Hey everyone! Here is the long story of the my first day of deer hunting.
So, I would say that this year has been a great year for me. Turned 18, got pretty interested in firearms, and soon after my birthday I got my P.A.L and did my hunters ed.
Fast forward, I bought a Remington 700 CDL .270 off someone on the EE, and attempted an initial sighting in.. my results were pretty poor, with groups of around 5 inches at 100 yards. Kinda frustrating, spent alot of money on ammo trying to get better groups, so I never bothered with it again the whole summer. I live in shotgun only zone, so I thought I wouldn't need it anyways.
Fast forward again. The week before deer season, my pastor, an avid hunter, calls me up and asks me if I would like to go out with him on opening day. He knows someone who has 150 acres near Carleton Place ( a deer hotspot ), and he wants to take me out. I, of course, agreed to this. This area is allowed rifles, so Sunday, I decided to go to my friends place and sight it in.
Set out my targets at 85 yards for my .22 magnum, and then I decided to see where my .270 was shooting before I put it out to 150 yards. I did some warm up shots, and then tried a group. I put 3 shots easily within an inch circle.. I was pretty astounded. So I decided to just leave it sighted in at 85 yards.
Come today, opening day of the season. Have to wake up at 3 AM, leave by 3:45.. It takes about an hour and a half to get there, and in the last half an hour I got steadily more excited. We arrived and just as we came in, my pastor's friend came out. There whole family hunts, so we had three different groups hunting this plot of land. Me and my pastor went to a far back right field. We were in one corner of the field, under some apple trees, and we looked out over the field, which had an opening in the fence on the side we were on. The deer went to this opening, and came from this opening, so it was a pretty key area.
Well, darkness started to lift. I'm enjoying the silence, and also learning things that can only come with experience, like wearing extra-thick, not just thick socks, and investing in a good pair of boots that will keep your feet warm.
Nearing 6:30, the action started.. Within the first 15 minutes, there were at least 10 gun shots that boomed into the silent morning.. None of them were from our group, but this got me even more excited. Noone would risk firing unless they had something to shoot at, which meant that the deer were about =) Well, skip to 8:30.. The firing is pretty continuous, at least a shot every 10 minutes. It sounded like alot of people were filling their tags up. We still hadn't seen or heard anything. At about 9:30 we decided to see if we could flush out some deer from another part of the area towards our friends. It was good to get up and moving and get some warmth back, but still no deer spotted.
Whenever I went into the day, I said to myself 'I full well expect to get nothing, I'll just enjoy the opportunity to get a chance at it.' I found it to be a helpful attitude to get you going throughout the day, even when things seemed hopeless.. We were back out at 10 or so after some breakfast.. I went to our original spot, and my pastor went along some cedars which led up to our field. Well, I was sitting in my spot for ten minutes and I heard a boom. My pastor had packed his shotgun, and chirped over the radio 'I got a grouse'
I thought 'Ahhh, at least we had a bit of success today'.
The next three hours were spent in the same way that I am sure many of you have throughout the years. We sat at our spot in total silence with the odd whisper between us, waiting, and hoping. I closed my eyes for about five minutes, and grew less alert over time until a rustle in the bushes made me clutch my gun again. In my mind, I had accepted the fact that today wasn't my day. Sitting out there in the field, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, its pretty hard to get your hopes up.
I was leaning back on a rock with my gun on my lap when suddenly a loud snort came from our right where the opening was.. My pastor whispered "4'oclock, a buck". I saw a flash of a tail and brown streak by the fence. Just as quickly as I saw it, it was behind some tall brambles. My heart started pounding, and my mind had to catch up to the fact that I was actually going to have to aim and hit this deer. After about 10 seconds, pranced out of the brambles, and stopped. It was a she. The buck had been chasing a doe, and she was forced into the field. She had already known I was there and now stood at 110 yards away, perfectly broadside, staring me in the face. I brought up my rifle and rested my arm on my knee. As I looked through the scope, my mentor said 'Just wait, get used to looking at it. And we'll wait to see if the buck comes'. As I zeroed in on this defiant doe, my crosshairs danced over her body. I realized that this was it, and I can't screw this one up, it was nearly 1 and I was the only one out of all of the groups to see a deer so far in the day. 5 seconds stretched into 10.. and into 15. I turned to my pastor and told him I was going to take the shot, so he nodded. I returned my focus to the doe and put my reticle over the 'vital zone' like I had read and pored over so many times before this day. Just as I was ready to take the shot she took a step forward. Then, she made the mistake of stopping and taking one last look.
A click was followed by a bang, that I am sure rang out to all the other hunters, but that I barely even heard. Through the scope, I saw her drop instantly. 130 grain bullet to the sweet spot and she wasn't even able to take a step forward.
I stared for a few more seconds and then turned around, more shaky then when I took the shot. I am sure I had the dorkiest smile on my face, and my pastor turned to me and said 'wow, what a shot'.
For the next few hours I couldn't stop smiling. The other guys came over and I got some pictures and then got some hands-on experience with gutting her. The whole experience was probably the highlight of my month.
I still can't believe it now how lucky I managed to get. Not everyone gets to bag a deer on their first day of deer hunting. It is supposed to be +15 tomorrow, so I am going to take her to the butcher in the morning.
Everyone who bagged their first deer this year feel free to share your story too!
I have no pictures yet, and sorry the story was so long. Congrats if you got through it ^^
Update:
Hey guys. So I skinned the deer yesterday morning. Went pretty well, not sure what to do with the hide though. I found the bullet up against the opposite side, right on the edge of the meat, it mushroomed pretty well. The butcher estimated the doe to be 185 pounds.. I assume she knew what she was talking about, the deer was 93 pounds when it was gutted, skinned, and the head/legs cut off. Anyone know the approximate pound of the deer with everything in it from that amount?
I added two pictures too =)
The deer looks a bit gruesome on the second shot..
So, I would say that this year has been a great year for me. Turned 18, got pretty interested in firearms, and soon after my birthday I got my P.A.L and did my hunters ed.
Fast forward, I bought a Remington 700 CDL .270 off someone on the EE, and attempted an initial sighting in.. my results were pretty poor, with groups of around 5 inches at 100 yards. Kinda frustrating, spent alot of money on ammo trying to get better groups, so I never bothered with it again the whole summer. I live in shotgun only zone, so I thought I wouldn't need it anyways.
Fast forward again. The week before deer season, my pastor, an avid hunter, calls me up and asks me if I would like to go out with him on opening day. He knows someone who has 150 acres near Carleton Place ( a deer hotspot ), and he wants to take me out. I, of course, agreed to this. This area is allowed rifles, so Sunday, I decided to go to my friends place and sight it in.
Set out my targets at 85 yards for my .22 magnum, and then I decided to see where my .270 was shooting before I put it out to 150 yards. I did some warm up shots, and then tried a group. I put 3 shots easily within an inch circle.. I was pretty astounded. So I decided to just leave it sighted in at 85 yards.
Come today, opening day of the season. Have to wake up at 3 AM, leave by 3:45.. It takes about an hour and a half to get there, and in the last half an hour I got steadily more excited. We arrived and just as we came in, my pastor's friend came out. There whole family hunts, so we had three different groups hunting this plot of land. Me and my pastor went to a far back right field. We were in one corner of the field, under some apple trees, and we looked out over the field, which had an opening in the fence on the side we were on. The deer went to this opening, and came from this opening, so it was a pretty key area.
Well, darkness started to lift. I'm enjoying the silence, and also learning things that can only come with experience, like wearing extra-thick, not just thick socks, and investing in a good pair of boots that will keep your feet warm.
Nearing 6:30, the action started.. Within the first 15 minutes, there were at least 10 gun shots that boomed into the silent morning.. None of them were from our group, but this got me even more excited. Noone would risk firing unless they had something to shoot at, which meant that the deer were about =) Well, skip to 8:30.. The firing is pretty continuous, at least a shot every 10 minutes. It sounded like alot of people were filling their tags up. We still hadn't seen or heard anything. At about 9:30 we decided to see if we could flush out some deer from another part of the area towards our friends. It was good to get up and moving and get some warmth back, but still no deer spotted.
Whenever I went into the day, I said to myself 'I full well expect to get nothing, I'll just enjoy the opportunity to get a chance at it.' I found it to be a helpful attitude to get you going throughout the day, even when things seemed hopeless.. We were back out at 10 or so after some breakfast.. I went to our original spot, and my pastor went along some cedars which led up to our field. Well, I was sitting in my spot for ten minutes and I heard a boom. My pastor had packed his shotgun, and chirped over the radio 'I got a grouse'
I thought 'Ahhh, at least we had a bit of success today'.
The next three hours were spent in the same way that I am sure many of you have throughout the years. We sat at our spot in total silence with the odd whisper between us, waiting, and hoping. I closed my eyes for about five minutes, and grew less alert over time until a rustle in the bushes made me clutch my gun again. In my mind, I had accepted the fact that today wasn't my day. Sitting out there in the field, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, its pretty hard to get your hopes up.
I was leaning back on a rock with my gun on my lap when suddenly a loud snort came from our right where the opening was.. My pastor whispered "4'oclock, a buck". I saw a flash of a tail and brown streak by the fence. Just as quickly as I saw it, it was behind some tall brambles. My heart started pounding, and my mind had to catch up to the fact that I was actually going to have to aim and hit this deer. After about 10 seconds, pranced out of the brambles, and stopped. It was a she. The buck had been chasing a doe, and she was forced into the field. She had already known I was there and now stood at 110 yards away, perfectly broadside, staring me in the face. I brought up my rifle and rested my arm on my knee. As I looked through the scope, my mentor said 'Just wait, get used to looking at it. And we'll wait to see if the buck comes'. As I zeroed in on this defiant doe, my crosshairs danced over her body. I realized that this was it, and I can't screw this one up, it was nearly 1 and I was the only one out of all of the groups to see a deer so far in the day. 5 seconds stretched into 10.. and into 15. I turned to my pastor and told him I was going to take the shot, so he nodded. I returned my focus to the doe and put my reticle over the 'vital zone' like I had read and pored over so many times before this day. Just as I was ready to take the shot she took a step forward. Then, she made the mistake of stopping and taking one last look.
A click was followed by a bang, that I am sure rang out to all the other hunters, but that I barely even heard. Through the scope, I saw her drop instantly. 130 grain bullet to the sweet spot and she wasn't even able to take a step forward.
I stared for a few more seconds and then turned around, more shaky then when I took the shot. I am sure I had the dorkiest smile on my face, and my pastor turned to me and said 'wow, what a shot'.
For the next few hours I couldn't stop smiling. The other guys came over and I got some pictures and then got some hands-on experience with gutting her. The whole experience was probably the highlight of my month.
I still can't believe it now how lucky I managed to get. Not everyone gets to bag a deer on their first day of deer hunting. It is supposed to be +15 tomorrow, so I am going to take her to the butcher in the morning.
Everyone who bagged their first deer this year feel free to share your story too!
I have no pictures yet, and sorry the story was so long. Congrats if you got through it ^^
Update:
Hey guys. So I skinned the deer yesterday morning. Went pretty well, not sure what to do with the hide though. I found the bullet up against the opposite side, right on the edge of the meat, it mushroomed pretty well. The butcher estimated the doe to be 185 pounds.. I assume she knew what she was talking about, the deer was 93 pounds when it was gutted, skinned, and the head/legs cut off. Anyone know the approximate pound of the deer with everything in it from that amount?
I added two pictures too =)
The deer looks a bit gruesome on the second shot..
Last edited:
