a GIRL got her first one!
11-14-2005, 08:52 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 6
a GIRL got her first one!
hello all! i guess in case anyone is interested i'll give you a little introduction-i live on the eastern shore of virginia with my boyfriend of almost 3 years. i'm 22 and have just recently become interested in deer hunting. i've always loved being outdoors and i have a huge amount of respect for animals. my boyfriend is a die-hard hunter and fisherman, goes whenever he can, many times leaving me at home by myself. i've always loved fishing as well, so i do get to tag along on those excursions quite often. my boyfriend hunts crossbow, compound bow, muzzleloader, shotgun and rifle (where legal). whitetail, rabbit, waterfowl-he loves it all! i think he was a huge reason that i started to get into hunting. i see how much he loves doing it and i see how proud he is of himself when he takes a deer. he has a few wallhangers at home-a 10 point that scored 194, placing 2nd in eastern and 3rd in state for muzzleloader and another beautiful 10 point that was never entered in any competitions.
okay-enough about him
weekend before last he took me on my first hunting trip. it was warm that day, probably about 75. i dressed in some of his clothes-camo pants, camo long sleeved t-shirt, and i had a warm jacket, hat(to hide my bright blonde hair), gloves and a bandana to tie around my face. i was in a ladder stand and he climbed up in a tree beside me, over my right shoulder i could look up and see him. he was sweet enough to let me use his beloved 243. we got into our stands around 3:30 and then the wait began. just as it was starting to get dark in the woods, he spotted 2 deer about 75 yards from us. they were hard for me to see-from where i was sitting i could just make out pieces of their bodies, hidden behind low-hanging holly and other brush. i didn't even try to shoot because i didn't have a very good shot at them. it was a good experience though, i loved just being in the woods and seeing it from his point of view. his dad went with us that evening and got a nice doe. since i get off at 5 every day, i can't go during the week. just this past saturday, i got a chance to go again.
it wasn't nearly as warm this time, so i had a layer of long johns on under my above outfit. everything was washed in scent-free detergent, and stored in a duffel bag outside with fresh pine branches. the difference this time was i was by myself-my boyfriend was about 300 yards away from me. i was in a ladder stand again at an intersection of about 6 different trails. i had a good sized rub on asapling about 4 inches in diameter and another on a much smaller tree. there were squirrels EVERYWHERE, dropping nuts, cracking nuts, scampering all around makinga ton of noise. i kept looking in all directions around me every time i heard something cause you just never know. i looked to my left and saw the white flick of a tail. in my head i was saying "oh my god, oh my god, there's a deer, oh my god!". he walked behind some cover and i raised my gun and took my safety off (again the beloved 243). he turned and started walking directly toward me. he was a spike buck, with one broke off, making him a "unicorn" as my boyfriend put it. he would stop, look right at me, put his head down, walk a little, repeat. the last time he stopped, about 15 yards from me, i put the crosshairs on the sweet spot and fired. he kicked his back legs straight out and ran around behind me. i could make out a tiny bit of him through some thick hollies. i could hear him breathing really hard. heard a few more steps and then silence. i didn't know what to think. i was shaking, breathing hard, so excited! my adrenaline was racing and it was an awesome feeling. me not being a very experienced hunter, i was thinking to myself-was he breathing hard because i shot him or was he snorting to alert others of my presence?my boyfriendand i had agreed when he walked away to his stand to meet on the edge of the woods-unless he heard me shoot. i was no longer able to sit still in my stand so i slowly climbed down, with trembling legs and hands. as soon as i climbed down and turned around, i saw him walking towards me.i told him i thought it fellright behind me and sure enough, about 40 yards away, there he was. i think my boyfriend was just as excited as i was-he still says he can't believe it but at the same time he's incredibly proud of me. said i put a perfect shot on him, right where it was supposed to be. and now i know that those deep breaths i heard were because i shot him and put a hole in his lungs-hard to breathe like that. i keep telling my boyfriend that he's done done it now
i can't wait until i get to go again. my christmas list has altered a bit now to include some hunting gear that FITS me. anyone know where i can get women's hunting gear? i've asked him to get me a scentlock base layer suit, figuring with that i can wear whatever over top of it.
this turned into a really long post and for those that have read this far, thank you! it wasn't a big buck, but i'm just as proud about it as i would be of a wallhanger. i still can't believe i really did it!
okay-enough about him
weekend before last he took me on my first hunting trip. it was warm that day, probably about 75. i dressed in some of his clothes-camo pants, camo long sleeved t-shirt, and i had a warm jacket, hat(to hide my bright blonde hair), gloves and a bandana to tie around my face. i was in a ladder stand and he climbed up in a tree beside me, over my right shoulder i could look up and see him. he was sweet enough to let me use his beloved 243. we got into our stands around 3:30 and then the wait began. just as it was starting to get dark in the woods, he spotted 2 deer about 75 yards from us. they were hard for me to see-from where i was sitting i could just make out pieces of their bodies, hidden behind low-hanging holly and other brush. i didn't even try to shoot because i didn't have a very good shot at them. it was a good experience though, i loved just being in the woods and seeing it from his point of view. his dad went with us that evening and got a nice doe. since i get off at 5 every day, i can't go during the week. just this past saturday, i got a chance to go again.
it wasn't nearly as warm this time, so i had a layer of long johns on under my above outfit. everything was washed in scent-free detergent, and stored in a duffel bag outside with fresh pine branches. the difference this time was i was by myself-my boyfriend was about 300 yards away from me. i was in a ladder stand again at an intersection of about 6 different trails. i had a good sized rub on asapling about 4 inches in diameter and another on a much smaller tree. there were squirrels EVERYWHERE, dropping nuts, cracking nuts, scampering all around makinga ton of noise. i kept looking in all directions around me every time i heard something cause you just never know. i looked to my left and saw the white flick of a tail. in my head i was saying "oh my god, oh my god, there's a deer, oh my god!". he walked behind some cover and i raised my gun and took my safety off (again the beloved 243). he turned and started walking directly toward me. he was a spike buck, with one broke off, making him a "unicorn" as my boyfriend put it. he would stop, look right at me, put his head down, walk a little, repeat. the last time he stopped, about 15 yards from me, i put the crosshairs on the sweet spot and fired. he kicked his back legs straight out and ran around behind me. i could make out a tiny bit of him through some thick hollies. i could hear him breathing really hard. heard a few more steps and then silence. i didn't know what to think. i was shaking, breathing hard, so excited! my adrenaline was racing and it was an awesome feeling. me not being a very experienced hunter, i was thinking to myself-was he breathing hard because i shot him or was he snorting to alert others of my presence?my boyfriendand i had agreed when he walked away to his stand to meet on the edge of the woods-unless he heard me shoot. i was no longer able to sit still in my stand so i slowly climbed down, with trembling legs and hands. as soon as i climbed down and turned around, i saw him walking towards me.i told him i thought it fellright behind me and sure enough, about 40 yards away, there he was. i think my boyfriend was just as excited as i was-he still says he can't believe it but at the same time he's incredibly proud of me. said i put a perfect shot on him, right where it was supposed to be. and now i know that those deep breaths i heard were because i shot him and put a hole in his lungs-hard to breathe like that. i keep telling my boyfriend that he's done done it now
i can't wait until i get to go again. my christmas list has altered a bit now to include some hunting gear that FITS me. anyone know where i can get women's hunting gear? i've asked him to get me a scentlock base layer suit, figuring with that i can wear whatever over top of it. this turned into a really long post and for those that have read this far, thank you! it wasn't a big buck, but i'm just as proud about it as i would be of a wallhanger. i still can't believe i really did it!
the only pics that were taken were with my boyfriend's camera phone. pretty big boy though, about 160 lbs.
11-14-2005, 11:11 AM
#6
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 74
RE: a GIRL got her first one!
Congrats. I remember when I killed my first one. I could not believe it. My husband told me before I went this. He said now Kim, when you see a deer, your heart is gonna beat really fast, don't get scared (I have tachycardia so that always scares me and mitral valve prolpse, but on meds ofr it) then he told me, that I would get hot and seaty no matter how cold it was and when I put the scope on it, I would shake, to take deep breaths.
Man I thought he was full of it, until that first time. I saw that deer and I was like.. A deer, a deer, oh my god. For a moment, forot what to do. Then I was like, where is Jeff. Then I calmed down abit. The deer was a 200200-250 yds away. So I had to wait. All the time, I was getting more antsy. Finally it came down to shooting distance. It was about 125 yrd away. I was unsure of at first to shoot, since this was my first deer and it was so far away. I had not asked my husband about shooting or anything. But it was 6:51 and getting dark, I had been watching for 30 minutes already. I saw him turn, getting ready to go back in the woods. I thought, okay if I am gonna do this now, I have to do it. (just a little note, I had been hunting for 4 years now, without seeing any deer at all, needless to say we were on a different club)
So I got my gun up and shot. Deer dropped right there, never moved. To top it off, I could barely climb down my stand, my legs were all shacky and wobbly, sometime Jeff failed to mention.
Afterwards we realized it was more of a 150-175 yrd shot. He could not believe it. He said every deer he has ever shot was 50-60 yrd away.
So I know how you feel. Awesome feeling.
For the ladies clothes, sometimes wlamrt will have some. I want confort when I hunt, so when it is not too cold, I just wear sweat pants nad a sweatshirt I got from walmart. When it is real cold I wear overalls, I got from walmart, they are mens, but they fit and provide more room to move in. I also have a camo scrungee hat I use to help pull my hair back, just a note, this is funny.
We were tracking a deer and we found a blood spot. SO I put the scrunge n a tree branch right above it...Well it took us 3 hrs to find tht dang on thing...lol
Again Congrats
Man I thought he was full of it, until that first time. I saw that deer and I was like.. A deer, a deer, oh my god. For a moment, forot what to do. Then I was like, where is Jeff. Then I calmed down abit. The deer was a 200200-250 yds away. So I had to wait. All the time, I was getting more antsy. Finally it came down to shooting distance. It was about 125 yrd away. I was unsure of at first to shoot, since this was my first deer and it was so far away. I had not asked my husband about shooting or anything. But it was 6:51 and getting dark, I had been watching for 30 minutes already. I saw him turn, getting ready to go back in the woods. I thought, okay if I am gonna do this now, I have to do it. (just a little note, I had been hunting for 4 years now, without seeing any deer at all, needless to say we were on a different club)
So I got my gun up and shot. Deer dropped right there, never moved. To top it off, I could barely climb down my stand, my legs were all shacky and wobbly, sometime Jeff failed to mention.
Afterwards we realized it was more of a 150-175 yrd shot. He could not believe it. He said every deer he has ever shot was 50-60 yrd away.
So I know how you feel. Awesome feeling.
For the ladies clothes, sometimes wlamrt will have some. I want confort when I hunt, so when it is not too cold, I just wear sweat pants nad a sweatshirt I got from walmart. When it is real cold I wear overalls, I got from walmart, they are mens, but they fit and provide more room to move in. I also have a camo scrungee hat I use to help pull my hair back, just a note, this is funny.
We were tracking a deer and we found a blood spot. SO I put the scrunge n a tree branch right above it...Well it took us 3 hrs to find tht dang on thing...lol
Again Congrats
11-14-2005, 11:36 AM
#7
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Hoosier Country, Baby!
Posts: 1,710
RE: a GIRL got her first one!
I don't know how big you are, but Gander Mountain has kids sizes up to 16 and they fit me... although I have men's camo, in size medium (it's way big, but I can fit tons of layers under it). For bow season next year I will probably buy kids size 16 at Gander. Congrats on the deer. I remember my first one too... my husband was so excited he almost fell outta the stand after I shot it! I don't get tremendously shaky when a deer comes in, I stay relatively calm, I still get the adrenaline rush, but I am very composed, don't ask me how... cuz I have NO idea! I did get shaky after I shot my button this bow season, it was my first bowkill so I was unsure of whether I did it right or not, he only went 40 yds, so I guess I did okay.
congrats on the deer, keep up the good work, you're right too... you're hooked for life now, I can guarantee it!
congrats on the deer, keep up the good work, you're right too... you're hooked for life now, I can guarantee it!
