At the ripe 'ol age of 47 I finally got my first dear after 24 years of military duty that kept me out of the states most of my life.

Hunt was a still hunt in Northern Virginia, the day after Thanksgiving, 2006.

Saw what I thought was a doe coming down the hillside opposite the hilliside I was on. Drew a bead on the deer with my Marlin 30-30, standing, offhand, at approximately 50yards, tried to lead the dear as it walked--i didn't think of making a noise to make it stop--and shot. Hit the deer in the neck and dropped it like a sack of potatoes.

Climbed down my hill, hiked up the other side,and found out that I had shot a button buck and not a doe. Not the best choice, but it was my first dear.

Going to try blind hunting this year with a bow and see if my luck holds out and I can get a doe or a buck (a real one this time) with my bow the first year out.