[SSG Johnson]

I for one love to read hunting stories and its even better with a pic if you like someones story give them some Rep. If you dont then dont.......Ill put mine up when I get some more time.
Dont forget the ones that got away also those are some of the best stories we could learn from each others mistakes.

 

[RedEye_Allen]

This is a Exert From the Book i Am Currently Writeing about The Memories i have of Being in the Outdoors with My Fatther Before he Passed away


A First time for Everything

This is the Story of the First Time i went Hunting and the excitement beforehand

"Allen, Want to Go deer hunting with me ? " Words that even now i remember hearing at 4 years old. I didn't know what to think. I always remember my dad carrying his shotgun into the house on a Saturday Evening but i never knew what it was for. I said i'd go so we went to wallmart where he bought me some mini sized camo's. I still love the smell of new hunting cloths. Just the Warmth that comes from them. That night i had to go to bed real early because we were geting up at 3 am . I don't think i had got up that early since i was a baby.

That morming he came into my room and shook me awake. "You ready to go huntin' boy ?" . "uhhhhh" I remember saying and he laughed. I ate a bowl of Oatmeal and Put on a thick jacket. It was a Cold morning. I hoped into his old Datsun truck and we left for Bamburg. I Slept all the way there. We Stoped at The Old shack were we got breakfast in the mornings. We sat around and talked to the other hunters before leaving from there at about 6 am .

We went on out to the club house were everyone was gathering up for the morning meeting , Prayer and Tag Grab. We got Number 21. That is usually a Middle Stand , A Good spot on most Properties. For this Hunt we were going to the Dairy Farm. We Loaded up on the Trucks, I Still Remember Riding with "ChainSaw" in the Front seat because it was still cold and misty that Morning , They Droped us at the edge of the field because my dad didn't want to spook any of the deer that might still be sleeping.

We Walked for a Good 10 Minutes Until we Came to a Spot where the Kudzo Vine went down a enbankment to a Wooded area. My Dad liked the look of the spot so we set up are chairs. I was so excited that i kept asking questions and talking about everything. He told me to be quiet so the deer wouldn't run away. I got a little bored so i took the spare jacket out of my chair seat and laid it down on the grass. I Was asleep in No time. I woke up about a hour later to the Baying of dogs behind a deer. My dad put his finger to his lips and pointed to the bottom of the hill where the dogs where headed. Out ran a Buck, "Boom, Boom Boom " My ears were ringing but it wasn't over yet. My Dad yelled for the Bird shot. I dug through my Jacket that i was laying on and found the shell Tossed it to him and he finished the deer off. Then he had to go to the bottom of the hill and Drag it back up.

Four long antlers, i counted them with the tips of my fingers. I was smiling and happy. My dad was just as happy as i was because that was just the first hunt of the morning. I Started singing " My Daddy shot a Four Point, My Daddy shot a Four Point" I think i sang that all Day long . I Remember geting it back to the Hunting club house and Watching them Clean the deer. My dad always had a sharp knife so it was pretty fast.

On the rest of the hunts that day we Didn't see anything, But i continued to talk about it even on the stand. I Think for the Next month or Two that was all i Talked about.

This is Probly My Favorite Story, I will Post some More when i Get the Chance. Takes A Little bit out of me every time i write about these Stories. Hope Everyone Enjoys and Doesn't my the Bad Spelling i haven't had a Chance to Spell Check it yet

 

[centralcalcat]

I was hunting Kodiak Island back in November of 1999. I hiked out of camp alone for the first day of my hunt. I hiked about 1/2 mile outside of camp and setup with my grunt and rattling antlers on a hillside above an alder patch. I waited until day break and began rattling aggresivly throwing in a grunt here and there. Within the first five minutes I heard what sounded like a freight train coming through the brush. Them bam out came a beautiful 3X3 about 30yards out. One quick shot right behind the shoulder and he dropped. Exited and on Kodiak island (known for big bears) I let out a holler. Well one of my partners heard me who was making his trip out form camp and came to see what the comotion was about. After patting me on the back he wanted to know if he could use my rattling antlers while I dressed out my buck. I gave them to him and he went on the backside of the hill I was on (about 100 yards away from me). He could no thave been there more then 5 minutes and Bang I heard a shot and then a holler. He had shot a beuftiful 4X4. We yelled back and forth for a minute congradulating each other and keeping the bears away. Well we both went we back to dressing our deer when I had had that feeling that something was watching me. I looked up and there was the biggest sitka blacktail I had ever seen walking straight at me from the direction where my partner had shot his deer. i quickly took a rag and wiped the blood from my hands. Picked up my rifle and aimed. As I aimed he faced me and put his hed straight up. The shot was only about 30ft at this point so I took the head on shot. Bam direct hit, bt he spun and ran full speed. I quickly chambered a second round and took a running shot at him bam. I am not sure if I closed my eyes or what, but he dissappeared. I went to the place where I origannally shot him. Blood and hair. I followed the blood trail form the original shot right to him, both shots had hit true.

Both my and my friends buck's that morning went B&C mine went 132 7/8" (bottom for b&C for sitka blacktail is 118") Ther were three of us hunting together that trip and overall we harvested 15 deer 13 bucks and 2 does. We for the rest of the trip say an average of 50-60 deer a day 35-40 being bucks forked or better. We also saw 13 different Bears in the nine day trip. I was attacked once and we had several stand offs, but that is a story for another time.

-Brian

 

[SSG Johnson]

Me and my hunting buddy had hunted all morning coming home about 2:00 in the afternoon to get a bit to eat and then he said he had to get going home and wasnt going to hunt that evening. My wife said she wanted to go hunting so I decided that we would go together. When we went out to the truck to go back to where we had hunted that morning my buddy pulled back up and said "man we have to go to this new place". My buddy, my wife and I went out to this farm which I had never hunted and when we arrived he said you guys can take one end of the feild and ill take the other. My self and my wife sat together as she is a green horn at best when it comes to hunting. She was armed with a 20 gauge pump which I had given her the christmas before. I was armed with a Russian M44 7.62X54. I was briefing her on how far she could shoot and had told her if a deer comes out further that she could use my rifle.
Not long after we heard shots we hadnt been there more than 30 mins. when boom, boom I could here shots coming from where my buddy had gone. I told her to get ready and then again anouther boom I remember thinking what is he in a fire fight over there or what..........
All of a sudden we see a deer move into the field not running just walks out about 100 yrds from us I could see that it was a buck and handed her my rifle she quickly handed it back and said "Im not shoting that thing". I was getting pretty preturbed to say the least and finally took the shotgun from her and told her to shot. As she aimed the rifle I could see the barrel moving around and thought man she will never make this shot.
Finally she shot and I see the deer squat down then turn and run to the wood line. I grabbed the rifle from her and took off running in the direction that the deer had gone. As I took off she yelled "JUST LET HIM DIE IT WAS A GOOD HIT" remember as I said before she is as green as grass. I knew that she had missed and continued on. As I approached the spot the deer was standing looking for blood that I knew wasnt there I found nothing. I moved toward the woodline and just looked into the woods where the deer had gone and I see a buck he looks like he is trying to get up and moving his head left and right then it would go back down. Again the buck raised up and moved his head left and right and then went back down. I remember thinking well Ill be she did hit the buck. Boom anouther shot from my friend. Again the buck raised up but this time it became clear to me what he was doing he was down in a dip and was raising his head into a branch and going back down and making a scape. When I realized what was going on the buck turned and looked at me it was at the exact moment that both of us (Me and the buck) realized what the other was doing. As he turned broad side I leveled down and shot killing the big boy. My wife thought for a long time that she had killed the buck and told everyone that she did it was not until she heard the story from my buddy did she realize that indeed she had missed needless to say she was not very happy and didnt hunt with me last year this year she want to hunt again.

 

[Kutter]

The first Time I ever went deer hunting, was back in 76'. My wife's uncle, Casey, was a legend in the family for his hunting and trapping. He was out hunting something or other from October through January and asked me to tag along that year for the first weekend of deer season. I didn't own a rifle or shotgun capable of taking down a deer, so he loaned me a 20 ga single shotgun and gave me a handful of slugs. He had a ground blind, made up from fallen limbs, next to the one pond to be found in that area, and told me to sit in there till he came back for me. Up to that point, I knew nothing about deer hunting. I had been squirrel hunting before, but that was the extent of my huntin knowledge. I sat there waiting all day till he showed up about dark to get me. Didn't see any deer all day. The next day, he took me to a different spot, where he had found a trail the day before. Where the trail crossed a fence line, he showed me the tracks in the trail and the hair on the barb wire where the deer had jumped the fence. I sat there watching, all day till about an hour before dark. All of a sudden, I heard a strange sound I had not heard in the woods before, sort of a tinkling sound. My heart was pounding as the sound came closer and I could see shadows moving closer toward me through the trees along that trail. Then they busted into sight and jumped the fence. There were 12 of them. Goats! Stinking goats, with one of them wearing a bell around it's neck. That had been the sound I had heard. I realized real quick at that instant, that uncle Casey was NOT the great hunter we had thought he was. I was still hooked on deer hunting, but from there on end, I new I had a lot of learning to do and it wouldn't be coming from him. LOL

 

[Kutter]

I posted this somewhere before on this board. Sorry if you've heard it.

Northern Missouri, for a few years now, has more deer than the conservation department wants. They are wanting as many does killed as possible. We have two rifle seasons for deer here in Missouri. One in November for 1 buck or as many does as you want. One other season in December, for does only.
During the first season, I hunt only bucks. On the farm I hunt, we have an 8 point minimum set, self imposed by the owners to raise the quality of the bucks. Although I saw many deer last november, none fit into that minimum on the two days I had to hunt. When the December season came along, I was ready to put some meat in the freezer. I have mentioned in other posts here, that late afternoon seems to be the best time for my hunting style when after does. Thus, last December, that was the only times I hunted during the 3 days I had off for the season. 2 hours each evening.
I had built a homemade ground blind out of 1/2" PVC pipe and duck hunters grass mats. I had set it up, back in September, along side a corn field. I knew that does came into that field about where I had set up. The first time out, I knew it would be a great blind. A flock of turkeys entered the field a few hundred yards away and wandered right by me, not 15 ft away from my blind. They had no idea I was there and I knew that if they were feeling safe, so would the does. Just before dark, I fired two shots and dropped two does. about 50 yards away. To make an already long story, short. I hunted a total of 6 hours over those three days, and got 5 does. My, how the times have changed. I remember back when I first started hunting 30 years ago, SEEING 1 deer, during the whole season, was considered a great year.

 

[Kutter]

My first deer:

As mentioned in my first post above, I started hunting back in 76', with no deer seen. I knew I had a lot of homework to do and after that first year, I set out on a mission. I read every magazine article and book I could find on deer hunting. That was my only choice since my experience listening to so called experts had burned me. Back in those days, work was hard to find and I had plent of time to scout. I located an old clear cut that had grown so thick with new growth, that it was next to impossible to walk through. However, after finding several deer trails (yes, actual deer trails this time), going into that thicket, I knew that I had found my spot. This thicket was about 2 acres big. I had found it while scouting and had seen a nice 5 point buck run in there after I spooked him. I guess I was sort of fixated on this one buck. I went out several times a week looking for him. Where ever I found him, I would follow him and at various times, purposly spook him. Then I would track him till I found that the only time he would hide in that thicket, was in the early morning hours. He came in from several directions, but always stopped in one particular spot right in the middle of that thicket. About 4 weeks before the season opened, I quit bothering him and spent my time setting up a stand. I found one old cedar tree near the center of the thicket, that the loggers had left, and nailed a few 2 X 4's up about 15' up that tree. I also screwed in a couple of those yellow rubber coated hangers that hardware stores sell for hanging bikes or ladders.
Opening morning found me in that tree 2 hours before daylight. I had my new 30-30 hanging in those yellow hangers, about my eye level. As daylight arrived, I heard a shot about a half of a mile away. I knew that was my buck. I had seen him so many mornings down in the hollow where the shot had come from. If he had survived that shot from the hunter down there, I knew he would be mine. I lit up a cigarette and waited. When the smoke was finished, I reached over and cocked my rifle. Then I leaned over and looked through the scope, without taking the rifle out of the hangers. About the time I looked through the scope, he appeared in my crosshairs. Without taking the rifle down or moving it, I fired one round. He dropped in his tracks. My first deer! I always kinda felt sorry for that buck. He proved that if you do your homework and scout enough, the poor deer won't have a chance.

 

[SSG Johnson]

Two years ago I had been bow hunting in Illinions with my brother in law and we hadnt seen a hair all morning so as the sun was getting higher in the sky the bisquits and gravy was dancing in my head we grab our gear and started out of the timber. We had walked about 100 yrds. when all of a sudden my brother in law squated down on the ground and said something to me in a whisper. I couldnt hear what he had said but I looked in the direction he had pointed. There where 8 deer standing not 20 yrds from us. You have to understand that we were talking coming out of the timber and wasnt really looking for deer as we both had climbers on our backs and was moving through brush. He keep saying something but after i saw the deer I was to busy getting an arrow nocked to listen. As I nocked the arrow 6 of the Deer took off bounding away. My brother in law stood up and said loudly do you see them now...... I said yea and I see the the other two that are still there at first he didnt believe me and said "Man I was telling you to get my release out of my back pack". I drew down on one of the deer and then they started to run back behind us I didnt have a shot I quickly glanced at through the thicked and found one hole where I could shoot. One of the deer stopped dead in its tracks right in the hole it was about 40 yrds out. I put my pin on it and fired I hit it right behind the left ear and dropped it in its tracks my brother in law started yelling that was the best shot i have ever seen. To this day he thinks I was aiming at the deers head but I wasnt the arrow must have touch a twig or something altering its flight and it was lucky that it even hit the deer. The only reason I was able to get a shot in the first place was I keep my release on my wrist when I leave the woods not so I can shoot at deer but more for I hate wondering if I have it or not and if its still on my wrist then I just grab it and know its there.

 

[spoonfish]

Great storys guys! Here's one of my brother while hunting at a friends farm in Ia. He had been hunting this big guy for some time and finally got him within range of his stand. After the arrow was released he went to find a very good blood trail. Following the trail he than noticed a coyote had beaten him to the trialing job. After a good shot this was all within 30 minutes or so. Following the blood trail and the coyote tracks they ended at the pond. The coyote tracks kept going but no deer tracks. After a while he noticed a tuff of hair in the pond. Stripping to his skibbys in ice cold water he waded out and sure enuff it was his buck. He figured the coyote had ran him in the water. It scored 178, he allways was the lucky one LOL.

 

[derbycitycatman]

I had been scouting a pond while fishing that sits just to the right of my stand and seen plenty of sign. I arrived early one morning in such a rush that I didnt take care of business (#2) before I left the house. Well I sat beneath by stand contemplating of where to go. Well before I could decide I heard noises and saw movement between me and the pond. THis is like 20-30 feet max. Well I didnt have a clue as what to do. I sat there clenched listening and watching this small buck, you could see the moonlight glint off his rack. Well eventually one slipped, I farted LMAO. This buck tensed right up but didnt bolt. So im thinking maybe take a shot but its still before shooting light and Im shooting at a ghost. I pulled back, yes I was bowhunting, but didnt release. Im waiting for light when whoops, yep another one even louder. Im starting to freak now cause this deer sounds like its getting closer. Eventually after more outbursts, and noises from me wriggling on the ground in agony the buck moseys off. I take this time to scoot to a spot away from my stand and take care of business. Didnt see nothing the rest of the day. WORST hunt ever.

 

[SwiftWater]

my brother took me to a farm that he had been hunting. it was the 4th day into the "04"season and i still hadn't bagged a buck. he stopped the truck and pointed me in the direction of a permanent ladder stand and i headed off. i got to the stand and climbed up and got comfortable. i started eyeing the creek and the openings through the low brush. not even 5 minutes had passed and i hear the leaves being crushed as 2 deer, a doe, and a buck in hot pursuit running down along the creek bank. the doe stopped 40 yards directly in front of me. the buck then mounted the doe and proceeded to do his business (which took all of 5 strokes, lmao). the doe then pulled out from under him and ran off along the creek. the buck lagged around smelling the ground and made a fatal mistake, he turned sideways. i pulled the trigger and he bounded off only 15 yards and dropped. it wasn't the biggest buck, but i was satisfied with it's 7 points, since i had been in a five year slump. this was the first time i had actually experienced a buck breeding a doe. i have seen it on the tv, but never in person.

i have several pictures of the buck on paper, but not on my hard drive. i need to get my brother to burn me a cd of the pics.

 

[centralcalcat]

I was hunting Afognak Island just north of Kodiak on a bear/deer hunt. There were four of us hunting, the area and I mostly hung to one paticular ridge. About the third day hunting the ridge I was using my spotting scope and spotted a nice buck. He was far off and it was getting late, so I decided the next day to ge up early and get higher. The next day I did just that got up early and left camp quickly I climbed to the top of the ridge and started glassing again....nothing. I glassed for probably 6 hours not a single movement. Finally I decided to start making my way down the mountain. I had gotten about 200 yards when I got that feeling like something was watching me, i turned slowly to see my buck staning about 75 yards away staring right at me. I tried to slowly turn and psoition my rifle for a shot, but he was staring hard and took off. No frustrated I hiked back to camp. The following day I went up towards that area again. When I broke through the treeline there were seven deer standing there about 300 yards out. My partner took a shot and dropped a forky. I then took a shot at another buck going away from me at about 325yards and made a clean miss. I walked up to the forky with my partner and he said to go hunt he ws going to quarter the deer out and head for camp. SO I decided to head back in the directin that I had seen my buck the previous two days. I got up high again, but this time I spotted him about 250 yards out. I decided to get in closer. Over the next 35mins I closed the distance to 80yards. Then I coruched down and took a rest with my rifle. i waited till he went broadside and took a shot. he immeadiately dropped. I gave him about 15 mins and then I headed in that direction. I found the impact point good blood and hair, looked like a clean passthrough. I followed the blood trail down the hill and all of a sudden it disappeared? ??? What is the heck I thought. i know I made a good shot, look at all the blood. I circled around for another 10 mins, getting more and more confused. Then I walked back to the last point where i found blood and looked around. There he was he had slid off a small cliff and had more or less burried himself by an alder and a bunch of knee high grass. He wasn't a trophy 3X2 but at the time he was the biggest I'd taken and after three days of hunting him hard it sure felt good.

 

[VerotiK]

Great stories guys. One of my most memorable stories was from back around '95, me and my buddy were just old enough to start driving, which meant we had better access to hunt. Well, us and 2 more friends had gone to his uncles cabin on some land about 20 miles from where we lived. When he said cabin, i though it would be a cabin. It was actually an old house that had been run down, then someone came in and vandalized it, so it was in pretty poor shape. Well, we commenced to do what alot of teenagers do, and had some fun and drank some beer. Well, about 5 am the next morning i get up and start some coffee, which consisted of putting a stainless steel cup in front of a kerosene space heater and. I burnt the fire out of my hand trying to get the cup out from in front of the heater, so now i was drowsy, cold, and had a burnt hand. I was finally able to rouse my buddy, but the other 2 were out cold, they didnt really want to go hunting anyway i dont think. We go out and sit in our blinds. We sat there from probably close to 3 hours after sunrise without seeing a thing, so we met back up and decided to walk around a little, and we walked to the end of the driveway which was about a mile long, didnt see anything, so we decided to go wake the other guys up and go home. On our way back, we got almost halfway up the driveway, just walking along being noisy like usual, when my buddy stops suddenly raises his gun and shoots a doe not 15 feet in front of us. I guess we had caught each other by suprise and i couldn't believe how fast he reacted, it was almost amazing. We just stood there for a second, looked at each other and started laughing. That was the first time i had ever helped clean a deer, and it was quite an experience. The same friend has made some more incredible shots over the years. Last year he got out of the Marine corps after a 6 year reserve enlistment and we had gone hunting and he busted a 6 point on the run, double lung shot at 80 yards with a 30-06.

 

[bull_head]

It was PA Rifle Doe Season my 9th Grade year in High School ...

I had just broken my left hand ... and had a cast put on my hand ...
my Doctor told me No Deer Hunting but thats like telling a boy not
to jump in a mudpuddle ... I went hunting anyway ... despite the
doctors say so ... you cant keep me out of the woods when its Deer
Season ...
It was December and we had snow on the ground about 5 inches or so ..
I was using a 30-30 with a Tasco 3x9 scope .... we had seen Deer in the
morning but they were too far away .... by afternoon my Uncles had started
doing Deer drives to help push the Deer because they were bottled up in the
heavy cover area because of the snow ...
During this particular drive they were trying to push the Deer in my direction .... because I only had that day to hunt and tomorrow was back to school ... well Boy did they ever push the Deer ... they pushed a pack of about 10 Does past me ... Now came the fun part ... I had to place the gun in left hand (the cast hand) and hold it steady for the shot ... the Deer came rushing past me ... I picked one out to fire at and squeezed the trigger ...
I hit the Deer broadside as it passed me .... thou it wasnt enough to put it down at the moment ... we tracked it to the creek bed which was directly behind me .... the Deer went about 50 yards after my shot and she was down inear this creek bed ... I had the help of my Dad to gut it out for me and drag it up thoru the field ... I would dare say it was my most memorable hunt to date ...

I have only broken my hand once ... but boy what a memory ....

 

[centralcalcat]

Well this last week I went out deer hunting in the Siera Mountain range of California. My partner and I had hunted hard for a day and a half. Aside from being stalked by a bear and seeing a ton of does, we had seen no shooters. We were driving off this logging road about five pm. When suddenly off to my right I spot a buck staring at me from the side of the road. I told my partner to stop and he did. I hopped off the trail and cocked my rifle. I found an open shooting lane between myself and him, there he was 25yards out, broadside and standing still, perfect situation for any hunt. I raised up my rifle slowly and put the crosshairs right behind his shoulder. Then I slowly pulled the trigger...."CLICK". The deer ran off followed by a doe I had not seen with him. When examining the situation I must have not cocked the gun back completely, because no bullet was in the chamber.

Over all that trip we saw 16 does 1 legal buck and 1 spike. (legal for CA is fork or bigger)

-Brian

 

[Big Country01]

last weekend i was hunting with a buddy of mine in steinhatchee,fl. i hunt my ladder stand on this tram which is concealed by thick cover. well i've been seeing the cross about 50 yards off to my left to far and to thick for a shot (bow season by the way). so i talked my buddy into helping me move my stand,so we get there and start looking around for a good tree with cover and find one or two of em'.this is where things start getting screwy, now he starts talking about gun season which is like a month away. so i let him talk me out of moving the stand(mistake).now i'm in my stand for the evening hunt, been there since about 3:30 now it's about 6:00 and i'm bored out of my mind (that don't normally happen) well i look over to the left and there stands a deer(doe) about 40 yards ight where i wanted to put my stand( imagine that) so i reach up ever so slowly and grab my bowoff the bow hanger.now here i am sitting on the edge of my seat litteraly wait for this deer to come in closer and give me a shot. so about two minutes go by when all of sudden this doe hits mach 3 getting out there,now what took by surprise was the other two i didn't see(1 doe 1 ? couldn't really tell) take off right behind the first one.so now here i am trying to figuire out what spooked them ,was it me ,did they smell me ,did i move , what caused it?then i realized if i had moved my stand i might have gotten a shot???? now 2 more minutes go by and this flock of turkeys come out and are standing right where the first doe was standing now here in flotida you can take turkeys during bow season so i break out one of my 40 or so turkey calls to bring one in closer so here i am calling and got gobbler strutting back and forth across the tram but wouldn't come any closer now i am really ticked off cause i listen to my buddy.so i guess the bottom line is always go with your first instinct.... (needless to say i didn't bag one yet but i got to see em')