I grew up going hunting. We hunted deer and pheasants. My dad wasn't a very successful deer hunter but he did bring home an occasional spike or forkhorn. We hunted the foothills mostly. We did lots of hiking and spotted occasional does and every so often a buck. Sometimes he hit it sometimes he missed it. Pheasant hunting was the best. We farmed about 40 acres that was just big enough to provide some awesome pheasant hunting.
I worked for a farm as a teenager and one year the farmer's son brought home a once in a lifetime buck. It was massive. He fit it in the back of his jeep and brought it to the farm right off the mountain. He hit it on the run with one bullet. I was awestruck by the deer. I couldn't believe they got that big. I told him if I saw one that big I would take a shot at the deer probably miss and then have to clean my pants out. It won most of the trophy contests in the county that year. I decided right then that I had a lot to learn about hunting. I tagged along with his family deer hunting as often as I could so I could learn as much as possible. This meant that I didn't go hunting with my dad but he was ok with it... At least he told me it was ok. Being young and dumb I didn't think much about it.
The next year my friend said he was going hunting deer. It was only August and I wondered how he could go in August. He said he was going flipper-sticker hunting. I had no idea what that was. He told me it was bow-hunting. I thought he was crazy and wondered how anyone could shoot a deer with a bow. He went. He went but failed to fill his tag. When the October hunt came along he went out again and got a nice heavy 3-point buck which was big but not as big as the last one. I tagged along with him for that hunt and was the driver and never saw a live buck.
That got me hooked on hunting and I have had some good years and some years I never punched a tag. More of one than the other. I have yet to find or even take a shot at a buck as big as the one he got that year. I still love hunting. I love being out when the leaves change and mornings are cold and frosty. It is experiencing the outdoors at its best that keeps me going.
I worked for a farm as a teenager and one year the farmer's son brought home a once in a lifetime buck. It was massive. He fit it in the back of his jeep and brought it to the farm right off the mountain. He hit it on the run with one bullet. I was awestruck by the deer. I couldn't believe they got that big. I told him if I saw one that big I would take a shot at the deer probably miss and then have to clean my pants out. It won most of the trophy contests in the county that year. I decided right then that I had a lot to learn about hunting. I tagged along with his family deer hunting as often as I could so I could learn as much as possible. This meant that I didn't go hunting with my dad but he was ok with it... At least he told me it was ok. Being young and dumb I didn't think much about it.
The next year my friend said he was going hunting deer. It was only August and I wondered how he could go in August. He said he was going flipper-sticker hunting. I had no idea what that was. He told me it was bow-hunting. I thought he was crazy and wondered how anyone could shoot a deer with a bow. He went. He went but failed to fill his tag. When the October hunt came along he went out again and got a nice heavy 3-point buck which was big but not as big as the last one. I tagged along with him for that hunt and was the driver and never saw a live buck.
That got me hooked on hunting and I have had some good years and some years I never punched a tag. More of one than the other. I have yet to find or even take a shot at a buck as big as the one he got that year. I still love hunting. I love being out when the leaves change and mornings are cold and frosty. It is experiencing the outdoors at its best that keeps me going.