Deerslayer_37

my first bow deer. After bowhunting for one and a half seasons, i put the tag on a doe last fall. She jumped the string, i made a bad shot, but the next day i found her. I really haven't had any other hunts that stick out like that one.

The first deer i killed completely on my own, with nobody hunting with or near me was last year too. Was a hot day (74 degrees)during the early EAB season, and i wnated to get a doe to earn my buck tag hopefully for the regular season or catch a buck in the rut after i got the doe. i hunted hard until about 11 oclock, when i saw a doe stand up in the woods that i was trying to push around myself. i was hoping to bump a deer and stop it, then shoot it. She stood up from her bed, and i dropped her dead. I gutted her out, put her on the front of the four wheeler, and took care of hte carcass until my dad got there. doing that completely on my own was gratifying.

mauser06

last season......hunted every day i could.......WITH MONO....i got it a week or 2 before the rifle season......skipped my yearly trip to the mountains with dad we always take for the opener because i didnt want to hold him back or not beable to hunt....hunting the farmland around here is alot easier then the big woods in the mountains....walking wise atleast...and my buddys farm i hunted was a short walk......got dizzy by the end......and had major fatuige all season......first day i hunted alone till noonish when my buddys came through on a drive....as we planned....and picked me up......and let me sit in the BEST spot.....CLOSEST to the road....and tried like heck to funnel the deer my way....saw lots of deer......rifle season ended with no deer.......then flintlock came.......tried long and hard......still getting tired easy.....but hunted hard as a could....which is still alot harder then most guys hunt when they dont have MONO....missed a nice doe with the flinter....my sights were falling off loose and i had no idea.....that was near the end....so the last day we were allowed to take our rifles for does if we choose too......and i did.....last drive of the day.....last day......last light...a group of does came out of the drive.....lined up on one BAM...dropped her perfectly.......ran over.....tagged and and there was one running through the field still......bleated with my mouth.....got it to stop.....BAM....dropped that one too.......double on does.....last day.....last drive....sure i took them deer out of drives.....but i hunted every chance i got last season.....WITH MONO.......and hunted harder then most guys do when they arent sick.....

Pro-Line

Mine wasn't physically demanding, but was rough on my nerves.

About 5 yrs ago on our farm in WV, I found a group of isolated white oaks dropping acorns. I camped out about an hour before daylight in a stand nearby. I had deer around me all morning, but nothing good. Then a modest 8pt snuck in and bedded RIGHT under my stand. I mean RIGHT UNDER. There were about 100 branches between me and him...so no shot.

I sat in that stand from about 10am until nearly 3pm with that buck about 8yds away the entire time. I think I moved an inch the whole time.

He finally stood...shook himself off and began feeding. I made a good shot, and he went down in sight. I was so freakin tired (mentally)after that order I could hardly drag him out. LOL

Allen Denton

My biggest deer to date really was not a working hard buck, but a sticking it out when others went home. So I guess I earned it. We run dogs in VA and it was really cold, for VA, and fplks were starting to get up and go back to camp, I heard a dog off in the distance and could tell the dog wass circling around and around. I stayed put and when it was almost no more shooting light he busted into the field and I got a shot. It was already getting dark so I marked the spot and waited until morning. I took no time getting back at first light and within an hour I found the buck.

Alsatian

My first deer, a doe, was such an "earned deer."

The season was nine days long -- two Saturdays, two Sundays, and one mid-week sandwiched in between. I hunted every day morning and night, and on five of the nine days stayed in the field and hunted all day long. I woke up every morning about 4:15 AM to shower, eat, drive to the hunting ground, and be on stand by about 6 AM for a 6:30 AM shooting light deadline and 7 AM sun-up time. On the last day I was tired and had a blister starting on my heel when I went down to my last ground blind for the afternoon hunt. I was down there awhile and realized it was cooling off and I would need my heavy overalls to stay warm and persist to the end of the hunt. The overalls were in my truck on the other side of the 160 acres I was hunting. The thought of just packing up and going home crossed my mind, but I walked back to the truck over the uneven ground -- with the nascent blister bothering me a little -- got my overalls, and returned to the ground blind.

About 15 minutes after the sun went down -- meaning only 15 minutes left in the season (Oklahoma shooting hours extend from 30 minutes before sun-rise to 30 minutes after sun-set) -- something caused me to look further to the right than the field of fire I was concentrating on. It was a doe, peeking directly at me out of a creek bed. I thought about moving to get a steadier hold, but decided this might well spook the doe. I shot. She dropped in her tracks. I quickly gutted her and carried her out on my shoulder -- 90 LBS field dressed -- which was a lot easier than it would have been to drag her out. I felt like a million bucks. Persistence definitely paid off in this case.

My two subsequent seasons I bagged a deer on the opening morning, so no long suspenseful hunt. I continued to hunt the rest of the season, because I had a tag for both sexes, but did not tag an additional deer in either case, but with one deer already taken in the season the hunger to bag another deer is diminished.

i shoot stuff

masuer06 i hate mono i have it right now ALONG with strup throat. i would have to say the deer i earned was the first time i really hunted by myself. i had been bowhunting before gunseason missed abunch of deer includingA REALLY BIG 8 POINT. so the first day of shotgun season i went to the spot i had been hunting during bowseason. saw about 2 bucks and a bunch of does about 150 yards away running and stopped about in front of me out of the ravine i was in on the other side i grunted at them like crazy one buck walked in but saw me and ran with the others. herd a gunshot about 2 or 3 more ran out in the feild ahed of me. at this time im pissed cause iv seen more deer than most see in one season. finally i looked up and saw a doe walkin towards me. i stood up because the way i was sitting i would of fell over tryin to shoot her. im kinda moving behind the tree im usin as cover she sees me to. so i say screw leave and walk to my uncles wich is right by me. im hunting in his cow feilds/woods. my cousin is allready there gettin ready to go to a differnt spot. so we walk out together because were hes goning and were im going u can get there the same way. so were walkin in he heres something but we dont see it. were about 100 or more yards in and i say im goin in here. and he walks on up to my other uncles house. i sit down in one spot for about 5 seconds didnt like it because i cant shoot good there. moved about 10 feet behind that spot sat down put my head against the tree looked up and 2 does walkin right by me stand up and cap one about 80-100 yards away through trees running. it took me about 8 shots to kill this deer i shot her about 7 times in spine ribs etc. she stopped moving went got my grandpaw came back shes up and moving again! run back grab my 12 gauge and cap her in the head. then we gutted her and took her in. i think i earned her becasue of all the work i put in during bowseason and gunseason.

WrackMaster

It was 1974 and I was 16 years old.We(dad,grandpa,brother) drove home from hunting(about 10 miles) at noon for Thanksgiving dinner.They all got in the nap mode after eating so I drove back to the hunting land,by myself.

I parked the car and walked down the hill into the swamp/bottom land towards the LaCrosse River.After walking about 400 yards,I jumped an 8 point buck.He was hightailing it towards the river and I was trying to pick an opening between the trees for a shot. About 75 yards away he ran through a small opening and I had the bead of my 30-30 Winchester right there and shot him.

I hadn't shot very many deer up to that point and I didn't know how to field dress him so I dragged him all the way through the swamp and up the hill and then loaded him on top of the trunk of my dad's old Lincoln by myself.

I was wore out but you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.