What did you use to kill your first deer?

[Ralt71]

I was 8 years old when I shot my first. Texas didn’t have a minimum age as long as you’re hunting with an adult. It was a spike about 100 yards away. Savage .243 with a redfield 3x9 and factory Remington corelokt ammo.

I had just missed my first deer a few hours before, a doe at 80 yards. Dad took me back to camp, we ate lunch, regrouped, and he had me shoot three rounds at a target hanging 100 yards down. We went out to a different spot and Dad was coaching me on staying in the scope while I’m shooting and not lifting my head to see the deer too soon. As he’s whispering to me the spike walked out with two doe. I could hear Dad in my mind as I set on the deer and slowly pulled the trigger. When I looked up, no deer was visible. We went to the spot the deer was standing when I shot and followed the blood trail. Dad and my uncle stayed on the blood and about 120 yards of tracking there he laid. I vividly remember that hunt and that day in my mind even though it was 30+ years ago haha

 

[salmonchaser]

Great bunch of stories.

 

[kujuak]

What I want to know is how did we pull off those hunts without Smart Phones, map apps, ballistic apps? Must have been a series of minor miracles I guess.

 

[AFG270]

This is a sore subject for me, as I shot my first buck, a small Colorado muley 4x4, in the early 70s with my Win. m70 30-06. But 2 years earlier I had missed a huge 5x4 muley over 30" wide with high heavy antlers. I emptied my rifle on him and he ran right to another hunter who put him down. Still the biggest muley I have ever seen in over 50 years of hunting.
After that miss I spent a lot of time practicing with my 30-06. That buck will stick in my mind forever.

I wanted to add, this buck was less than 100 yards standing broadside with another nice buck, plus I had buck fever very bad. It was along ride home for a skinny teenage kid.

 

[RememberBaker]

What I want to know is how did we pull off those hunts without Smart Phones, map apps, ballistic apps? Must have been a series of minor miracles I guess.

I think my darn smart phone has only cost me deer!

 

[kujuak]

This is a sore subject for me, as I shot my first buck, a small Colorado muley 4x4, in the early 70s with my Win. m70 30-06. But 2 years earlier I had missed a huge 5x4 muley over 30" wide with high heavy antlers. I emptied my rifle on him and he ran right to another hunter who put him down. Still the biggest muley I have ever seen in over 50 years of hunting.
After that miss I spent a lot of time practicing with my 30-06. That buck will stick in my mind forever.

I feel your pain. I was walking around looking for a glassing spot the day before season opening on bighorn sheep (and mule deer). I came up over a rise at the top of the mountain and came face to face (20ft at most) with the largest , widest mule deer I have ever seen. It was like a Saturday morning cartoon, the looks on our faces,me and the deer both thinking, oh damn! He took off and I sadly walked back to camp. My hunting partner was an old taxidermist and he said I was lying and wouldn't recognize a big buck if it bt me on the you know what. we saw the same buck twice again that hunt, each time just after he saw us. The "expert" admitted he was extraordinary.. The only other great muley I have encountered was the same sort of tragedy. Last afternoon of the season, came around a side hill and about 800yds away was a huge buck with some does There was lots of snow and the clouds were right down on the mountain. I saw him, he saw me and slowly took 3 or 4 steps into the ground clouds never to be seen again. Oh well.......

 

[salmonchaser]

In Colorado a couple years ago I came face to face with by far the largest mule deer I have ever seen. My phone was in my pack so I ever so stealthyfully got my pack off, laid my rifle down and started fishing for my phone. Buck move off to about 35 or 40 yards. I had just found my phone when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A good 300 + bull, I was hunting elk, got tired of the show, and headed for the timber. He hadn’t been 100 yards away and had stayed long enough I should have been able to kill him easy.
Never got a picture of the buck either.