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Two Firsts
Although I don’t remember the event myself, my dad loves to tell of the day he took me with him on my first hunt when I was four. It was a beautiful fall day at the beginning of bow hunting season in Wisconsin. A slight breeze was blowing, but it was still sunny and warm. Setting me on a box among the branches at the base of a cedar tree, Dad told me to sit quietly and read my Golden Book. By the time he had reached his stand above me, a doe and two fawns were 10 feet from the base of the tree, wondering what alien creature had invaded their forest. Following his earlier instructions to the letter, I was sitting stock-still, hiding behind my book, and peering wide-eyed at nature up-close and personal. He never nocked his arrow, let alone took a shot. When they left three or four minutes later, the deer never knew how close they had been to the hunter above.
Moving ahead 10 years, I vividly remember my first hunting season with my junior license. It had been dismal. In Wisconsin, rifle season is only one week long; I hadnt seen a thing, and all Id gotten was cold. Walking dejectedly up the lane to do barn chores on the last day of the season, I suddenly heard the first shots of the week come from the woods behind me. Swinging around, rifle raised and ready, I shot at the deer running through the corn-stubble field below me. Two shots and the deer kept running. Id missed completely.
Scanning the horizon, I was amazed to see another deer running straight toward me. Adrenaline rushing through my veins, I raised my grandfathers 300 Savage-Savage and as the deer ran parallel to me less than 50 yards away, I took my final and, for the deer, fatal shot. All of the frustration from the bum season burned away as the deer somersaulted to a stop immediately in front of me. I hit it exactly where I should have, and to this day I have no idea if I actually aimed for that sweet spot on its neck that brought it down without ruining any of the best meat.
My dad recently told me hes not sure if Im really good or just one of the luckiest hunters he knows. All I know is that when I raise my gun, I really want to hit what Im aiming for. Thinking of the dinner table full of delightful foods and surrounded by the people I love, I am thankful to the animals that gave their lives for ours, and to my father for instilling in me the love of the hunt.
We made a video about Crazy Jim’s first deer. Although I don’t imagine your looking for video entries, you may just enjoy the video just the same:
http://huntingwithjim.com/2008/05/22/crazy-jims-first-deer/
Enjoy!
Crazy Jim & John
I remember my first time ever taking a deer I learned how to hut all on my own i didnt have anyone to teach me so i just went with the thing i knew had to be there to see them and if ya see them you can harvest them i actually got my first harvest at the age of 16 i was sitting in a stand on a day hunting lease all by my self and i hadnt seen anything all day i started to just get out and go sit by the road and wait for the truck to come around just then I heard a noise I turned and started looking where it came from I saw nothing so I continued to think I was doing something wrong just about that time I heard it again i turned to look and it was a cow the property I was on is also a working ranch, so I got bummed well i still had about an hour and a half till the truck came so I figured hey why not just sit here and see what ever is here it was just about then that I looked up to see a bunch of quail running along the ground there were hundreds of em I remember thinking to myself that that was the coolest thing I had ever seen by now I am totally having fun and i look up from watching the quial and see a couple of does standing in the field in front of me I instantly went into stealth mode and began moving like a moutain lion while creeping up on its prey I got ready and took aim very carefully and placed the crosshairs on the sholder and slide it to the crease and squeezed the trigger carefully and the gun kinda scared me when it went off but my bullet had found its mark and the doe dropped in her tracks i got of the stand after filling out my tag and went to where the doe was laying and she wasnt there I followed blood all the way to the fence line but I still couldnt find her Well about that time the truck came around the corner so I flagged them down and had them help me look the blood just ended I thought I had made a bad shot so we left her over night I also told them I would hunt the same stand the next morning so I could go find her which I did right at day break cause I couldnt stand it apparently she had jumpped the fence and stumbled backwards on landing and went sideways down the fence and i was looking over the hill the fence was on so i got my first deer and it made for really great table fair.