I shot my first deer today!

CarJunkieLS1 · November 30, 2013, 05:12 PM

Today was my second day of deer hunting EVER and it was a sucessful one. I start my day at 4:00 am this morning getting a shower (scent free soap) and getting dressed in all my camo attire. I make the drive over to my mentors hunting spot where he is meeting me I get there a little early so I'm waiting for him. It's a chilly 30* morning the crescent moon and stars brightly shining in the cloudless night sky. He shows up at 5:30 am and we walk across the creek and head out to the stand its a long 1/2 mile walk trying to be as quiet and quick as possible. Its a bright night we can see the path without using our flashlights. We make it to the shooting house and climb inside the windows are closed we turn on the tap light and continue to getting ready. I hear the clicks of magazines being loaded and bolts being closed under the dim light both weapons are rested in the corners and the light switches off.

It's getting close to daylight so we slowly open the windows to survey the field as I open the window to my right I see a sillhouette about 50 yards away looking right at me. It's still dark so we just sit back and quietly wait. That doe stands there for a few minutes and moves on to the gap in the woods behind us towards the field. It's 5:56 am and the sun is barely peeking over the trees a doe is standing in the clearing to my right ~60yds away staring straight at me.

I get the go ahead from my mentor to shoot only if I can clearly see the deer in my crosshairs so I slowly edge my Tikka T3 .270 Win out of the corner and onto the window sill all the while that doe is staring at me. I dial my scopes power down to 4x power and find the doe in my crosshair. I can clearly see the doe and I give the signal that I have a shot. I place the crosshair directly on the brisket and take a deep breath my crosshairs are steady as I squeeze the trigger all I see if a bright flash and a few deer run off to my right out of sight. It's 5:57 am

I can hardly keep my composure I'm literally shaking wondering was it a good shot, did I miss, did it fall, how far did it run, all the bad stuff. We wait it seems like an excruciating 30 minutes and deer keep showing up so we just wait to see what happens its been an hour now and a doe eases into the field she is casually grazing and my "mentor" decides to take a shot. Its a perfect broadside shot at ~75 yards he raises his Remington Sportsman 74 .30-06 and drops that doe where she stood.

After waiting another 30 minutes we climb down and go to look for blood where my deer was standing. We don't find blood but 30 yards from where she was there she is down and expired. The entrance wound was dead center in the brisket and the bullet never exited. Upon gutting the top half of the heart was completely gone with no other evidence of damage. We suspect the bullet was inside the gut pile somewhere. She had to die quickly which I am very thankful for. Here are the pics of the 2 does the first two pictures are the doe that I shot and the other two are the doe my mentor shot. ENJOY! Sorry for the novel of a story but I'm still pumped and didn't want to miss a single detail

big al hunter · November 30, 2013, 05:25 PM

Congratulations!!!. Your first of many.....I can tell your hooked

. Nice job too. My son and I are going out tomorrow, hoping he will connect on his first deer.

huntinaz · November 30, 2013, 05:49 PM

Good job!

CarJunkieLS1 · November 30, 2013, 06:33 PM

Thanks guys yes I am hooked and I plan on going a few more times this year. And Big Al good luck to you and your son and be safe.

Chad.C · November 30, 2013, 06:55 PM

Nice job but where are you hunting if it was 30 degrees your lucky it was 5 in NY today and the stove running out of wood didn't help nothing like waking up with frozen nose hairs

CarJunkieLS1 · November 30, 2013, 06:58 PM

I'm hunting in Alabama. And it was 22°F yesterday and I froze my butt off. If it was 5° I'd stay at home. Lol

baddarryl · November 30, 2013, 07:52 PM

Awesome. Loved the part about the crescent moon. Saw that this am in NC on a dove hunt. 32 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful!

Vermonter · November 30, 2013, 08:02 PM

Gotta love a successful hunt. Congrats. I cant wait for muzzleloader season so I can take one of the doe I have been seeing.

.284 · November 30, 2013, 08:02 PM

That's good eat'in. Now you have to set your sites on a buck.

Nice job!

BTW, I took my first deer with a chest shot facing dead at me.

Panfisher · November 30, 2013, 08:15 PM

Well Done Sir, Well Done!

CarJunkieLS1 · November 30, 2013, 09:29 PM

Thanks guys for all the kind words. I had a great time and will be something I always remember. I'm glad it was a good clean kill and she passed quickly.

taylorce1 · November 30, 2013, 09:31 PM

Great job! That's some good eating right there.

shortwave · November 30, 2013, 09:48 PM

Fantastic!

Will be some fine eating.

Bet that yote you saw the other day is eating well tonight also.

Brian Pfleuger · November 30, 2013, 09:50 PM

Congratulations!

Sure Shot Mc Gee · November 30, 2013, 09:59 PM

Nice size deer for anyone's freezer. I hope you kept that empty cartridge as a momento? You did OK. My congratulations tonight ~~Yes indeed. S/S_

CarJunkieLS1 · December 1, 2013, 08:00 AM

I did keep the cartridge casing. It is sitting on the mantle in the living room.

jimbob86 · December 7, 2013, 03:05 AM

Quote:

I dial my scopes power down to 4x power and find the doe in my crosshair.

First, Congratulations! ..... and it never gets old- I've done in dozens, and the whole nervousness, second guessing, etc., never ends ......

Second- a tip: start with the scope on the lowest setting- if the animal is so far out that you need to see him better, then you'll have ample time to crank the power up. The reverse is not always true: If a buck sneaks up behind you and you have the scope dialed up to 9X, there is no time to dial it down, an you may well get busted trying ..... and finding a buck @ 15 feet in your scope dialed up to 9X is ....... challenging (?)(which is the PC version of "harder'n Chinese Algebra) .... BTDT, and learned something.........

Quote:

I did keep the cartridge casing. It is sitting on the mantle in the living room.

Do yourself a favor, and take it to one of those little trophy/award shops, and have the date engraved on it ..... costs next to nothing, and will keep you from throwing it in the practice brass box .....

Todd1700 · December 7, 2013, 04:08 AM

Congrats! Lot of good eating right there. Hope it's just the first of many.

NHSHOOTER · December 7, 2013, 04:48 AM

Congrats to you on your first deer, I really liked the story leading up to the shot, great description.

MTT TL · December 7, 2013, 11:41 AM

Congrats. The best part is still to come... the eating...

Buzzard Bait · December 7, 2013, 03:36 PM

Welcome to the club, it never gets old. I shot my first in 1964, it's just as exciting today. The only thing that has topped it was when my daughter shot her first deer and I got to experience her excitement.
bb

cnimrod · December 7, 2013, 06:35 PM

and don't apologize for the length of the story, I find it a sign of respect to the animal. once I got a computer I started keeping a diary of all my hunting experiences, whether i got a deer or not. I find it reinforces lessons learned.

Skunked in NY- guess I'm still learning :-)
Cliff

November 30, 2013, 05:12 PM	#1
CarJunkieLS1 Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2013 Posts: 686	I shot my first deer today! Today was my second day of deer hunting EVER and it was a sucessful one. I start my day at 4:00 am this morning getting a shower (scent free soap) and getting dressed in all my camo attire. I make the drive over to my mentors hunting spot where he is meeting me I get there a little early so I'm waiting for him. It's a chilly 30* morning the crescent moon and stars brightly shining in the cloudless night sky. He shows up at 5:30 am and we walk across the creek and head out to the stand its a long 1/2 mile walk trying to be as quiet and quick as possible. Its a bright night we can see the path without using our flashlights. We make it to the shooting house and climb inside the windows are closed we turn on the tap light and continue to getting ready. I hear the clicks of magazines being loaded and bolts being closed under the dim light both weapons are rested in the corners and the light switches off. It's getting close to daylight so we slowly open the windows to survey the field as I open the window to my right I see a sillhouette about 50 yards away looking right at me. It's still dark so we just sit back and quietly wait. That doe stands there for a few minutes and moves on to the gap in the woods behind us towards the field. It's 5:56 am and the sun is barely peeking over the trees a doe is standing in the clearing to my right ~60yds away staring straight at me. I get the go ahead from my mentor to shoot only if I can clearly see the deer in my crosshairs so I slowly edge my Tikka T3 .270 Win out of the corner and onto the window sill all the while that doe is staring at me. I dial my scopes power down to 4x power and find the doe in my crosshair. I can clearly see the doe and I give the signal that I have a shot. I place the crosshair directly on the brisket and take a deep breath my crosshairs are steady as I squeeze the trigger all I see if a bright flash and a few deer run off to my right out of sight. It's 5:57 am I can hardly keep my composure I'm literally shaking wondering was it a good shot, did I miss, did it fall, how far did it run, all the bad stuff. We wait it seems like an excruciating 30 minutes and deer keep showing up so we just wait to see what happens its been an hour now and a doe eases into the field she is casually grazing and my "mentor" decides to take a shot. Its a perfect broadside shot at ~75 yards he raises his Remington Sportsman 74 .30-06 and drops that doe where she stood. After waiting another 30 minutes we climb down and go to look for blood where my deer was standing. We don't find blood but 30 yards from where she was there she is down and expired. The entrance wound was dead center in the brisket and the bullet never exited. Upon gutting the top half of the heart was completely gone with no other evidence of damage. We suspect the bullet was inside the gut pile somewhere. She had to die quickly which I am very thankful for. Here are the pics of the 2 does the first two pictures are the doe that I shot and the other two are the doe my mentor shot. ENJOY! Sorry for the novel of a story but I'm still pumped and didn't want to miss a single detail

November 30, 2013, 05:25 PM	#2
big al hunter Senior Member Join Date: March 12, 2011 Location: Washington state Posts: 1,558	Congratulations!!!. Your first of many.....I can tell your hooked. Nice job too. My son and I are going out tomorrow, hoping he will connect on his first deer. __________________ You can't fix stupid....however ignorance can be cured through education!

November 30, 2013, 05:49 PM	#3
huntinaz Senior Member Join Date: September 21, 2010 Location: az Posts: 1,332	Good job! __________________ "When there’s lead in the air, there’s hope in the heart”- Hunter’s Proverb "Feed me, or feed me to something. I just want to be part of the food chain." -Al Bundy

November 30, 2013, 06:55 PM	#5
Chad.C Senior Member Join Date: July 15, 2013 Posts: 100	Nice job but where are you hunting if it was 30 degrees your lucky it was 5 in NY today and the stove running out of wood didn't help nothing like waking up with frozen nose hairs __________________ Life is not like a box of chocolates... It's more like a jar of jalapenos: What you do today might burn your a** tomorrow!

November 30, 2013, 08:02 PM	#8
Vermonter Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2010 Posts: 962	yessir Gotta love a successful hunt. Congrats. I cant wait for muzzleloader season so I can take one of the doe I have been seeing.

November 30, 2013, 06:33 PM	#4
CarJunkieLS1 Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2013 Posts: 686	Thanks guys yes I am hooked and I plan on going a few more times this year. And Big Al good luck to you and your son and be safe.

November 30, 2013, 06:58 PM	#6
CarJunkieLS1 Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2013 Posts: 686	I'm hunting in Alabama. And it was 22°F yesterday and I froze my butt off. If it was 5° I'd stay at home. Lol

November 30, 2013, 07:52 PM	#7
baddarryl Senior Member Join Date: March 29, 2011 Location: Cape Fear! Posts: 1,683	Awesome. Loved the part about the crescent moon. Saw that this am in NC on a dove hunt. 32 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful!

November 30, 2013, 08:02 PM	#9
.284 Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2009 Location: davison, michigan Posts: 665	That's good eat'in. Now you have to set your sites on a buck. Nice job! BTW, I took my first deer with a chest shot facing dead at me. __________________ Guns have only two enemies, rust and politicians! Deer are amazing creatures....so please don't burn the sauteed onions and I'll pass on the steak sauce, thank you.

November 30, 2013, 08:15 PM	#10
Panfisher Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2010 Location: Missouri Posts: 1,337	Well Done Sir, Well Done!

November 30, 2013, 09:29 PM	#11
CarJunkieLS1 Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2013 Posts: 686	Thanks guys for all the kind words. I had a great time and will be something I always remember. I'm glad it was a good clean kill and she passed quickly.

November 30, 2013, 09:31 PM	#12
taylorce1 Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2005 Location: On the Santa Fe Trail Posts: 8,242	Great job! That's some good eating right there. __________________ NRA Life Member

November 30, 2013, 09:48 PM	#13
shortwave Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2007 Location: SOUTHEAST, OHIO Posts: 5,970	Fantastic! Will be some fine eating. Bet that yote you saw the other day is eating well tonight also.

November 30, 2013, 09:50 PM	#14
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	I shot my first deer today! Congratulations!

November 30, 2013, 09:59 PM	#15
Sure Shot Mc Gee Senior Member Join Date: January 2, 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,876	Nice size deer for anyone's freezer. I hope you kept that empty cartridge as a momento? You did OK. My congratulations tonight ~~Yes indeed. S/S_

December 1, 2013, 08:00 AM	#16
CarJunkieLS1 Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2013 Posts: 686	I did keep the cartridge casing. It is sitting on the mantle in the living room.

December 7, 2013, 04:08 AM	#18
Todd1700 Senior Member Join Date: August 5, 2008 Posts: 192	Congrats! Lot of good eating right there. Hope it's just the first of many.

December 7, 2013, 04:48 AM	#19
NHSHOOTER Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2012 Location: Concord NH Posts: 1,002	Congrats to you on your first deer, I really liked the story leading up to the shot, great description.

December 7, 2013, 11:41 AM	#20
MTT TL Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2009 Location: Quadling Country Posts: 2,780	Congrats. The best part is still to come... the eating... __________________ Thus a man should endeavor to reach this high place of courage with all his heart, and, so trying, never be backward in war.

December 7, 2013, 03:36 PM	#21
Buzzard Bait Senior Member Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 502	yum yum I smell straps cooking Welcome to the club, it never gets old. I shot my first in 1964, it's just as exciting today. The only thing that has topped it was when my daughter shot her first deer and I got to experience her excitement. bb

December 7, 2013, 06:35 PM	#22
cnimrod Senior Member Join Date: September 24, 2009 Location: NJ/NY Posts: 152	Congrats! and don't apologize for the length of the story, I find it a sign of respect to the animal. once I got a computer I started keeping a diary of all my hunting experiences, whether i got a deer or not. I find it reinforces lessons learned. Skunked in NY- guess I'm still learning :-) Cliff

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