt deer one day a season, and shoot the first doe I see.

[phaessler]

Living in New England I took my first deer in 1995 , a doe, after 7 seasons of non-resident tags in NH ( and lots of $$$ ) then I was 26, didnt try again until 2005 when I moved south to VA, have hunted every year and been lucky enoughtto harvest at least one for the freezer, and one for Hunters for the Hungry, sometimes more.
Didnt take anything worth mounting until 2007, 13years after I started hunting.
I took an almost record buck this year, and havent seen anything since , but love getting out there and enjoying the woods. Especially with the kids, its good times all around.
Pete

[Hamish]

I got one my first year out at 14

"But I had a new 12 gau shotgun with a slug barrel that I paid for with trapping $$"

John

There was this little old gunsmith with a 16X20 converted old garage he ran his business out of, that I made payments on a Fox Model B Double 12 before I was old enough to drive. Sold it for baby food a few years later.

I sincerely hope that those of us with that kind of story are'nt the last. It really does my heart good to see the posts of taking the younger ones hunting. My boy and I still laugh about him falling asleep in the tree bowhunting.

But the magical part is, even if you never hunted or fished a day in your life before today, tomorrow you could take someone.

@(:^]#>:::

ps: Boss Hoss, it might have been almost 40 years ago, but I bet you remember every second of that day. Thank you for sharing that with us.

[Thin Man]

My early years of hunting were very much limited to my home state of Tennessee. The deer numbers were low, thus no luck. Traveled to a friend's home in Georgia and got my first deer, a doe, in 1985. Since that start 26 years ago the TN deer population has increased to the point I score every year, have 3 so far this year with more hunting still to do. First cast boolit kill was 2 years ago. Marlin 44 Magnum, RD 265 boolit and H110 did the job.

Thin Man

[felix]

Never shot a deer. Just a couple of times during the 50's did I go in earnest with my dad. Social trips for me. I am a target shooter with a researchy only attitude, having no desire to "win" anything physical. ... felix

[Jamesconn]

I still have yet to get one I shoot alot but mostly pistol the only rifle in my house is the M1 Carbine.
My dad hates outdoors and is squeamish
I have to wait till I'm 18 get a rifle and go hunting with other relatives

I'm only 16.5

[DODGEM250]

I got my first Deer when I was 8 years old. I had my first shotgun, which was a H&R 20 gauge, using a Remington slugger and a bead to aim with.

I grew up in family that had a lot of firearms use as well, so, my skills were stared very early. My cousin and I started shooting clays when we were about 7 years old and we would bust clays out behind our grandparents barn, literally all day, and we both gained a lot of experience with guns at early ages.

[DODGEM250]

Never shot a deer. Just a couple of times during the 50's did I go in earnest with my dad. Social trips for me. I am a target shooter with a researchy only attitude, having no desire to "win" anything physical. ... felix

I assume you mean "win" as in a big buck with massive tines and a lot of antlers. I am a Deer hunter, but, I could care less about the "trophy" standards most guys bleed to brag about, so, I can relate to your thinking. I hunt to put meat in the freezer and the enjoyment of being outside, as for the "win" factor, whatever comes along is a win for me. Hell I'm happy when I shoot a Doe, it doesn't matter here.

[Cariboo]

I was 16; the season was 3 days shotgun only. It was a spike whitetail, 12ga 00 buck at about 20 yards. I learned how field dress a deer that day with my older brother holding the book open so I could read and look at the diagrams.

[garbear]

I was around 30 yrs old. It would have been younger. Before I turned 16 the old man took a commision in the Army. back then 16 was the age you could hunt deer. I traveld over seas and by the time I returned to my home state I was in my mid 20's. I married my wife at 27 and didn't have 2 nickels to rub together. Our fortunes changed and I finally drew a tag. I shot a small spike becasue we were after meat only. My wife was with me and she spotted the spike and pointed him out. I shot him with a winchester model 70 super black shadow in 300WSM. He was about 60 yds. We then field dress and butcherd the deer and paicked the kids up from Grandma's. We then drove up to see her dad in her home town. I seen a nice 4 point the next day in a corn field, while I was out calling coyotes.

I had been taught from a young age to field dress a deer so that part came second nature. My wife was suprised how quickly the deer was gutted and skinned and quartered and into the game bags and in my coolers. The weather was warm so didn't want to risk teh meat spoiling.

I have only shot 3 deer that is all the tags I have drew. A spike a doe and a small 3X2 buck. All good eating.
Garbear

[Chief RID]

BossHoss. That was a short story of considerable merit. If I had a lifetime of those, as you probably have I would be working on my next volume of short stories to be published. Archibold Rutledge watch out. No joke. that is something to write about and embellish on. Thanks so much for sharing.