This thread is a time capsule...

[ghh3rd]

I intend to update this thread again, someday....

I've never hunted, but am more than ready to. Don't know why it took me 56 years to get a hunting license, but I am looking forward to my first hunt.

There is a hog hunt on managed land in the Tampa Bay area in early February -- the hogs are tearing up the forests and the state wants them gone. The hunt on the tract that my buddy and I will be on is nighttime hunting only, with dog(s). Should be interesting.

Meanwhile, we're looking for somewhere else to hunt hogs on non managed land, such as Green Swamp.

I'll be picking up a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Mag tomorrow, and the mold, etc. should arrive soon. Hopefully a red dot or 2x scope won't be too far down the road.

I will update this thread with pics, someday, after my first kill. Now... the time capsule has been buried.

Randy

[Thumbcocker]

Good luck.

[ghh3rd]

On 11-1-2009 when I started this thread, and I've scouted, waded through swamps, bought a climber and sat in it many times over the years (very enjoyable!), but the animals remained safe I've hunted General Gun, Muzzleloader, and even Archery one season.

Along the way I picked up a Mariln 1895 45-70, CVA Muzzleloader, Remington 700 30-06 and have sat in heat (remember, this is Florida) and cold (yes it got to 28 F and I had frost on my Marlin) with all of these firearms, and did have one shot at a nice buck and missed (buck fever got me, and besides he was too close).

Although I have yet to put a picture in the "First Deer" picture frame that my wife bought me when I started, I wouldn't take back the experiences and pleasure of being in the woods hunting for anything... I just wish I had started before I was 56 yrs old.

I figure that I may not have taken anything yet, but that's why they call it 'hunting', right?

Randy

[Hamish]

You sir, have my genuine and hearty congratulations for your persistence in enjoying the great outdoors and not letting one facet of the experience become your end all be all goal like so many do.

Well done and keep having a good time.

[slide]

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God. No better place to do that than in the woods!

[UBER7MM]

Don't let the blood, guts, ticks, fleas and weird smells bother you. Your forefathers hunted and did just fine. Oh, BTW, all the fun stops when you pull the trigger and you have a dead limp critter to deal with as the sun is setting....

[buckwheatpaul]

Go for it Randy.....them ferral hogs are good to eat! Breakfast sausage, ribs, brats, etc.....are the bonus ring....no game taste.....Paul

[Hickok]

Randy, here is a good way to tell how you are progressing with your hunting;

In the beginning and starting out, you will get the quivers, heart pounding, sweating hands, knee shaking and a tearful feeling before you shoot.

After you gain some experience and make a few kills, you will get all these emotions after you make the shot!

If there ever comes a time when you don't feel any emotions when hunting, it would be time to quit.

I agree with Slide, Psalm 46:10. After a successful shot, I always give thanks to God Almighty for the animal He has provided.

[Thumbcocker]

Keep the good attitude you have and enjoy your time in the woods. Once the dam breaks it will all come together. You learn something every time you go out.

[w5pv]

Shootem right in the bud of the ear it will put them down with any thing from a .22 to what ever you shoot.

[claude]

Hickock has got it down pretty well, except for some of us, after the kill, there comes a certain sadness. Not regret, for we thank God for His bounty, but sadness.....you'll know it when you feel it.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Keep up the good work! Took me almost 15 years just to find a place to hunt at all. A friend just got his first NC buck after hunting for 6 years. Any small game around to keep you busy until next deer season?

[Hickok]

Hickock has got it down pretty well, except for some of us, after the kill, there comes a certain sadness. Not regret, for we thank God for His bounty, but sadness.....you'll know it when you feel it.

I totally agree.

[theleo]

Even though I'm a young feller I'll let you in on the biggest secret to hunting:


Once you pull the trigger and there is an animal on the ground in front of you....





All the fun stuff is over!


Keep at and in enjoy the time outdoors. Killing something is actually a part I'm not a fan of but I do like the meat. Everything up till I pull the trigger on my rifle or the release on my bow, is an absolute blast (it might take a week or two after hunting for me to appreciate the hiking up and down mountains) and it's those experiences that keep me going back year after year. Meat is good, the time outdoors is better.

[TXGunNut]

I love hunting and love eating venison (and wild pork) but there's a lot of work in between. I'm used to it, tho. I'm proud to do everything from sorting WW's to plating the meal...but coming home empty-handed every now and then isn't a bad thing. I hunted more than a few years before I brought home my first deer, it's a little discouraging but someday you'll be telling the story of your successful hunt here.

[taco650]

Talk about resurrections! I started hunting again this year after a 16-17 absence and was concerned that buck fever may cause me to miss... but it didn't and this time I really enjoyed my "quiet time".

Just keep at it, you'll fill those tags eventually.

[ghh3rd]

Update - I hunted again a couple of weeks ago during Muzzleloader season. I had a shot at a buck that I woke up, but he darted behind brush with about a six inch patch of brown showing through. I chose not to take the shot until I could see him better and he eventually bounded away suddenly.

Yesterday I was in a tree with my 45-70, loaded with 350 gr Ranch Dog boolits over 43gr IMR 4198. I know it's overkill for deer but we have some huge hogs around here too . I climbed my tree by 6am, didn't see anything but heard movement past the thick stuff so moved my climber deeper about 100 yards deeper at lunch break.

I went back up about 2:30 pm and about 3:30 a small buck appeared about 40 yds away and stared directly at me for about 2 minutes - I didn't flinch and just stared back. I could see he was a buck with 6"or 7" spikes, but we need an additional 1" point this year, and I couldn't tell. He moved behind cover and I took aim and waited for him to reappear so I could look for the point.

When he emerged a few minutes later I saw the top of one side was split, I shot and he dropped about 25 yards away.

The picture is below - I know it's small, but it took me six years of tramping through woods and wading around in swamps, setting game cameras, sitting in ladder stands and in my climber in heat and cold through Archery (once), Muzzleloader and General Gun seasons, and this little guy decided to do me a favor and be Number One . It's been a fun journey.

Randy

[richhodg66]

Congratulations!

I didn't really start seriously deer hunting til I was 30 or so. Once you have one or two under your belt, it seemed to get a lot easier. I sat in a stand with a crossbow yesterday and had three young bucks like that walk right by, easy kills if I had wanted to, and one doe. When I started out, I had a lot of zero days, you get better as you do it.

Enjoy the venison.

[JWT]

Congratulations. That deer will always be special to you.

[rodwha]

Congratulations! Now you have some venison to eat!