3rd year's the charm.
 

This has been my third year hunting whitetail; the previous two years I was unsuccessful in harvesting anything other than knowledge (both in the field, and vicariously through a lot of reading). I saw a number of animals both years however, never had an opportunity for a shot.

Due to work and family life my ability to do much preseason scouting was extremely limited, but I went into the season with eager anticipation. I have always told myself that, for my first dee, I was not going to be picky - I would take the first animal that was within comfortable range for a shot and in an ethical position (for myself this means a clear line to the chest cavity).

My first day out I did not see any deer and very limited fresh sign, I have hunted the same area every year and the lack of sign was concerning and out of character for the area. I did see moose (as I always seem to find), and plenty of coyote tracks plus two live animals. Wanting to check the same area again my next time out, I was relieved to find ample fresh sign.

I started the day well before legal light so I could be in position at that magical hour. I saw nothing on my morning sit. I spent several hours still hunting and looking for more sign. I did another sit mid-day with nothing showing it's face. I had a couple of spots picked for an evening sit but was rather uncertain about where to go. After I made my decision I made my way in, as I got closer I spooked a deer out - knowing that there was movement in the area I quietly got settled and began the slow, cold waiting game.

Birds flew, raven's kraaed, the sun shifted, the moose came out of the trees, and I got cold. Then I saw movement. Straining my eyes I could see, through the thickness of the undergrowth, a deer slowly moving towards my open window. I got ready and waited. When the deer stepped out I could tell it was a small whitetail doe. I bent my head down only to discover my scope had been fogged over by my breath. Taking a moment I cleaned it off, the deer had shifted but was still in my window. I leaned in, put the crosshairs on her shoulder, slowed my breathing, and squeezed the trigger.

The deer dropped instantly. I chambered another round and stood in case she got up - kicking a few times she stopped moving. I gathered my things and walked the 50 yards to where she lay. The small, lifeless body was motionless.

I got back to my vehicle 1.5 hours later - dragging the carcass over dead timber and then 5 km of trial was a challenge indeed. I gutted and skinned the animal, butchering it the next day. We had the first meal last night, delicious.

Three years have lead to this point and I couldn't have been happier. A young animal, yes. A small animal, yes. But for me, rewarding all the same.

From forest to table! Nothing wrong with that eh.:sHa_shakeshout:

Excellent, congrats!

Nice work! It gets easier the more you do it. Learn lots of little tricks along the way.

This thread is awesome. My definition of trophy hunting. Congrats on your trophy and happy eating

Great read!

Inspiring for someone like myself who is just at the initial stages of getting organized for a first season next year.

Matt

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Happy eating sir! Sounds like it was well worth the adventure and the perseverance

So the anti's only ever focus on the kill as if were blood lust Neanderthals. But this story of your first harvest pretty much sums up most of us and our sport. it's about the whole package.

Congrats on your first animal. I still remember my first, a tiny doe. I was so proud and sad at the same time, still get the same feelings 30 + yrs later.

Nice post Op.

That's good to hear I'm not the only one, this was my first year hunting and got myself a yearling. A tiny buck that I thought was a doe. Very proud I was capable of doing it, sad at the same time. Shot it through both lungs and dropped it instantly. Not a big trophy buck but it's a delicious deer and lots of time learning from friends how to butcher and clean it. I did enjoy the whole package of hiking to my locations, enjoying the sunrise and sunset, and peaceful quiet time to myself. Completely makes sense why it's easy to love it, just to get away from everything. Definitely won't be my last year, still plenty to learn and experience.

But congrats to the OP on your first deer as well, sounds like quite the experience!

Congrats on your deer as well!

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback. In years to come I will add challenges to my hunts (read, be more selective), but I will certainly never forget my first deer.

It's a weird feeling not having a deer tag in my pocket still. I set aside all my free time this month to go hunting, it will be nice to get out for some grouse and hares before December (since, historically I've been focused on deer until the 30th). Hopefully I'll come across those coyotes again too, there are a lot out there for sure.

A hippie gets a deer, awesome. Enjoy the meat, congrats!

Go
 

Go get your supplemental sand keep on hunting. There's still lots of season left. Seems like populations are good and the off season is long. Welcome to the addiction.

That right there is huntin:sHa_shakeshout::sHa_shakeshout:congrats on a successful one

BTT for a great thread

This was excellent to read!

Having my young daughter come out now has made it all new and fresh. Her successes have become my greatest moments and i get that same sense from your story.

Good work.

Excellent!

Congrats!! You never forget your first, and everyone's first is a genuine trophy! No better eating than a young animal (tastes better than antlers look).

Well earned!

Congrats dude! Now go get another one! :-)
I'm 3 years in myself...still empty handed.
What do you mean by "a sit"? Not a blind or a stand but just...sitting on the ground? Were you hidden in a spruce tree or something? You shot the doe at 50 yards, but what sort of terrain were you looking out onto? Were you dragging a scent wick or anything?

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

No synthetic blind or stand, just sitting in natural cover, usually on the ground but I carry something to sit on, with a clear line of sight to where I previously noted good sign (used trail or scrape). Sitting still is by far the hardest part for me, especially once the chill sets in.

On my successful sit I sat on a fallen tree with cover in front (branches and some underbrush). I was looking into a clearing with a lot of regrowth happening (a fire came through here about 10 years ago); on the far side was tall and thick pine, to both my left and right was a lot of underbrush. I wanted to sit on the opposite side of said clearing as the underbrush would not have obscured my sight to the same extent but alas, the wind was wrong for that.

No scents, no calls. Just found the sign and waited patiently (or at times, not so patiently).

Congrats on harvesting a white-tail deer! Thanks for sharing your experience, it'll give me some motivation for the next couple days before the general tag runs out on me. This will be my first white-tail too if I am lucky!

nice one
 

nice one

Me too, I always have mixed emotions sad and happy, but it's the whole package deal that keeps me doing it, the kill is least for me. You use the animal and don't waste it, and respect it.

x2 Hippy, you might want to start putting in for moose draws, antlerless moose if you can in your area. By the time you get drawn you might be ready for a nice yummy yearling.

Congrats man! Still waiting on my first - enjoy it.

Congratulations on your first deer! Great story.

Just curious if you dragged it back to your vehicle and then gutted it as it sounds like that's what you did.

If so you should gut it right away to start it cooling down. It is also easier to drag.

Cheers

I've told my wife that I want to start building some priority for a moose draw - she loves moose meat and is all for it!

I had every intention of gutting in the field before the long drag and had all the neccessary tools with me however, I hit a couple of road bumps on this. a) the batteries in my headlamp were dying, when I went to replace them I dropped one of the new ones in the snow, never to be recovered. With light quickly fading and no lamp field dressing was out of the question; and b) my hands were like blocks of ice until I started the long drag. Next time!

That's a drag.....:sign0161:

I don't hunt stands anymore, but when I did it was pretty much just what you call "a sit". I've never had luck with anything more permanent than a lawn chair and some camo netting, more often just a plastic bag full of leaves on a log. Any time I put up an actual blind or tree stand the wind would always be wrong when I hunted it.

It took me a few seasons to get my first deer too, once I got the first one though things have gotten progressively better ever since. This year was one of my best season's ever, and next year will probably be better. The learning never stops with this sport.