This is my third year of hunting for whitetails. I am enjoying the learning process, but it can be frustrating because I haven't even got a shot yet. How long did it take you before you got your first one?
It took me 2 years to get my first deer, a doe. I started when I was 14 years old and bagged the doe when I was 16 years old.
I got mine the first year... After four missed shots. We are lucky here to have a good population of whitetail. I feel for guys who have to hunt all year for a shot. Just keep at it, I felt like a kid on his first hunt when I finally connected.
First shot, first year. Then many droughts. But it is so rewarding when you get it right.
"The pain of failure that is so much greater than the pleasure of success" Ian Flemming
I hunted 42 hours this year alone before I got my first shot and killed a doe. Keep after it, and you will be rewarded!!!
The 1st one is the toughest...it gets easier after that! A buddy of mine hunted 3 or 4 years without a shot. I took him out and put him in a stand and he shot a buck the 1st morning. After seeing how I set up and what I looked for he too began to kill deer every year on his own. I was fortunate to be born into a bowhunting family so was "fed with the silver spoon" when it came to getting shots. I'm no better than the next guy but grew up with mentors...just as I was to my buddy. Ever think of finding a mentor? Best of luck..Ryan
19 years...
What hurts is the opportunity I passed my very first night archery hunting. Had two does stop ten, maybe twelve yards in front of my blind and stand there looking around. For the life of me I couldn't remember if my tag was any deer or buck only!
:biglaugh:
I'm 44 years old. I started bowhunting when I was 14. I killed my first with the bow at age 20 so that would be 6 years. ;) Of course as I got older and more skilled I increased my efficeincy. :bigsmyl:
It took mr 5 years of hunting till I got my first deer which was an 8 pt. Then I scored for the next 6 years in a row.
About 4 years
Got my first shot the second year I hunted,that was about 42 years ago....haven't had a shot opportunity since.....Oh yea, I missed the first one! But I'm still out there looking for a chance to kill a deer!
Was after them for 2 years without success. The third year I got lucky and killed a buck.That was back in 1981. Were few deer in northern Oklahoma as compared with today. I now live in Southern Oklahoma and disappointed if I don't at least see a deer every time I go, in the 80's I was lucky to see 5 or 6 deer per season.
Stick with it will happen.
Chris
My second year when I was 17 years old in 1970. There weren't near as many deer around in those days.
18 years and going strong.
Of course for the first 4 deer I wish someone had told me about picking a spot. And for many years I was just plain greedy, looking for bigger horns than my friends. I will be happy with any old deer now, didn't know how well I had it back then.
Its my 1st year hunting traditional and still waiting. Haven't got a shot at a deer yet but I'm seein'em . I'll gladly take a turkey, racoon, coyote, anything wild!.... Phil
29 days into my first season, 3 point.
It took me three or four years til I got my first whitetail doe. Missed a nice buck on my first year.
i am still waiting for mine.i am a good shooter,but no so great hunter.i'll find a careless deer one day.until then,i will just enjoy being out there.good luck buddy.don't give up.you will one day be rewarded and it will feel good,steve
I took a doe my first year at 17. Don't get frustrated learn from your mistakes and it will get easier. If there were no challenge it wouldn't be as rewarding.
I didn't have any deer walk by that I wanted to shoot that first season. Second year I killed 4 does. That's hunting!
It took me 3 seasons of trad hunting before I killed my first whitetail with one back in 1997. It was a young doe. Then, one week later, I killed my second whitetail, my first buck with trad.
I don't want to sound "off center" here but I think Stickslinger made a good point. He came from a strong, in his case, bowhunting family and understood how to "Hunt" with a bow. I think, and I have seen this with my students, there is a different learning curve in place now as well as a desire for that quick gratification that generation Y (and some of the back end of generation X) seems to have. I am not being mean here so please do not shoot the messanger. This is actually a professional observation.
I come from the same background. How soon I killed my first deer is not relevant to me. It was time in the woods with gear I chose. Even then (1960's in NJ) I was critical of myself regarding my quarry.
For all of us there have been terrific highs and punishing lows. Those that stick it out will become better hunters. We learn from success and failure.
As some of you know, I live in the very southern part of Illinois and am blessed to have sufficient personal land to hunt on. This certainly, at my age, provides me with a modicum of comfort as regards my hunting. I have reached the age that I do not have to kill something to consider my self successful.
It can be a long road... hang in there
Deer were scarce when I started as a teenager, and just seeing tracks was worth talking about. Actually seeing a deer made the season! I don't remember how many years it took me to get a shot, but I missed several times before finally killing a spike with a recurve when I was in my 20's, I think 13 years after I started. I enjoyed every hunt! I've killed my share of deer and a couple of elk since then, but that first spike I will never forget. The details of that morning are still sharp in my memory, nearly 40 years later.
Hang in there, your time will come.
I'm 42, started when I was 14 and have yet to harvest my first deer period. Now mind you, I haven't hunted every year since 14 but, have put in a good number of years and refuse to do it with a gun! :thumbsup:
Still working on mine.
Shot 1st deer after 2 seasons with compound back 25 yr.s ago,.Started back with recurve late last fall and missed a close shot.This year no shots yet.My son has killed 2 does and my cousin 2 does from my stand with a combined 2hrs of sit time between them.I have been in that stand at least 15 hr.s and have yet to see one from that stand.Thats how it goes sometimes.I have seen a lot of deer from my other stand but just have'nt had a good shot oppurtunity.
Our modern day deer season started in my county in 1964 which was my first year to bowhunt them. I killed my first in 1969 with my new Bear takedown. It was something to just see a deer in those days. I would go a whole season and see maybe 6 or 8 deer.
Same as Night Wing. Started at 14, shot my first at 16 with an old Allen compound. That was 30 years ago.
Don't get discouraged. If it helps... my attitude is that I bowhunt to collect experiences, not antlers.
I have a buddy who bowhunted off-and-on for >20 years before he killed his first deer with me in the Blue Mountains of Washington. To date, it's the only deer he has taken... but man, have we had some good times!
I got a doe my 3rd time out with my recurve when i was 15 or 16. Man whata rush. Hooked me for life!!!
I was 12 years old in 1961, first year bow hunting (lucky, it was a little spike). Was shooting the bow for 4 years prior. PA you had to be 12 to hunt.
wow! who cares!everthing is relative. tommorow-the next day-the day after that- the day after that. life is good if your chas'in. it can't get any better.
matt
I think it took me 3yrs. to get my first trad deer, It was a mulie doe off the ground and i'll never forget it! My 15yr son scored his 1st bow killed deer this year and with a bow i made for him, It took him 3yrs also. So be patient it'll happen and the wait will be worth it!
Still trying for my first trad deer. Three years realy trying.
I got mine the first year, but it was after 30 days of morning and evening hunting
AND i owned the land.
There were very few deer in our part of the county. be sure to hunt the best parts of what ever land you can hunt on. really do your home work and scouting the area. Hnag in there it will be worth it.
QuoteOriginally posted by m laughlin:
wow! who cares!everthing is relative. tommorow-the next day-the day after that- the day after that. life is good if your chas'in. it can't get any better.
matt
Relative only if you can chase the next day or were unable to for a few years due to injury and are lucky to be getting back into it.
Other then that memories are precious and sometimes all some have.
9+ never give up your day will come! Be patient, here my story.
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=095692#000000
13 years.
Five grueling years. Then I learned a valuable lesson. Go where there are more deer. Presto!
2 years
a couple of years for the first one. then I went 4 years before the next one... But after that I've been very consistent.
I missed a deer my first year ( I was 12) and killed one my 3rd season when I was 14. I didn't kill another one until I was 22 (I did lose 3 years of hunting while in the Army).After that it kind of cam together.
Learning is good, take your time, don't worry about it. Stressing to kill a deer will cause you to take dumb shots.
I killed on the first season I hunted with a stick bow, but I had hunted only with a bow for about 3 or 4 years before that. I guess I sorta' had an advantage over someone going for guns to sticks.
God Bless,
Nathan
I started hunting when I was 12. I am 28 now and am still waiting for my first deer with a bow. I come from a hunting family. My dad has bowhunted his whole life and he or I have never owned a compound. So for me it's been 16 years.
One year after I started shooting traditional. Never shot one with the compound. Been in a drought the last few years but that's more a function of changed venue(fewer deer) than anything else.
My hat's off to you guys who've been trying/or tried so long.
My first bowhunting year I used a compound for half the season, decided I didn't like it, and switched to a longbow. Missed a couple of shots and had tag soup.
Scored my second season after I figured-out where the deer actually are, and have been pretty consistent since.
Tim....you gotta come down and sit in one of my stands in Howell....I'm getting tired of dragging :thumbsup:
Four years, started bow hunting for deer when I was 13 years old. Killed my first deer 10-17-84. Very few deer in my neck of the woods when I started hunting.
Al
started at 10 years old, not till 14 with my bow,so 4 years.that picking a spot thing to remember was tough on me.
the most difficult thing is learning to deal with the wind.
If you can play the wind correctly, you will have success sooner than later.
If you just sit in a tree where deer walk, it may take a while.
Not being a smart aleck- that's the voice of experience speaking there bud!
Roger, I have heard that from everybody. Then after I hunt with them they end up thinking I am cursed. Sometimes I think I may be!! :smileystooges:
I shot a doe the very first year and lost her. It took 3 more years to get the job done. Then next couple were over a 4-5yr time, all with wheels. I switched to a recurve in 1994 and found it made me a better hunter. In 2006 I went to using long bows that I make. I now have lost count as to how many. I know three this year.
If you can find a good mentor it makes a big difference. I our my success to others.
One the other hand, my dad is now 68 and has not shot a deer with his bow ever to my knowledge, he loves to go out though and we get spend time together. I think that is being very successful.
4th time out and it took 3 shots at the same deer.
16 years and I loved every minute of it. I've been bow hunting for 46 years now and have taken Whitetails, Mule Deer, Elk and small game and I'm at a point where killing is not the real reason I'm out there.
I just love sitting in a tree stand and watching the sunrise and seeing game in natural settings. Earlier this year I had several hundred geese, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, several does, two small bucks and many other animals pass within close range on a single morning. What could be better?
TTT, love hearing everyone's stories!
It took me 4 years I started at 16 finally got one at 20 its a though learning process if you don't have a mentor. Being persistent pays off and you will go through slumps and don't get down on yourself.
I killed the first live deer I ever saw when I was 16 years old on my first bowhunt for deer in Brown County, Indiana. I had been in the deer stand for about 90 minutes of the opening day's evening hunt. I was shooting a Ben Pearson Couger: 62", 45#. I was a rh archer in those days. The deer was a 5-point at 15 yards. The only skill involved was my shooting ability (I had been warming up on Chipmunks and refrigerator boxes since age 13) and my ability to be really still in the stand. It took me three years to repeat the feat.
The most important revelation I've learned in subsequent years has been to not overhunt a stand. Whether I knew it or not, I educated deer about my presence and after a few hunts from the same stand sightings began to fall to near zero. Keeping a diary of daily activity over a 2-year period taught me this and more.
This year I violated that rule quite often as 2 of my 7 stand locations are favorites. I've killed two deer with my recurve from the same stand this year but nearly 2 months between these shots.
The deer herd in Indiana in 1969 was about 1/20th the level it is today. They were unheard of near Richmond, IN where I grew up.
By the way, those early experiences directed the course of my life. Wildlife education, wildlife career, retired from wildlife profession in 2007 and am now a full-time archer. I've been a bowhunter longer than any other "title".
It took me one year. I was learning a new piece of land at the time.
This is my 5th year and still haven't put one down. I got a shot at a magnificent 8 pointer at McAlister last year and missed! :banghead:
I'm at it almost eight years and lovin' every minute of it. Didn't kill one yet, but stalking and still hunting with trad gear is as tough as it gets!
... mike ...
I took my first whitetail on my second day of trad. hunting. I'd taken 21 w/ the compound, prior....and ended up taking 4 does and a buck (the one in my avatar) in my 1st season (last year).
Hang in there.
Shot a Buck first year out with my compound, haven't yet with trad.
Got 2 my first year of trad hunting. But it was years of experience and lots of opportunities that made it happen. That first year was really frustrating, I think I did just about as much wrong in terms of shooting as anyone could have
Six years. Hunted with a compound first five years and then I switched to a recurve and got a button buck. I have had some dry spells since then but I am a better hunter now and seem to get a deer most years. :archer: :archer2:
As a deer hunter my first shot on my first hunt was it for me.
As a bowhunter it was the first year after 3 or 4 missed shots.
As a Traditional Bowhunter after two years of hunting with nothing but trad gear and missing alot this year I was blessed to connect with my first shot not long into my third season.
Others have said it, and I will echo it again, it really is worth the wait. Everything adds to the journey.
Thanks guys. I will always hunt. But now I will always hunt knowing that no matter how long it takes there are a lot of great people out there who have walked the same path I am.
If it was easy, they'd call it shopping.
It isn't the getting, if it was, you'd be on the gun hunting site.
It is about the aquisition of knowledge that will allow the deer to present itself to you. At that time you may or may not have your first Trad Deer. But you will have learned alot, that will only begin to unlock this ancient experience.
For me, it seems every 2 years I do something right, and I have venison.
Venison that means much more to me than all the deer I shot with a gun over the years.
Welcome to real hunting :-)
it was luck but my first time to the woods with my curve and arrowed a doe! it has not been that easy since!!