This thread is a time capsule...

[CastingFool]

Fresh venison is always good. Congrats on your buck!

[taco650]

Congratulations, glad you persevered! That will be a nice eating buck too.

[smoked turkey]

Randy you are a class act. It seems to me you have done everything just as you should have. As stated many of us got a slow start and hunted years before that first deer. Mine happened to be a small doe. None the less I was proud of it. Enjoy the journey and may you be blessed with many more hunting experiences. Not getting your game is not a sign of an unsuccessful hunt. No matter if you get game of not, your hunt can be successful and you will know. Thanks for sharing your time capsule deer hunt with us. Great story with a perfect ending.

[OnHoPr]

Pretty hard to make an ole man smile sometimes. A BIG CONGRATS. Most of the time it is not that easy to get your first deer regardless of age and wisdom. Emotions are varied between individuals. For me, when it comes to horns, just kill them when I choose to, there is a word in the english language that can be better descriptive than the term sadness, but I can't think of it at the time. Does sometimes can get me feeling like pup hunter, lol. That 45-70 is not overkill. When you have to track a deer that you thought you got a pretty good hit on a half a mile through swamps, thickets, and water another group of emotions will emerge. The kind you really don't want if you are grasping the truer hunter pyschy. ,Deer have different regional sizes throughout the US, so that is a fine specimen for you region especially being your first. Ever since I was about in my early 20s if I found BIG animal tracks I would put in the time to hunt them. That can take hours during a season, especially in the NF waste lands that I hunted. Those ole 4 to 7 year old bucks can get Phs in their time on this earth making it very difficult to harvest one especially on PL and the rest of the pumpkin patch out there interfering with you. That scenario has lead me into the 3 point club which I have not any real qualms about. Backstraps are good as well as neck roast, burger, sausage, jerky, steaks, and roast.

[white eagle]

congratulations on your first deer
fun aint it
I started deer hunting at 12 years of age now I am a couple of
years older than you are and can tell you the feelings you feel now
after your successful harvest will last for as long as you care to
wander through the woods and swamps the hunters spirit is captured
in that first step you took
enjoy the venison

[dverna]

Hunting is a unique experience. Like anything else, you get better with practice. None of us were Don Juans the first time with a woman either.

But "failing" at hunting does not feel like failing. There is the camaraderie of deer camp, the simple pleasure of being in the woods, seeing/hearing the small critters waking up and scurrying about as the day starts......

I started hunting small game when I was a boy and my first deer hunt was last year at the age of 65. Did not even see one but had a blast anyway.

Frankly, I am not sure I will enjoy killing the animal. I do not need to hunt to eat, and I enjoy seeing the deer and elk that we get on the property. I have some experienced folks mentoring me so I am lucky that way.

Congratulations on your first deer!!

Don Verna

[Blackwater]

Randy, ya' done good, bro'! REAL good! Good on ya' for it, too! And congratulations on your first one!

And BTW, the hard work DOES begin when you get game on the ground, but it's ALSO an opportunity to learn more about what your guns can do. I autopsied every deer I and many friends shot for many years, over 300 at a bare minimum, and the stuff I learned really gave me a MUCH clearer picture of what various guns, calibers and bullets will and won't do. This beats the heck out of listening to others' tales and going with heresay! And aside from the smell sometimes, if you're focused on gaining knowledge as you dress one out, you'll really benefit from it for a long, long time, and so will those you teach to hunt, and your words around the campfire about "What caliber is best", or what bullet, etc., will weigh much more heavily if you can cite your experiences and observations. And NOBODY likes to lose an arguement around the campfire! It's almost as bad as being given a wedgie!

Seriously, you did very well, and hope you get some of those darned destructive hawgs out there, too! Good luck!

[Thumbcocker]

Congratulations. Enjoy the backstraps.

[Hamish]

Randy,

It makes me absolutely ill when someone denigrates their accomplishment with "it's small" or "just a doe", most especially when someone has put in as much time and effort to enjoy the entire hunting experience.

Youl get no quarrel from me on your choice of caliber either.

Congratulations and good luck on a hog.

[Omega]

Congrats on your first harvest, he is beautiful, they all are. Now enjoy mother natures bounty, some of the healthiest meat out there.

[CITYREPO61]

Congrats! Nice looking deer there.
Enjoy the memories and the venison

[SSGOldfart]

Congratulations, don't forget the pictures,some day when you get older they are nice to take you back to a better time in life..

[ChristopherO]

The fun never ended for me until I had to clean up the butchering utensils. Loading, preparing, hunting, shooting and processing, all of it was fun, a family afair. It still is but my family has grown and the need to feed hungry mouths isn't the positive motivating factor at this point. Yet, I still enjoy the hunt and love jerky, so I best purchase my license and deer tag before the season creeps up on me too fast.
Good for you!

[Texas by God]

Randy. Look what you've done. If I was there I'd smear a dab of blood on your face! My first one resembles that one and 44 yrs later I can point it out instantly in the shop and tell the story! Best, Thomas.

[LeadPoisonTX]

Well done Randy. He's beautiful. Persistence, patience, and resilience always pays off, especially in the woods. Like you, I also began my journey as a Hunter later in life, since no one in my family hunted. I began in 2006 in Texas, at the age of 38, but it wasn't until 2009 that I got my first hog. My first doe came in 2013, and my first buck last year. I am now getting ready for my first bear.
Thank you for sharing, and may you have a great and fun hunting season.

[BrentD]

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.

Attachment 180247

Randy

What's not to like about that?

Nice work and I love your persistence.
Brent

[Fishman]

What a great thread. Congratulations!

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for all of the kind words. I just stumbled on this old thread while looking for something else and realized that I forgot to add one more item. I tried my first attempt at bleaching a skull... here’s a final picture of my first deer.

[maglvr]

Way to go!
Nothing keeps a man awake in the woods, more than frost on his Marlin!
Happy hunting!

[richhodg66]

Looks good. I found hydrogen peroxide bleaches bone like that snowy white and doesn't make it flake like chlorine bleach is said to. Whatever you used, it looks good.