Ten years...
 

Its hard to believe it (for me anyway), but this will mark my tenth year in the woods chasing whitetails. I was sifting through some of my older photos on PhotoBucket this evening and came across the pictures of the first deer I ever shot. As I thought about it, I realized thatthis would mark my tenth year in the woods.

I realize that they're firearm pictures, but I thought I'd share them with you folks. I was 10 the year I took not only my first deer, but my first grouse too. I was excited and shook up when I made the shot with my .30-06 and accidentally gut shot her. After tracking her my dad handed me his .44 Mag and I finished her off. The picture of me holding the .44 was taken directly after I shot, the gun is still back from the recoil. I was jazzed. My dad was jazzed. It was an awesome trip.

Enjoy.


Right after the shot.


The first of many.


I even gutted her on my own.


First grouse.

I've come a long way since that first hunting trip, and I owe a lot of what I've learned to the folks here on HNI. You guys are like a second family to me, and I appreciate all the help and support you've given me over the years. Here's to the next ten.

RE: Ten years...
 

Nice pics (dork:eek::D)

RE: Ten years...
 

Ahhh...Happy.....Congrats and hope yu have lots more yrs out in the woods...
Lets see..10yrs old..no cell phone,no computors,lincoln logs,bb guns H&R 410 and 20gauge,banana bikes,GI Joes,Hot wheels,johnny Quest,O the memorys....

RE: Ten years...
 

Tell me about it Dan. Its been 40 seasons for me, minus a fewforUncle Sam Overseas.

RE: Ten years...
 

It even seems weird to be turning 20 this year. I know, its only going to get worse. [&:]

RE: Ten years...
 

Yeh i turn 20 this year too[&:]..."they grow up so fast"...lol.

Very cool pics i wish i had more hunting pics of me when i was younger.

RE: Ten years...
 

I'm in the turning 20 club as well. Where'd the time go?

RE: Ten years...
 

Count me in for the club as well. I'll be 20 in Sept.

RE: Ten years...
 

You young punks!!;)

RE: Ten years...
 

Add another- Ill be 20 in July- just got my first bow for Christmas.

RE: Ten years...
 

Wow! I just realized............I have more time on stand then you guys have been alive![:-]

Congrats on your first decade in the woods, hope you have many more.

RE: Ten years...
 

Congrats. You are just getting started!

RE: Ten years...
 

Congrats Washinton on your first 10!!!!!:D Man I wish Iwas still on my first 10, I am going on 34 seasons in the woods. Heck when I started hunting here in Michigan you weren't legally allowed to hunt out of tree stands, and then when they finally started letting us we get the ol baker death trap!! Walt

RE: Ten years...
 

Ha im only turning 19....you old farts!;)

RE: Ten years...
 

That happens when you're older than dirt. :D

Congrats to the young face painter on a decade in the woods, chasing the majestic whitetail. This fall I not only turn 28 and will be getting married (), but it will also mark my 16th year in the whitetail woodsand I still have no idea what I'm doing. However, if I knew 10 years ago what I think I know now, I have a feeling I'd have a few more deer adorning my walls. Man, I feel old.

Wally - when I attended my bowhunter's education class back in 1991 the course instructor used an old Baker climber to show us how a climbing stand worked. I remember it was the first climber I had ever seen and I thought it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. I wonder how many people fell out of trees, or nearly fell out of trees, while using one of those stands?

RE: Ten years...
 

Like Greg, I have been hunting deer longer than you've been alive too!
That is scary.

I turn 45 next month
a few more years and i might have to have one of you young guys come to Iowa to hunt with me. I'll need someone to drag the deer out!:D

RE: Ten years...
 

Congrats Dan.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Just keep enjoying your time in the woods. It is valuable and precious time, really!

I wish I would have gotten a start on hunting and even bowhunting earlier in my life. At 24, some prime years of hunting have gotten away from me.

RE: Ten years...
 

Get worse??? The 20's were the best time of my life. All the authority of an adult, but nobody expects you to REALLY act like one yet. Lots of fun in my 20's.

Now that I'm in my mid-30's I have real responsibility and while I'd like to still go hog wild and do everything that is fun under the sun I've had to narrow my focus on what is really important...family, work, and hunting. It's not all bad though because now there is more focus on hunting...and fewer hangovers.[:'(]

RE: Ten years...
 

I'll be 25 in june, married in august of '09 and building a house this summer. I wish I could go back to the College days when I was 20 and my biggest concern was how we were going to pay for the beer for the next week. Actually I love where my life is now and probably wouldn't change anything.


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RE: Ten years...
 

this spring marks my 10th year hunting...started spring turkey when i was 12...sure seems like yesterday...turning 21 in about a month...graduating college in a year and a few months....i think im ready for the "real world" i was definently ready before this college crap....college has wierd effects on me...still have my work ethics and all that, but its definently an easy life...not working..living off loan money...free to do what i want and hunt and fish when i want if i dont have class or work to do...havent completely changed, just before college, i was working 40-60hrs a week...always been pretty self sufficient...live at home still and all that...but bought my own vehicles...pay my own bills and that...still do...just going to have to work for it later to pay it all back :D

still remember dropping that first doe with the 308...still remember dropping my first coons out of the tree..still remember the first 2 squirrels i killed with my 22...still remember that first shot i fired at a grouse and watching it fold...tons of memorys....

RE: Ten years...
 

You guys are lucky.......I've only been at it (whitetails) for 2+ seasons. Its been the "hunting" time of my life.

Congrats, Dan.;)

RE: Ten years...
 

Wow you guys are lucky- I have been shooting a bow since I was 14,but didn't start seriously hunting till I was 23, my dad just didn't have the time -

Congrats wash-on the ten year mark

RE: Ten years...
 

Congrats. on the 10 yr. mark and here's to many more. Just as other's have said, I wish I had more photos of earlier hunts. I have some, but as everybody knows, you can never have too many hunting pics. I have also spent more time in the woods than some of you have been alive and I can honestly say that it only gets better. Congrats again!

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2 more years and ill be joining you at 10. Congrats!

RE: Ten years...
 

Dido!!!:D

RE: Ten years...
 

I honestly need to thank my dad one of these days for introducing me to the sport when he did. I've been tagging along for as long as I can remember. I went on my first archery hunt with him a year before I started hunting. I started turkey hunting when I was nine. I've been shooting a bow (recurve) since I was seven. I've been fishing since I was old enough to use those old push button poles.

As young as I may be, I've got a lot of time accumulated in the outdoors, and the majority of it has been spent with my dad. I owe a lot to him.

RE: Ten years...
 

Nothing like the present, Dan.;)

Call him.

RE: Ten years...
 

Shoot, I still live with him, Jeff. :D

I showed my appreciation this summer. I bought him a brand new bow. Its just when I think about it, I know I've never actually said thank you.

RE: Ten years...
 

Congrat's on the 10 I'm at 26 years and some of my most vivid memories are of hunting.( I just read that makes me sound like a geezer.) [:@]

Hope you have many more great years.

RE: Ten years...
 

Hey I'm not telling you what to do, Dan....at all. Not at all.....

BUT.....I know there are a LOT of guys who have likely put off saying things to their loved ones.....and never got to say them. I can't pinpoint a time when I left something unsaid.....but I'd give a lot to be able to say some things I didn't think of at the time.

Just take that with a grain of salt.....that's how it's intended.;)

I'm sure you'll have plenty more great years with pops. Congrats. You are a lucky young man.

RE: Ten years...
 

Understood, Jeff. ;)

And the advice is much appreciated.

RE: Ten years...
 

Enjoy it guys, you will getting older and older! I turn 31 in a couple months... Killed my first deer 23 years ago... Wow, that is hard to believe!

RE: Ten years...
 

Congrats on the ten Dan!

Boy, time sure does fly! All this reminiscing got me to thinking about hunting birds with my dad........I was8 and he made me carry a .410with no shells in it! My brothers and I (all with empty guns)would be is "bird dogs" tromping on spots where the Pheasants would roost till one popped up. He'd shootthem and we would retrieve em! All the while constantly maintaining muzzle awareness. It was his way of teaching us to be safe.

We are all so close in age (only 4 yearsseparate the three of us) that we all learned together. I can still remember pleading for shells but my oldest brother got them first, I still had some time to wait. That's when it sucks being the youngest....:D

Congrats again Dan and here's to many more!

RE: Ten years...
 

Congrats on 10 years. I've been at it for 33 years and I'm still learning. My grandpa hunted for more than 70 years so I guess that makes me still wet behind the ears.