Memories in the woods

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ratherBfishin

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I can remember going hunting as a child with my family getting together having fun laughing , and sharing time together . I remember the 1st decent buck I shot it was a 6 point and my grandpaw , dad, and uncle where all there . I can still see the smile on my grandpaws face. I think he was more proud of that deer than I was. Or the little things like my dad tripping on a barbwire fence in the dark , and me running up there to help and tripping over the same fence. (like father like son)Both of us on the ground eye to eye trying to keep from getting sick laughing at how silly we looked. What are some the special moments that stand in your mind? Or things you miss.
 
This is a great thread start.  I am shocked that this has not hit three pages of posts by now.
scratch.gif
</p>

I have no memories of great times with anyone. I have been a lone hunter with the exception of the memorable times I have given to others.  I am not kidding nor am I posting my weird humor,  that is a fact.</p>
 
Thanks LL I was just curious on other peoples experiences . I know some of my best moments in my live, are hunting with my family. Alot of people usually do not post on my threads.
 
I do not understand why not....  Did you forget the deodorant or something? ... It seem to be that way with many threads of many others as well so don't even worry about it
 
ratherBfishin - 10/2/2007 9:25 AM

Alot of people usually do not post on my threads.
Click to expand...

I don't hunt, ratherB, but I bet that I own the record for fewest replies to posts (in the fishing reports forum). Doesn't slow me down at all!emoDance
 
I think one of my best memories is probably one of my dad's worse ones. It was a cold icie morning on a river duck hunting with my dad and mom. My Mom did not go with us much but she did that day. I was too young to carry a gun and was mainly the look out. It was so cold that parts of the river had froze over and dad had broke an area open for the decoys. I was looking down river and saw a huge black cloud of ducks coming our way. I tell dad to start calling and get ready. I remember those ducks came straight in without so much as one circle. Looking out from under my hat the sky was full of ducks. Dad say to mom,"TAKE UM" and six shots range out. My dad is one heck of a shot and three drakes right over the decoys fold and fall into the decoys. Mom on the other hand shoots and I was not sure where. The ducks take off and dad is all excited about that huge flight coming in like that and he heads out to get the dead ones. Sure enough there is his three dead drakes and nothing else.emoScratch He asks my mom did you hit any ducks and she states,"I am sure I hit them." He looks around a little more and sees two of his decoys sinking.emoBigsmile He starts yelling, "YOU SHOT MY DECOYS!"emoMad Next thing happens is his feet get tangled in a line and up comes Mom's third shot. Another decoy blown to bits.emoLaugh Dang if she didn't hit all three times. Shot three decoys on the water out of all those ducks.emoLaugh It was all I could do to keep from peeing on myself laughing without making a sound. My dad was so mad I did not want him to see me laughing. If he did he would have been mad at me. Then to make matter worse my mom says,"Well I shot the ducks on the water becuase they are easier to hit."emoTongue My dad was so mad we left and I cannot say I ever remember my mom going again. emoRolleyes I still snicker about that one.emoBigsmile Jmax
 
I am not worriedemoBawl about people not posting. It doesn t bother me. Most people on here don't know me . I am really just getting in to this lake fishing. But I have hunted all my life .
 
there are so many memories i have, its hard to find just one to share. i've been squirrel hunting since i was 5, deer hunting since 10. my 2 weeks of vacation this year: 1 week to elk hunt with Dad. the other week is the week of thanksgiving, to go home to TN and deer hunt with Dad. We've not missed an opening morning of rifle season since we each started hunting, him in '68, me in '91.

i guess i'll share this memory, not sure if i've ever posted it before.
opening morning of rifle season, nov. 18, 1994
this is the first year i'm starting to be a little selective in what i harvest, and took a nice 5 point earlier that year during juvenile hunt. dad has been selective, and not really shot anything since i started hunting, letting them grow up. this year it finally pays off.

it was the perfect morning. like most opening mornings, we couldn't sleep the night before. there's excitement in the air, it's time. time to start hunting again. we got in our big stand early that morning before daylight. with the first hint of light we saw a large bodied deer run across the field probably chasing a doe, but was too dark to tell anything other than the body looked long.
we saw deer all morning, mostly does out feeding, but they were stirring.
all of a sudden a doe busts out of the thicket heading towards us. dad said, 'a bucks coming'. behind her i saw him explode through the brush, head low and antlers wide. without a doubt the biggest deer i'd ever seen. dad said, son, i'm gonna shoot this one. the deer turn and run away from us, getting farther away. now i'd never seen Dad shoot a deer, he always let me pull the trigger. I was amazed at how quickly and quietly he got his gun up and readied himself for the shot. he was a man on a mission, pure concentration, focusing only on the task at hand. to shoot, he had to face 90deg. to his right and lean behind me, as i was sitting to his right. the doe turned and starting heading our way, so he waited on the shot. as she started coming closer i got my gun up too. dad got turned around facing forward, and now there is 2 gun barrels sticking out from the stand. she leads the big deer directly in front of us, perfectly broadside, no more than 40 yards away. dad whistles to stop him, he stopped perfectly. now at this point, in my mind, this deer is close enough for me to make the shot, even at a big deer, so i decide to shoot. dad did not reach that same conclusion, and he is still going to take this deer.
BOOM.
the big deer turns and runs maybe 30 yards and falls over in the field. Now we are so excited, this stand may come down! i said 'I got him!', which greatly confused dad.
'No, I got him'.
'Well i shot him too'.
i had to eject my empty shell to prove i had shot. he did the same. neither of us knew the other had shot, and there were 2 holes in this deer's ribcage. one from a .270, one from a .243.
the 8 point had short tines but was 18" inside. i think he scores around 110". at the time the biggest deer either of us had brought to the house, and still one of the best deer we've harvested.
the plaque under the mount reads "Killed by John and Tony Cooper Nov. 18 1994"
 
ok i got another, one of my favorites. i'm pretty sure i posted this a while back, but here it is again.

now I have taken close to 60 whitetails in my 16 years of deer hunting. Dad has got to be around 100+. But we are relatively new to serious bowhunting. I've been bowhunting for 11 or 12 years, but didn't get my first deer until about 5 years ago, and have only taken 4 with stick and string. Dad bowhunted with me only to pass some time, and when i could drive myself, he basically quit.
fast forward a few years, and i think it was 2002 when we got him a new pse bow for Christmas. he practices, gets pretty good, and heads out with me for the '03 season.

One particular morning I'm sitting in my stand, no real action, when my radio breaks the silence....
(now remember this man has taken around 100 deer in his life, but none with a bow)
*panting and out of breath, like he just ran a sprint* "HEY!"
'what?'
*more heavy breathing* I just shot one!
'what'd you get?'
*heavy breathing* 'a doe!'
'how's your knees?'
"shaking!"
'exciting aint' it?'
*still panting* "hang on a minute, s*** i gotta calm down!"

i made my way over to him and tracked down his first bow kill, a beautiful doe. he then proceeded to take 2 more does that year, and 3 the next, surpassing my numbers of bow kills in only 2 years... and he NEVER rubs it in my face
but at least i have the biggest buck with a bow, and the only elk
emoBigsmile


when i shot my biggest deer, it was opening weekend of '03, i took a 124" 8 point, with a 17 3/4" inside spread. i dropped him in his tracks. Dad heard the shot, and he claims that before the echo of the shot had dissipated, he heard me on the radio "Daddy I shot a biggun!!"
thats his favorite radio story to tell people.

i don't think this server has enough space on it for all the stories i like to share. we need more on here, i LOVE hunting stories.
 
This is a delightful thread! I have enjoyed the tales of woe and laughter immensely. JMax ... your mom's duck story is GREAT!

I have one ... not so funny or as entertaining. But my first husband and I used to deer hunt every year. My first deer came in 1982 on a deer lease in Cisco Texas. We were hunting opening rifle weekend and were on the last day before going home. My father in law and then husband decided to flush turkeys and I took the primo seat at a ground stand where my FIL usually sat.

The turkey flushing commensed in a field right next to where I was stationed looking for deer. The first thing my FIL said was .. Karen if turkeys come your way .. take one. I recall it was like the middle of summer that year. Mosquitos were thick as thieves. As I sat on the camp chair waiting on deer (AM hunt) it finally was light enough for me to read a book I had bought with me. There I was .. reading and swatting ... killing more mosquitos in 10 minutes than I had killed in a year! I think I was even cussing some. About 45 minutes of slapping and scratching I decided this just wasn't worth it. As I set my book down to gather my stuff and head back to camp ... I looked to my left and there under oak trees .. just yards away was a DEER!!!!! My heart immediately went into over drive and all my senses started recalling all the lessons I had listened to about how to shoot, when to shoot, how to prepare ... it was like fast slo motion. I hunted with a 30-30, had 7 loaded and one bullet in the jean pocket.

I slowly turned and got off the stool and braced my elbow on the chair for a steady arm and took aim. Now I didn't have a scope .. just the bead and the little line up thingy. I remember thinking move very SLOW ... DON'T PULL the trigger .. gently squeeze it ... hold your breath and let it out before shooting. DON'T close an eye ... line up behind the front shoulder. Do NOT kill a doe we have no doe permits.

How you can review and comprehend all that in a matter of seconds is beyond me .. but I did! Blinked one eye shut (forgot rule) and pulled the trigger (forgot another rule) as I held my breath (yep .. another rule .. broken). POP ... look over in deer's direction ... it ran 15 feet and stopped, ears up and radaring .. looking startled but unharmed.

Damn .. musta missed. ReAim ... heck with lining up shots, pull trigger, cock gun pull trigger, cock gun ... pull trigger cock gun all pointed in the general direction of where I thought the deer might be. While looking as I was shooting I could see little puffs of dirt being kicked up as the deer was dodging whatever it thought was happening!!! Brain flash .. 4 bullets gone 4 bullets left ... deer still standing.

Stand up ... pull trigger .. shooting Annie Oakley style ... notice deer falls over! Cock gun ... walked in the general direction of the deer. Notice hands are shaking like a leaf and thought .. OH .. damn did that thing have horns???? I forgot that rule too!!!!

Saftey ... put safety on gun. I did remember that! Deer had been about 50 feet away when it dropped. I saw it on the ground acting like it wanted to get up .. had no idea where I hit it or whether or not it was down for good. As I got closer and within 30 feet the dang thing popped up on its feet and took off running. Pull trigger .. nothing .. SAFETY ... shoot ... flip safety pull trigger .. cock gun pull trigger cock gun, deer still hobbling away .. pull trigger ... hear "Snap".

AWE .. outta bullets. One left in my hip jeans pocket. Deer still running guess I'll follow it since its wounded and save my last bullet for a kill shot. One rule I've always thought made sense NEVER leave a wounded animal in the field if you can help it.

So now we are running and dropping, running and dropping. I'd say that happened for about 1 or 2 football fields. The thing finally drops in a thicket about 60 feet away. Breathless (wasn't in the best of shape for a marathon) I pulled the last bullet out of my pocket and loaded it in the gun. Noticed the deer had not moved at all in the last few moments while I was catching my breath.

Slowly took 15 paces forward .. cocked gun ... pulled rifle up in position for another and hopefully accurate Annie Oakley shot should it be needed. 15 more paces forward .. no deer movement ...
15 more ... no deer movement. Close enough now to see spikes!!!! Whooo hoooo .. I didn't break the law ... 15 more paces now withing 20 feet of the deer. Doesn't look alive. 10 more paces ... extend gun out and poke it in the butt!!! No movement ... BAWL BAWL BAWL. Drop 30-30 on the ground .. BAWL some more.

Walk around in circles BAWLING and wailing .. I got a buck I got a buck. After a few moments of insane action .. I decided I had better go get help. Started back up the road to find FIL and x. BAWL BAWL BAWL. Bawling so hard my shoulders are heaving. Run nose up sleeve and looked up road to see x running as fast as he can towards me. Just for the record that day I was wearing jeans and a red sweater which explains why I was so HOT. All Ron (x's name) sees is me bawling my eyes out and with the red sweater thinks me and another hunter got into a gun shooting match mistaking each other for prey and I've surely been hit and killed the other guy. So he runs faster.

When he reached me he asked what happened and I said I got a deer. He said it sounded like a shooting gallery. Said he heard 7 shots. I said well .. I missed a few times and it kept running. So I had to shoot at it some more. He then explained to me that his dad told him my 5th shot got the deer, that he could tell by the sound. Whatever ...

We walked over to the thicket that the deer was in and he said .. what is your gun doing laying in the middle of the road??? I said .. well after I figured out the deer was dead I didn't think I needed to carry it all the way back up to find you.

Still had a bullet in the chamber in case .. so I did pick it up and put the safety on. Then we checked out the SPIKE!!! Little 3 or 4 inch horns ..

It appears I shot him in the butt. :) My x said to the day I left that the deer died from pure fright and it had nothing to do with the shot. Whatever ...

I got my first deer. That's what counts no matter how you look at it. Also got a gobbler that day. Which is another story in and of itself.

TT
 
Hey TT that was a uhhhh (pause) interesting story . Maybe everybody should start calling you quick draw . Jk emoPoke Good story . I love hearing hunting stories. Because I can relate to alot of them . Don't worry tt I have done my share of missing to.
 
cooperjd - 10/3/2007 2:29 PM

we dust them. damp cloth and very lightly on the antlers. dry cloth on hide.
Click to expand...

TT, the deer heads at cooper's house are treated like royalty, don't let him try to fool ya!!!!!

I wish all yall could meet cooper's dad, tony bony as i call him(just not to his face, i KNOW better!!!!), it would make those stories even better!!! I've heard the doe kill with a bow story many times and i just about lost it after i read it again.....glad i wasn't drinking anything at the time!!!!! carl
 
Tony Cooper is my hero... </p>

The grass is always greener on the other side, unless Tony Cooper has been there, then its soaked with blood and tears.</p>
 
I've been hunting since I was 5 years old. My grandpa (Baw-Baw) gave me a H&R .410 for Christmas that year (1964) and we went rabbit hunting the next morning. They wouldn't let me tote a loaded weapon, so Baw-Baw kept the shells in his pocket. The beagles struck right off the bat, but me and Baw-Baw hung back and let my dad and uncle go into the thick stuff. We were easing down a fence row and I saw a rabbit head above a clump of grass. I told Baw-Baw and he gave me a shell. Popped Mr. Cotton-tail a good one, and that's what got me hooked.

Since then I've hunted about everything that could be hunted around here, with just about every kind of weapon, but my memories of the time spent with my dad and grandpa in the woods and on the water are forever cherished.
they've both gone on to a better place, but they go with me everytime that I go out in the field.
 

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