My First Day Of Hunting

Once I get the deer home I again feel a great sense of pride. This high should last me until I have to complete the gruesome task of butchering my animal in a few days once the meat sets. Deer hunting includes much more than the split second of firing a gun in the woods. Hunting requires hard work and enduring miserable conditions. I am willing to go through the struggles of hunting because of the adrenaline rush I get when I take a shot and the pride of supplying my family with food.

We began our search back where I had shot the deer. We tracked the deer to a creek at the base of a valley, but the stream of blood was becoming faint and difficult to follow and I was beginning to become distraught. My Dad decided we should hike to the top of a hill and look down into the valley to see if we could see the deer lying anywhere along the creek. If we did not see the deer we planned to call in several of our friends to help locate the buck. After making it to the top of the valley we peered down into the base of the valley hoping to spot the buck.

This pride comes from knowing how hard I have to work. Deer hunting includes much more than the split second of firing a gun in the woods. The hardest part of hunting may be waiting what seems to be an eternity until the start of the season. While I wait, I have many things to do in preparation for the hunt. The first thing that needs done is scouting for stomped down popular deer trails that are little more than narrow paths of mud and feces.

Since then I have been buying all the equipment I need and practicing every week. I think deer are wonderful animals and I hope to bag one this year. If you are never not sure about getting into the sport, do it, its the best thing I ever did. Even if you are against the killing of deer go out some day and just sit in the woods and watch them they are gracious animals.

“Thud thud thud,” it was all I heard when I was peering through my scope. The pleasure hunting gives me always had been immeasurable, any type of hunting, but my personal favorite is rifle deer season. The very first time I went deer hunting I was 14 years old. Opening weekend, my dad, who is a die hard hunter, was going to take me out with him. We were planning to head up North and hunt on public land in Emily, Minnesota.

That was the moment before the big buck, it was exhilarating to me because of my family tradition, the thrill of the hunt, and the reward I was about to take. Many traditions take place often, but mine only happens once month out of a year, November. November is the month that deer season starts with both bow and rifle. Hunting takes a lot of planning and patients. The place I hunt at is near Lamar, MO, but last year was the best by far.

I had never had that type of rush before, even though I had been defeated I was hooked on bow hunting. When school was ending my sophomore year I realized that I was going to be bow hunting that fall, and that I had better start to practice shooting. I practiced shooting everyday. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to get an elk, all I had to do was be able to hit it. I kept practicing I knew all I had to do was get an elk within 40 yards and it was mine, no problem.

Deer Behavior Due to the exceptional sense of smell of the white-tailed deer, the bucks will usally not go out into an open field if hunters are in their tree stands. Bucks rut to mark their territory and it is also considered mating season. During a rut, bucks rub their antlers and they wollow in mud and dust to release a chemical called phermones. They also fight with each other to release phermones. Bucks in a rut will always follow a doe wherever she goes.

As I raise my shotgun and pull the trigger, my heart races and my hands shake. As I race after my prize, the sounds of leaves crunching beneath my feet are muffled by the ringing in my ears. I’m walking face to the ground like a hound on a trail and then my eyes caught it, my very first whitetail. I will never forget my first deer and the joy I felt sharing it with my family. Hunting is a passed down tradition for my family and friends.

For many years prior to this one, I had spent many hours trying to hone the “art” of calling. Little did I know all of my practice for the hunt, my perseverance and patience were about come to fruition. As the birds began their first blush melody and dawn peeked over the horizon, I sat out on what would become the most exhilarating hunt of the spring. The crisp, cool forsythia scented air met me at the front door as I left the house, carrying with me all of my necessities for a successful hunt. After filling my camouflage embellished Jeep to near capacity, I had thought of one more thing.