Your first animal [Archive]

stroh72

03-26-2008, 11:19 AM

Maybe just a little reflection back to where our passion started. Our first animal taken while hunting ,who you were with, where and what it did for you.

1987 my Dad took me hunting for 10 days in October. My Dad wasn't interested in shooting anything he just wanted to camp and goldpan. He was interested in looking for gold out near Likely so we set up camp at Spanish Lake. The next day we headed up in behind the lake and had a snack at the top of the mountain. Coming back down we rounded a corner and saw a bull and a cow " makin love" I got out of the 1985 nissan pathfinder with my Winchester Cooey 3006 that I paid $175 for and waited for the session to end. The bull dropped off the cow and I proceeded to dump 3 rounds into the lungs as per the CORE program taught me. Definately the pivot point for me with this passion. Dad and I bucked up the moose threw it in the Pathfinder and drove home to Mission. That was the last trip he made with me Hunting,he still is with us but has no drive. It may have been my first kill but it is still the best.

RiverOtter

03-26-2008, 03:36 PM

First big game animal was an old black bear sow, which I got rugged. She is still one of the most beautiful bears I have ever seen. Mainly black with lot of silvery grey hairs mixed in and a brown under coat. She was well past her prime and her teeth were worn down to nubs, but at 14(me) she was the bear of the woods.

RO

Dirty

03-26-2008, 03:52 PM

My grandpa took me out and I shot an unsuspecting 2x2 mule deer in an alfalfa field. 1 shot off hand with a Browning BLR 308 at about 175yards and down he went.

Slickfork

03-26-2008, 04:18 PM

The year was 1962 up north of FSJ on Pink Mountain. We went in on a new sysmic trail or road, Oil exproraton had not yet started in that area.
Shot a moose and saw a big buck deer taken 200 yards or so from us. Also as we packed the moose to the road a couple of pickups drove by and they took 2or 3 cariboo up further.
Those were the days been hunting ever since.

kootenayelkslayer

03-26-2008, 05:46 PM

This is my first big game animal from quite a few years ago now. Was walking up an old trail in the EK and this bull heard my footsteps and let out a bugle. So I deeked off the edge of the trail to the bottom of a slide, let out a bugle and a couple cow calls, and the next thing I saw were antlers cresting the hill. I counted six points, but the bull kept walking straight to me and finally turned broadside at about 20 feet. Three shots in the ribs later and I had my first bull. Man was I ever pumped.
Here's a few pics from the next morning:

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q223/mikeb04/scan0008.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q223/mikeb04/scan0007.jpg

bsa30-06

03-26-2008, 05:50 PM

2 point muley,in 3-19,about 5 years ago.

Gus

03-26-2008, 05:59 PM

Bighorn hunter

03-26-2008, 06:00 PM

this was my first big game animal, I took him 20 years ago, still remeber it like it was yesterday.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC04267.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8051&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=6053)

kloosterboer

03-26-2008, 06:04 PM

Mine was a 2x3 blacktail on Gabriola. When I was 11 it was about 40 yards with a 20ga.

kootenayelkslayer

03-26-2008, 06:08 PM

First kill was a grouse, but this bull was my first big game animal. Gees, that almost seems like a life-time ago now but really i think its only been about 10 years or so...

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/1st_moose_98.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8823&size=big&cat=500)

Wow Gobbi, is that really you?? You were a young gunner eh.
And am I just running low on sleep, or does that look like a womans face in the bottom of that picture??:shock:

kootenayelkslayer

03-26-2008, 06:10 PM

Bighorn hunter

03-26-2008, 06:13 PM

yeh, it did kind of ruin me, he was certanly better than average for the area.

Gus

03-26-2008, 06:14 PM

Wow Gobbi, is that really you?? You were a young gunner eh.
And am I just running low on sleep, or does that look like a womans face in the bottom of that picture??:shock:

Hey Kootenay, we must be drinking the same stuff cuz now that you mention it, I see it too :shock::-P

Gus

03-26-2008, 06:16 PM

Caveman

03-26-2008, 06:17 PM

On a whore frozen morning, by myself, I walked next to a slough. I couldn't see into it because of the height of the willows but could hear something walking in the tall grass. As I inched along cursing every step as it crunched under foot for what seemed an eternity, I finally stepped out to an opening where I could see three young bull moose. Two of them were sparring and the third was looking at me over the shoulder of the others. As the larger of the sparring pair pushed forward to give me a broadside shot, I raised my Marlin 30:30 and squeezed one round off that pierced the heart of my first moose. He dropped right where he stood, trying to get up as I put a second one into the side of his head. I field dressed my first animal that day as well but came back to town to get my dad to help load him. That was in 1988. still remember it as it was yesterday. That area today is still my little "honey hole" that has produced many times since. :wink:

todbartell

03-26-2008, 06:43 PM

my first was a mule deer buck, when I was 15. I was hiding in a small patch of tall grass and brush in the corner of a hay field, where we had seen deer recently. I was day dreaming when my Dad whispered that my buck was there. I rolled over, cocked the hammer on the 30-30, and plugged the forkhorn at 30 yards, dropped it stone dead :D

KodiakHntr

03-26-2008, 07:58 PM

About 27 years ago, give or take, I shot a spike muley with my 6mm while resting the rifle over my dads shoulder....That deer was the most forgiving critter ever, as it took him probably 15 minutes to point it out to me 40 yards away in the shadows....Been hooked ever since, with only 1 dry year in the bunch....

quadrakid

03-26-2008, 08:05 PM

my first was a 59inch bullmoose in the pelly lakes region of the yukon,he weighed in excess of 1500 lbs and took a lot of lead before giving up.

115 or bust

03-26-2008, 08:07 PM

First one was a grouse when I was 6, I was so excited I beat the dog to the bird. Got a double header on blacktails @ 10yrs old a nice 4x3 and a 3x2. Pretty exciting, got wicked scope bite on the first buck and My dad made me shoot the second one so I wouldn't be afraid of the gun. Then the ticks oh my gosh. There were too many deer on that island, saw 21 bucks that day and they were infested with ticks and when the deer cooled off they all crawled into our camp. Lol wonder why I didn't get the hunting bug bad till I was a bit older lol. Oh and it pissed down the whole time. Can you say bittersweet.

Timberjack

03-26-2008, 08:25 PM

My first was a spike blacktail up near woss. It snuck up on me cause I was fast asleep lying against a stump in the sun on a warm november afternoon... HaHa, I was lucky he didn't run away from my snoring.

Anyways, it was great to get my first one that way...

TJ

ruttinbuck

03-26-2008, 08:46 PM

My first big game animal was a 4X3 mule deer buck in 1984 I was 21 years old.An old family friend took me out.Found out the work started when the deer hit the ground.I remember being about a mile from my truck.When the buck was gutted he grabbed my rifle and said you know where the truck is,off he went.I never really appreciated it at the time but now realize how important it was that I drug the buck out myself.I learned alot about myself and became a hunter that day.RB
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/kills/Firstdeer1984.jpg

bruin

03-26-2008, 08:56 PM

Its a little fuzzy as it is a picture of a picture but this is my first bear. I was 10 years old and I was hunting with my Dad near Kamloops. It was the first hunt I got to go on when I was the shooter, I had watched Dad shoot a coule of bucks the fall befor but now it was my turn. We had hunted for a few days, saw some bears but not got a really good opportunity yet. We caught this bear crossing a logging road and I shot him in the spine with a .308, shot him again going up a bank in the shoulder and the final shot was at 4 or 5 yards in the thick stuff. I shook for atleast an hour afterwards. A couple of weeks later we boiled the skull and I took it to elementary school for show and tell, it was my proudest moment! I doubt I would do it if my Dad didn't get me started. Bear had an 18" skull.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_07981.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8824&size=big&cat=500)

bcmulie

03-26-2008, 09:16 PM

My first animal was a spike blacktail in Copper Canyon on Vancouver Island. My dad and I were lying on the edge of a logging road glassing a logging slash on the steep slope below us. A deer came out into the slash, right at the edge of some second growth. I looked at him through my crappy binoculars (a pair my uncle had purchased for my dad in India, probably for about $5, which is more than they were worth) and said it was a doe. My dad pulled out his spotting scope, took a look and said, "No Al, it's a spike. Do you want him?" I said yeah, and shot the buck through the back at 250 yards quartering slightly away from me. He went down instantly and I had my first deer. Still remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was 1983. I've been addicted to hunting ever since.

bcmulie

mark

03-26-2008, 09:19 PM

20 years ago, at 14 years old, after screwing up on lots of bucks that season, I finally got lead into one! A real nice 160 class 4x4 mulie to boot! The buck was way bigger than me, one day Ill get a scanner and post the pic, you guys would get a good laugh!

BCbillies

03-26-2008, 09:22 PM

Not suprising it was a young billy taken on Nov 3rd. Shot him at 100 yards with a 150 grain bullet in my 300wm. First and last time I ever used a cheap bullet or any 150 grain bullet in my 300. I remember stripping down three times on this hunt to cross a fast flowing creek - it was a rather numbing experience. After the 3rd stock up the mountain I finally got him just before dark. My plan was to harvest one goat! After this day goat hunting became a passion and I've never missed a season.:smile:

LeverActionJunkie

03-26-2008, 09:55 PM

After Hikeng about five hours, still hunting along a wooded ridge, spooking a couple does and a couple bucks. I was feeling pretty frustated and down on myself, I figured I would quite big game hunting and stick to grouse and gophers :) I got about 200yds from the truck kicking stones down the road. Then a decent 2point Mulie stood up about 30yds from me in the ditch, Boom, Dead. That was a great day. I learnt alot that day, and still learn somethin every time I'm in the woods. I realized that day that I was definately a meat hunter and that I just enjoyed the woods.

Blktail

03-26-2008, 10:29 PM

My first deer is a heck of a lot more embarrassing than the rest of the others posted here. I was 19 and learning to hunt without benefit of mentors. It was November and a buddy and I were on Texada Island hunting blacktails as we had every day we could since opening day in September. (We would hunt all day and go to work all night in the mill and sleep a bit and do it again. 2 days off in a row meant sleeping in the cold in the back of a pickup.)

After a day of watching deer run from us noisy, cigarette-smoking dummies in gum boots and soaked woolens, we were rushing for the ferry back to Powell River. A couple miles from the dock we saw a doe up a cutline. We bailed and buddy be-lined through the bush while I walked back to the cut and up towards the deer. When buddy got close, the deer spooked so I let go with the old 303 I had. The deer went down, and got up and wobbled out of sight. BUddy took a shot at it and missed and then another that connected, but the deer carried on.

I ran up to my buddy tripping on the way and smashed my knee and gun on the rock. Buddy and I each had grabbed only 2 bullets when we bailed from the truck, so he was out of ammo and I had 1 shot left. I chased the deer into the bush and spined it when it stopped. The deer was still alive and kicking so buddy tried to cut its throat and nearly got brained in the effort. The truck was 300 yards away at this point, so I grabbed a big rock and dropped it on the deers head, killing it instantly.

Then the 2 of us rookies gutted the deer based on distant memories of buddy helping his father and my 2nd year biology knowledge of where the parts are supposed to be. When done, buddy grabbed the front legs and I grabbed the rear. I got covered with blood pouring out the deers reamed but.

The ferry had to pull back into the dock to pick us up. During the crossing I noticed my knee was sore and swollen. Doc said I had pre-patella bursitis (a blood pocket on the knee), and I was sore for more than 6 months.

I know this is a gruesome story and some may be offended, but we learned many lessons that day. Despite the problems, taking that deer was one of the proudest moments of my hunting career. The only help I got was that after complaining to my Dad I never saw many deer except those that were already running, he suggested I look for parts of deer like an ear, a horizontal line of the deers back or a vertical line from a leg. I started to see many more deer and really enjoyed the rest of the season. Despite the poor start I have hunted for 29 years with few dry spells and no more need for rocks.:oops:

I hope you guys can appreciate this story. I am sure there are many more of you with follies in there hunts.

Paulyman

03-26-2008, 10:41 PM

I noticed it right away. Creepy.

My first was a 3x4 muley buck in 1994. Shot him with my 7x57/120 Nosler @ 170 yards using my 4x Weaver scope, he went down in his tracks. I figured I was quite a shooter after that.:cool:

What part of the photo do you see a womans face?

The Hermit

03-26-2008, 11:10 PM

First kill ever was a robin with a self made sling shot. Take a piece of 1x2 about the length of a gun stock. Screw in a long screw into each side of the "gun" about 1/2 inch from the end. Attach the ends of a length of the strongest elastic you could find to each screw. Put one big drop of red paint exactly in the middle of the stock at the end between the screws. Take one heavy staple and hook it over the elastic and pull back aiming along the length of the "gun". Let fly! Wicked weapon way more powerful than a slingshot. Later got fancy and screwed a clothes pin in and used it as a trigger! Ha Its amazing that I proved my mother wrong... never did loose an eye! And lots of robins and crows died that summer!

A year later I got my first bow (long bow and if memory serves it was forty pounds... it was all I could do to string it let alone pull it all the way back more than once or twice. I was about 8 years old. First kill with it was a RUNNING chipmunk! Ha totally instinctive with sound effects and all. I'll never forget my surprise and short lived joy at actually hitting it! I sure didn't feel good about killing it as we used to feed them by hand (sort of like shooting a pet) and hated having to go get my arrow! Thankfully dad didn't make me skin it or eat the first one.

hunter1947

03-27-2008, 05:45 AM

I was with no one when I took my first deer .. I can only remember that I was so excited that with myself that I got my first deer ,I can still remember that time back then.

tomahawk

03-27-2008, 07:24 AM

Calf moose on 100 mile ridge in 1965.

oddsix

03-27-2008, 07:34 AM

First one was a grouse when i was 7. First big game was a 2x1 mulie 2 years ago, taken at Eagan Lake.

FlyingHigh

03-27-2008, 04:26 PM

Grouse with m bow. 20 yard snapshot as he was quartering away. perfect shot too. right over the top of the neck, with the blade snapping the neck. almost took the head off.

still waiting on a big game animal.

blackwater

03-27-2008, 04:51 PM

Spike Blacktail on Denman Island. I was about 16 and with my dad and grandma. We had split up and I was sitting on the side of a deer trail/tunnel in the second-growth fir. He came along and at less than 5 yards my old Cooey single-shot 12g planted all 9 pellets of 00 buck in the side of his head. It was a good morning, and we all got deer that day.

Other than being my first deer, the most memorable thing was the fact that unlike Hollywood, the buck's head didn't explode or he didn't fly backward 10 feet. Just dropped on the spot - and I'm pretty sure that at 15 feet he caught all the energy the buckshot could have produced.

SAVAGE300

03-27-2008, 05:38 PM

my first was a weasel like critter up at babine lake with my dad when I was 12 had a 22 single shot cooyey at the time ( boy it was fast) well after 3 boxes of 22s I finally hit the thing only because i figued out where it was going to pop out its head next on the shot.next morning my Dad missed at the largest bull moose ive seen even to this day. he put the rim of the 303 shell on top behind the one under neith and could not close the bolt. it stood there for what seemed to be an hour. what do you expect from a p-14 he bought at army and navy in vancouver for 15 bucks. That was his last trip and my beginning, shot my first big game animal in 79, blacktail, just a 2 point but it was my first

J_T

03-27-2008, 05:52 PM

The first kill I felt emotionally was a squirrel taken with a rock. I watched my first deer kill at age 6. My first kill was a 160 muley at 11 and a 4 pt elk at 12. I remember the squirrel to this day.

Mr. Dean

03-27-2008, 06:05 PM

Interesting stories.

My 1st big game animal was a 4 point Muley. I was 40 years old and it was 2005.

Like others, I was doin it by braille (solo), but I did have the sense too pack some info on gutting in my back-pack. That kill was a humbling experience, as has been each since.

I also learned that black Bears like deer too, and can be very persistent in there attempts to claim one from a hunter.

I also learned that a scope is pretty much useless on an animal that's 30 feet away.

ROEBUCK

03-27-2008, 10:05 PM

i shot my first roedeer insight of hadrians wall in england nr scotland it was during doe season, i managed to take 2 on that day, [ there are no bag limits in britain due to the very high deer population]

LeverActionJunkie

03-27-2008, 10:19 PM

Junorr500

03-27-2008, 10:31 PM

Was 17 on the Queen Charolettes. Ancient Model 94 30-30. First time ever shooting a rifle. Broke a blacktails neck at 50 yards. Best tasting deer ever eaten. Worked for it though, i had to drag it down a creek to the beach ( we were hunting on a island) in the dark through 6foot tall devils club. Why is it the most memorable hunts are the hardest ones?

kgs

03-27-2008, 10:39 PM

It was 2003 and I was 39 years old at the end of Elisa lake forestry road right on a sand bar on the Bowron river. I had a cow draw and it had snowed heavy that day we came around the corner and spotted this nice young cow. She went down with one shot from my rem 721 30'06. I have been hooked on hunting ever since.

Deaddog

03-28-2008, 06:45 AM

1977, thirteen years old, button buck with my dad near armstrong, was shooting ducks and grouse at eight years old with my dad on our farm, haven't stopped yet and soon my kids will be joining me. Glad to see some of the guys taking their first animals later in life, gives me hope for hunter recruitment.

Leaseman

03-28-2008, 07:00 AM

My first animal was also my easiest animal to date!
1973, south of Vanderhoof, heading in to where we set up camp, came around a corner and had a nice size bull standing less that a 100 yards from us.... bang, flop in the center of the road...... thought all trips were going to be give mes from then on.....:roll:

Mike

TIKA 300

03-28-2008, 07:21 AM

A RHINO with a single shot 22,in Africa.Yappy Yoodle and i went in feb 08 LOL !!!! :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

1st was a 2pt whitey in Rock Creek,nov 02

MichelD

03-28-2008, 11:01 AM

When I was 17 in 1970.

4x5 blacktail with a Ross M10 303.

showtimebc

03-28-2008, 12:36 PM

10 yrs old, 2x2 blacktail buck. QCI

TherealSLYFOX

03-28-2008, 01:13 PM

2 x 2 mule deer it was huge well not really 3 shots and it was down.

Comshel

03-28-2008, 01:48 PM

Nothing too exciting now, I started hunting late in life ( 29 ) shot a two point muley with a Ruger in 280 around Snag Lake, 100 Mile.

huntergirl270

03-28-2008, 02:16 PM

First buck I had a chance at was a 4x4 and was a beauty but I forgot to shoot with hubby literally breathing down my neck. Hubby and I had hunted a few times together but I was really nervous hunting with him and we ended up in some real good arguments lol!

The first buck I actually took was a small spike muley buck. Hubby had decided to take me into a really nice draw and set me up and leave me alone to see if I could accomplish something on my own. I sat there in the wee hrs of the morning and saw nothing for about an hr and a half. then two does crossed the draw several times right in front of me feeding on the grasses. I watched them for a while (couple hrs). They seemed really nervous and kept looking away from me up into the higher part of the draw so I was thinking a buck may be up there.... I started to get bored and glassed the two does again (for the thousandth time) and hmmmmm..... this time one of them looked to have little nubs on its head.... Well, darned if it wasn't a little spike buck! His antlers were still in velvet which I thought was weird. I hummed and hawed.... should I or shouldn't I???? I thought to myself, there may be a bigger boy up the hill or there may not be. I also thought.... " If I tell hubby there was a buck here and I didn't shoot AGAIN... he'll kill me." It was only twenty min or so until we were due to meet back at the truck so I decided to take him. Man, when I squeezed off the trigger my heart was racing. I made a good clean shot but he bounded forward one leap and in my mind I thought... He's getting away!!!! so I shot again. Poor little guy dropped right there. Hubby came over the hump (obviously he hadn't gone far.....) with a question in his eye but he said as soon as he saw the sh...t eating grin on my face he knew ..........
I hope the attached pic works. Look at my face :)

Wild one

03-28-2008, 02:22 PM

first small game was a malard duck out in harrison.My first big game was a 3x3 bull moose up by prince george.

silvicon

03-28-2008, 03:52 PM

a yearling roe-buck, thats how i got on the way.

Smokepole

03-28-2008, 10:35 PM

In 1984,on the way to work. Less than 100 yards from the landing we spotted a buck up on the hill. One shot with my new Parker Hale in 30-06 and down he went. A truck was getting loaded at the same time and the driver helped me drag it down and gut it. Lucky for me, I didn't have a clue what to do. I was 19.

kennyj

03-29-2008, 06:15 AM

My first was a 2 point ( I called it a 3 point) blacktail taken on my first day of hunting after I got my licience in 1976.Wow thats over 30 years ago and I still get just as excited to go hunting.
Kenny

mcrae

03-29-2008, 06:55 AM

My first big game animal was a 2pt Whitetail buck I shot with my dad's .243... It was a pretty awesome moment....

aspo

04-18-2008, 01:52 AM

first kill was a black bear on the island. I went out alone ( yeah it wasnt smart) when i was 19. Neither my dad or grandpa hunted so i had to learn on my own. With a lot of time spent at outdoors stores and doing research to get the right gear i finally decided to head out. it was an unbelievable feeling when i saw the blacky off the side of the logging rode. I got within 70 yards and dropped it when it gave me a good side shot. It didnt go more than 10 yards. The skinning was a hell of a time, needless to say i didnt do a vary good job. it was my first time skinning anything and i had never seen it done before. But it was all worth it. The best feeling ever.

finish

04-19-2008, 05:49 PM

My First animal was a spike and a half Muley. My hunting partner a I were out in late September, I spotted a small pine tree that all of a sudden grew ears!! Out popped this nice little Spiker. I radioed my buddy tellin him to look out for it. He was sitting in a tree line wondering where this deer was when all of a sudden he heard a snap behind him. Directly behind him here was this spike, (2 feet) looking down at him, scared the hell out of him and he actually smacked it because he was so surprised. The next time we went out it was October, and in the Kamloops area it is any buck for October. He told me not to shoot it. So I separated from him, he hiked one way, and I went behind a watering hole and CRASH!!! There's the Spike again!!! I sat up against a tree, (gun Still on Shoulder) Gave him a grunt...WELL!!!! he walked RIGHT up to me!!!!! 15 feet away!!!! 30-30 Marlin right in the eye!!! Couldn't say no!!! My first deer...his pet name is BACKFLIP!!!

sneg

04-20-2008, 02:53 AM

Mallard , when I was 8 years old.

wjh131

04-20-2008, 10:03 AM

A 4x5 whitetail buck, I was 13 about 2 weeks after my birthday. We had made a bale blind on the edge of an oat stubble field. Afterschool Dad picked me up and we went right to the stand. About an hour in, out came an absolute monster, big rack, old buck, but we were after meat for the family at the time and passed on him. About 20 minutes later out came some does and this guy. I crept up over the bale and placed the cross-hairs of that win m70 243 just behind the shoulder. Dad said when you're ready, take him. I tried to remeber all my shooting instructions but was really nervous. Finally the rifle barked and the buck jumped, he went to the edge of the field and fell dead. I was so friggin' excited, I couldn't stop smiling. We went over and slit his throat and I ran back to the truck. The ol pick-up was a3 on the tree and I had no idea how to drive it. Burnt clutch engrossed the air as I drove up. Dad wasn't too happy about this but we got some meat. All the neighbours came over and congratulated me on my deer. I will never forget that.
I shot lots of beavers, coyote, fox and magpies before this, but this my first big game animal.