1st buck with a bow
1st “big” buck
1st bowkill from the ground
1st mature buck
10th consecutive buck with a bow

And things that are hopefully not too far down the road
1st deer with traditional gear
Elk with a bow
50th bowkill

Been BOWhunting 2+ seasons:

Done

1. Become Proficient
2. First Bowkill
3. First Bowkill Buck
4. First Mountable buck (relative....but I have 2)
5. First 3.5 yr old Buck
6. First 4.5 yr old Buck
7.2 Deerin same day
8. Achieved mgmt. goal of doe reduction for the season ('07)
9. First turkey with a bow
10. First deer in unfamiliar woods
11.First 3.5 yr old doe
12. Won a 3D shoot
13.Went through the '06 season with no "unknowns"
14.Took first ever "targeted" buck (4.5 yr old, from above)

Yet to do

1. First trad bowkill
2. Win an outdoor 3D shoot
3. Take an animal outside of NC
4. 20th Bowkill (whitetails)
5. I want to take a VERY mature doe

I want to take 100 whitetail bucks with archery gear in my lifetime. That will require a lot of NR tags, a lot of time and a lot of gas, but I like my chances.If I take care of myself, I'll have 30+ good years left. That's an outrageous amount of deer - but if I have the vacation time, I can do it.

One goal that I haveevery year is to keep my streak alive, and take at least one whitetail buck with archery gear for 30 years in a row. I'm going on 14 or 15 years in a row now.

Since I was a kid - I always wanted to have taken abow buckwith 1-10 scorable points. I've got the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Since the unicorn is now protected in PA, it looks like I'm going to have to get him in Ohio, Maryland or WV (or elsewhere). You wouldn't believe how tough it is to find and kill a true unicorn.

And I want a double-throat patch buck. Bad. Really bad.

One booner. I'll settle for 165+.

Once I have the spare dough and time, I would also like to attempt to do something that nobody has ever done before:take a whitetail with the lightest arrow ever built for hunting. Just to leave a footprint on the world, however small- so as to look back and say "I did something that nobody else has ever done." I'd get a big bang out of that.

Most importantly - I always want to continue to do things my way. Not somebody else's way. My way. Trust what I know - ignore the criticism. Ignore the mainstream. If there's one thing I know about archery, and this industry:it's a fad-driven, constipated discipline, where the masses follow the marketing like sheep to a shepherd. I will never be cut from that mold.

Once I'm old and finished - I'd like to write a book. Probably a very controversial one. I'd write it my way. And it would be entertaining.

Kill me now

Milestones..

-First elk, bear, turkey and buck with a bow.. all cool stuff..

-killing that first buck that I targeted back in 1998 and got in 00
-the 03 season, the first year I targeted two different P/Ybucks and killed them both.. the first that year being my largest whitetail kill
-05 doubling up on two more PY bucks
-07 getting possibly my oldest buck..and one that took me three years to finally get an arrow in...still waiting to hear back on his tooth sample..

1. First deer with a rifle

2. First deer with a bow

3. First turkey with a bow

4. First muzzleloader kill, 2 bucks!

My first deer with a bow. (1991)
My first buck with a bow.(1992)
My first deer on video (2006)
My biggest & targetbuck also video (2006)
My first Antelope on Video(2007)

Getting them on video has created a whole new aspect for me in regards to milestones. Fun stuff!

I have no milestones because I set no expectations. I have, since day one when I started to hunt (either with a bow or gun) just gone out and enjoyed the outdoors and the hunt itself.

There will always be a "first" obviouslybut no milestones for me.

DONE:

1. First Whitetail Bowkill
2. First Whitetail Buck Bowkill
3. First Black Bear Bow Kill
4. First Turkey bow Kill.
5. 5 Consecutive successful turkey seasons (last two bow kills)
6. First Caribou Bow Kill
7. Kept to my buck standards in '07' and didn't shoot a deer I was unhappy with.

TO DO:

1. Score on Minnesota's "once in a lifetime moose hunt"
2. Take an elk with my bow
3. Take a P and Y whitetail in MN and MT in the same year
3. Grand Slam Turkeys with my bow (in the same year)

My first archery hunt (My 12th birthday...first hunt ever): 2000
My first archery shot (didn't follow through and watched the arrow go over the does back): 2002
My first archery kill (rabbit at 20yds): 2002
My first archery deer (also my first archery buck and first buck ever): 2004
My first(only)wounded deer: 2005....not a proud milestone, but one I remember
My first difficult tracking job: 2006.....finding that doeis probably my proudest moment ever
My first NR hunt (in NH while at college): 2007


There are others, but those are the big ones. Almost every hunt has a special moment within it. I hope I have many more to come....