How Old Were You When You Got Your First Deer

[fishin_bum]

I grew up in Alaska I shot my first Caribou when I was 12 the second at 14. We moved to Colorado when I was 15 I shot my first deer at 16.

[Beagle333]

I was 25. I grew up in North AL and we didn't have deer there. Then I moved to South AL and bought 40 acres when I was 25 and the deer were everywhere, and the fun began!

[PanaDP]

12, which is the minimum age one must be to carry a rifle in PA seasons. I went along before that but could never carry a rifle nor take a shot.

[boltons75]

12, took it on the run with 00 buck, I had a choice of 3, and thought the first one would be the mom, well I was was wrong.

[eddie gunks]

i waited till i was old enough to legally drink.....

[Good Cheer]

Fifteen. Marble Falls, Texas. Still have the rack.

[**oneshot**]

went out for my first deer season at the age of 12. First day, 7:20am, 15minutes on stand. I asked my Dad why him and grandpa hunted the whole 2 week season when it was this easy to get one. Boy did I get an education the following season.

[Mike Brooks]

Relatively late starter at 23. But, with BP rifle. All have been BP untill this year and I'm now 54.

[Alan in Vermont]

131 lb. spike early on opening morning when I was 16.

[horsesoldier]

Fawn buck when I was 14, I shot my first elk at 12 though. Luck of the draw!

[Old Ironsights]

16. Just passed the Hunter's Safety course and went out with a neighbor & a borrowed 99E in .308.

Midsize Mulie doe. Was after meat, not antlers.

[clodhopper]

Sixteen, was hunting riverbottom in NE Wyoming drilled the first two point I saw, he was thrashing around dieing when a couple nice four pointers saunterd by.

[WaywardSon]

It's interesting to me that so many of the folks relating their story were so young at the time. When I was 12 it was 1960 & if you sighted a deer at all it was a topic of conversation all day at school. First deer I saw in the wild here was about 1964. After high school I moved away to places that were not gun or hunting friendly ( Boston, MA & NYC)...moved back to KY in the late '70's and killed my first with a bow about that time.

Killed a lot of nice deer in the next 15 yrs or so, but have not hunted now in at least 10 yrs. Going to fix that this year. By the grace of a good friend I have one of the best places to hunt in this area & am going to start taking advantage of it again this year.

Enjoyed everyone's stories.....keep 'em coming!

[mold maker]

Dear were unheard of except in the mountains, when I was growing up. It was in the late "80s before they first appeared in the county. Now they are everywhere.
Same with ground hogs. I grew up not knowing what they even looked like. Now they scamper through my yard, as if they own it. They have fun sitting on the curb, eating my fresh planted grass, and I'm only 1 block, from the center of town.

[Huntsman]

My grandad took my brother and I out, I was 12. Sat on a square bale holding a Savage 340 30-30 winchester accross my lap. Mosquitos were eating us alive but we sat still under the insistance of my grandad. Finally after what seemed like hours a group of whitetail does came outta the edge of the tree line. Grandad pointed at the middle one, the biggest. I raised the bolt action rifle, aimed, squeezed the shot, closed my eyes and sent a 150gr Silvertip through the shoulder (high lung shot) and she ran and piled up about 80yds.
I closed my eyes at the shot because earlier i shot a single barrel 16g slug and it kicked like a mule. I flinched when i shot the doe but felt nothing and subsequently aimed off and hit her high instead of behind the shoulder for a heart lung shot.
Best deer hunt ever!!! My brother who has 2 yrs on me nailed another doe the next evening with his 16g and a slug. I now have that 16g and the 30-30 was stolen many years ago.

[223fan]

I was 16 when I got my first deer,there have been many since then though.

[floydboy]

When I was young there wasn't any deer around home. I was 24 before I got my first one even though I hunted most years from 16 on......

[skimmerhead]

i was 52 when i shot my first deer, it was a 12 point. i used to be a die hard duck hunter and never really had time or interest in deer hunting untill i quit shootin ducks and my best friend built a box stand on his land, gave me the key to the gate and said thats your stand, hunt in it as you please. theres a big buck roaming around here and your gonna get him. i figured i had a better chance at winning the lottery than getting a buck. after about two weeks of hunting he popped out rite at last light. i nearly peed in my pants. after that i was hooked bad, i bagged a big doe the next day and thought i'd won the lottery! thats him in my avatar. iv'e never been the same since.

skimmerhead

[10 Spot Terminator]

I was 14. Took my hunter safety course the summer I was 13, turned 14 about 6 weeks before deer season opened. Had a junior liscence meaning had to hunt with an adult 18 years or older until 18 years of age. Went up into the hills with my brother not much over 3 miles from where we lived about 5 miles out of town on opening day. My brother loaned me his old 25-20 Winchester and put me on stand about 2/3 way down a hill and said not to leave there as he was going on up the hill and to make darn sure not to shoot at anything I could not clearly see because it might be him. maybe 15 or 20 minutes went by and then I heard it. The unmistakeable ta-dump, ta-dump, ta-dump of a deer bounding down the hill and coming my way !!! I stepped off to my left a few yards toward the noise only to have the buck bust through some brush maybe 30 yds. in front of me and coming straight on !!! This wasnt in the training I had !!! I raised the rifle as I pulled the hammer back on the old levergun, touched the trigger and promptly jumped out of the way !!! As luck (or fear) would have it the little 3 point missed me but I hadnt missed him. He folded up about 10 yards past where I had been standing. The tiny little hollow point had hit him almost dead center right between the eyes and pretty much blew up inside. I was still just standing there looking at him when my brother showed up grinning from ear to ear. After I got my wits about me and told my brother what happened he said we best not tell it quite that way to our Dad and he promised to spend more time in the field with me bird hunting to get used to flush and shoot type scenarios. Without a doubt that was the best winter of my life. I owe much to my brother and miss him dearly as he is in the happy hunting grounds waiting for me to join him some day.

10 Spot

[Griz44mag]

I grew up on a farming/ranching operation, and I did not even know you were not supposed to hunt deer with a 22. I dropped more than my share of does with my little single shot Sears rifle. I moved away from home, found out there were rules about those kind of things. We would hunt anytime the family needed meat. The cattle and hogs were our cash crop, so we ate very few of them. Especially when there was venison to be had. I didn't even like the taste of beef. We ate a lot of chicken too. But this is just an old man reminiscing... We were poor, but we were happy.