My experiences are actually the same. I grew up in a subdivision with NO ONE in my family that hunted. I loved it from the first time I went squirrel hunting with a fish and wildlife funded hunt. When I got my license I was able to start branching off a little more. My second time deer hunting was with a friend on a guy’s property that he knew from work. He had limited out already and jumped at the opportunity to allow the two of us to get into the sport.
When we pulled in the land owner had a little kitten that for whatever reason attached itself to me immediately. The little guy followed me to my stand and sat at the bottom or the tree crying as loud as he could until about a half hour before light. We were so excited we had gotten into the stand probably a solid hour before light. After it stopped I thought good now I can get back to hunting, or waiting. I soon realized that the kitten was in the process of climbing up the tree to get to me! He made it to the stand and I picked up off the tree and put him in my hand warmer. When it started to get light I pulled him out and put him back on the tree and he climbed down and fell asleep at the bottom of the tree. After about 30 mins of shooting light I saw two deer coming down the path. The second one was a little fork horn. The land owner had told us if you see a buck feel free to take it. I raised the mossberg that I had borrowed from a friend and fired. The little buck stumbled ran from about 50 feet and then got tripped by a low hanging fence and never moved again. As soon as the deer hit the ground that kitten ran over and jumped on top of it and started licking the blood from the wound like a lion. I had no idea what to do from there because the land owner had left for church and I was 45 mins from home. I had to have a friend’s dad talk me through field dressing over speaker phone! I know this is really long but I love telling this story because I can still remember the excitement and addiction that took hold at that point!