We may have hunted many animals, but we'll never harvest our First again

[bicboihunter]

I'm sure all of you are itching as much as I am for hunting season to be upon us again. To create some excitement, and perhaps worsen the longing, I thought it'd be cool to see all the photos or stories of the first big game animal you or someone you were hunting with took. I'm sure there are some who harvested their first big game animal long ago and weren't bothered (or able) to capture the moment, but perhaps the memory is still so vibrant in your mind that you wish to tell.
Share away!

BBH

[bicboihunter]

I suppose I should lead by example.
Although only a 2x2, you can't make up that kind of joy!
Possibly story to come.

[scotty30-06]

Hahahah awesome enthusiasm!!!!

[338win mag]

Good one BBH! I'd take that 2 point as well.

[decker9]

Iv no pictures, heck, we didn't even have a tarp, or a sleeping bag, but we did have 2-3 packages of itchyban!! My first mountain goat hunt, I was 8 years old, September 1988 region 6-04.
Myself and my dad, my dads good friend and his 7 year old son. I can remember like it was yesterday... "well, there's a billy over there, we'r already nearly a day from camp, we have no supplies, what do you think John?".... Not a second went by and John replies, "builds character, it's good for the kids, lets go". I was packing my very first hunting rifle, a custom 6.5 lb 6.5x55 bj imp that my grandad had built for me the year prior.

Off we went!

Long story short,

A looong hike, then 2, 160 grain round nose pills, and that billy fell into hell. Myself and the other youngen stayed up hi and watched dad and John retrieve the goat, back then it didn't look so bad, knowing what I know now, I can see why they left us up there. Of course, like many first goats, dark was coming, and so was the weather. We dropped down into the shintangle, and of course, on the wrong end of the mountain, no tarp, no sleep bag, and a couple empty itchyban packages..... but hey, we did have a lighter, and goat meat, so goat on a stick was the menu that cold night.
All night, the wind blew The sleet horizontally into our little shintangle patch, needless to say, there was no sleep that night, and for myself and the other kid, a couple valuable lessons were learnt.

But, it's made me into this character I am today, addicted to goat hunting like nobody's business, and loven it.

[two-feet]

My first moose was 24 years ago as a 16 year old,on a cow draw. It was in a complex of cut blocks that is now 50' high regen. That day we saw 9 moose, I guess thats the good old days. I was with my dad and we worked like pigs to get it to the truck through the snow, I remember my hands being so cold and my dad being very patient and understanding. After we got loaded we went and showed my grandpa, that was a proud moment.

[two-feet]

My first goat hunt was the year before, my dad taking my brother and I. We had put in several days cutting a trail up to our mountain earlier in the summer, about a 10km jaunt through mature spruce leading up to alder and devils club.

The hunt itself was conducted with m99 savages and trapper nelson back packs. Boy did my brother and I suffer with those canvas straps digging into our shoulders! With hind sight I see how soft we were compared to my father who was a faller at the time.

We got onto goats but came up empty handed, we had an amazing trip in the mountains though. Bed was balsam boughs with a piece of polly as a rain guard. My brother and I both look back at this as an amazing expirience even with the suffering.

[steel_ram]

My first deer was pretty anti climactic. I was 14, bow hunting on some crown land. After screwing up on several nice bucks, I finally after desperation decided to take a doe. After the hit she took off. Took me nearly an hour to find her, though she'd only gone about about 50 yds. before piling up in a salal thicket. Dressing a deer for the first time on my own, having only read about it was interesting. I was bagged so I decided to take a short cut through some private land. Left the deer near the road and walked down the road to get my dad in the car. When we got back the landowner was standing there kind of PO'd, but in the end we left OK. I'm sure by the persons' dogs reaction to the deer that it probably accounts for far more dead deer than I ever could.
First moose: After spending all morning "hunting" swamps through heavy brush etc. we got into the truck headed for breakfast, not 1 minute passed and a young bull popped out on the road side to take one for the team.

[Fella]

My first ever animal was a bear. We were headed back to camp with an hour left of light on our last day, saw 5 or 6 bears but I was a bumbling idiot that didn't know how to stalk so no chance at any of them. On the way back we came around a corner and saw a big ol'guy just munching on some grass, hopped out of the vehicle, bear headed into the woods so like an idiot I followed. Bear stood his ground at 30 yards, 1 shot from the .30-06 through the shoulder and he was dead 5 seconds later. Big old boy with no teeth. Pic is after 3 hours of trying to gut with a full knife under the light of 1 headlamp. Learned a lot that night lol

First moose was the next November, spotted him 600 yards away on the side of a hill across a cutblock, started cow calling and he and his buddy came trotting over. 1 shot at 15 yards and he died, 2 minutes later the other one died from a shot by my buddy. Both had our first moose that day.

First deer was last year, 30 minutes after first light saw the buck coming at me at 20 yards, bang flop.

[chuckerb]

wow I was such a young pup back then at 18 and now I'm 65, Well to start this story we had been out cat hunting the day before and darkness had set in and only 3 dogs came back with us and three were still out there on the trail so headed home after leaving my shirt on the side of the road where we had turned the dogs loose on the track. Came back in the early morning but no sign of the dogs and no bayin or tree barkin to be heard so I decided to drive some old loggin roads and stop and listened every mile or so nothing so I was heading to a forestry camp site not far away and ran into a older lady and asked her if she had seen any hound dogs on the road and she tells me that she had seen two on the road a mile or so back towards the camp site so off I head. I get down the road and here is two big tom cats fighting on the road not my dogs. So I jump out with my 22 lever action tube loader and so does my friends 10 year old retired dog,the cats take off and both tree about a hundred yards off the road . I think the scene over and think to my self this is not a good place to be on the ground so up a tree I go with in 20 ft of both cats staring and growling at me ,Now heres where things got really scary I take a bead on the biggest of the two and pop perfect shot he shuddered and stiffened and out of the tree he fell as he hit the ground I levered a nother shell or tried to but as I lowered the rifle out came the tube to load and all the shells hit the ground below me and this other cat is pissed , I was startin to worry he would attack the old dog but he bailed and high tailed it out of there so down the tree I come put a leash on the old girl throw the dead cat over my shoulder and head it back to the truck , The next day I got a call that my dogs had been found and picked up by a couple there were camping and they called the number on the tags so all ended well except for this tom. Chuck B.