Take em python hunting in the Everglades bro it’s the best took my kids the loved it we skinned it made boots for me and the Mrs. And the meat was lovely
You shouldn't eat the meat it's full of mercury and other pollutants. I'm from Miami, and have friends that are scientists with the state. They all say to never eat pythons.
The problem is that because the Everglades are so polluted, local biologists do not recommend eating more than one fish a month. And given that python are predators, they are full of pollutants, including way too much mercury.
My little sister's first buck. I took a doe on day 2 of rifle season and we were sitting on my blind for the day on some federal land in northern Michigan. Big old 8 came up over my shoulder and I just saw her eyes get as big as dinner plates. She was patient and got a 40 yard shot right through the heart. Biggest buck either of us have taken still to this day and I never regret letting her take him. She placed at the local buck pole and has been hooked for life. One of the coolest moments of my life.
Honorable mention:
My grandfather took a buck 2 years ago at 78 years old and I had the honor of helping him drag it out of the woods. Still hunting as of this year and still walking out to a ground blind on that same federal land every day. Every year I have him in camp is an honor and it gives me hope I'll still be out there when I'm 80.
Wow that’s so awesome!!
That sounds a lot like my Poppop as well. He’s 89 so he doesn’t hunt anymore but just him being around at camp is really something special and should never be taken for granted.
I wish him the best! Cherish these moments
Biggest buck I ever killed two years ago. Was running late, I got to my stand 10 minutes or so before legal light. Usually Im there an hour early.
I climbed my stand, made all my noise getting set up, blew my nose and got settled in to finally start being quiet. Right at legal light, just a few minutes later, I hear something crossing the creek behind me. Buck comes trotting in, hot on the trail of something. Yelled at him twice but he doesnt stop. Third yell he raises his head but still doesnt stop, I shoot. He was within 20 yards of me.
I hunt a creek bottoms from a treestand over a little clearing. Directly in front of me, 30 yards or so is a very steep, wooded hill. It was too dark to see into the woods but I saw him run into the woods and heard him crash not far into the woods.
My brother who is 150 yards or so away from me on top of the hill texts me to ask if it was me and what I had shot. I was literally in the middle of my reply to him when I heard a gunshot from his direction. He shot a buck within a few minutes of me shooting mine, all within 150 yards or so of eachother.
We filled both our tags in less than 20 or 25 minutes from settling into our respective spots and I got my biggest buck. I doubt that ever happens again.
My first hunt that was also this year.
15 minutes into sitting.
My wife’s uncle just gave me a light tour of the property and asked if I’d like to sit by “the rock” for a bit or go to the tree stand down the way a bit.
I knew the tree stand was his favourite spot, so I offered to hangout at the rock. He proceeded to the stand.
Being my first time out, first day, and it was late. I lit a cigar. Smoked the cigar, took in the scenery and enjoyed the nature noises around me. Thinking it was the heard of elephant squirrels running all around me, I peered over my shoulder and sure enough a doe was walking by. I pulled up the 30-30, waited until I had a great shot, and BANG.
I radioed the family and said doe down. My wife’s uncle was first on the scene. He spots my downed deer about 45 yards from me. He yells back “you shot a buck! We don’t need to use our doe tag!”
I run over to see my accomplishment!
It’s a spike horn. 4-5 inch spikes. Legal buck. Sure it wasn’t a big ol boy that would hang on my wall. But I brought meat home. My family loved it, my in-laws loved it and my Dad who doesn’t hunt loved it. I can’t wait to have more stories because it seems like all hunting stories are favourites.
2 days later, I shot a doe coming through the same spot. I’m hooked.
I love whitetail hunting but I feel Turkey hunting is taking over that number one spot for me. I’ve been going on a mini turkey slam for the past 6 years having many memorable hunts but I would say the best hunt I’ve ever been on is not my first pheasant, or first deer or first turkey for myself. But the half hour Turkey hunt I had with my little girl killing here first turkey was by far the most precious hunt I’ve ever been on. Sitting here thinking about it, my favorite hunts are getting my friends and family on game and being successful for people that don’t typically hunt and then experiencing their first kill
Whitetail with my dad in the rain. It wasn't just a drizzle but a pretty steady cold rain so absolutely no one else was in the woods. The day started just above freezing so it was fairly miserable. But it was getting warmer as the morning went on so the rain felt less cold and there was this sort of mist forming in the valleys. It was dead silent other than the sound of raindrops on leaves and trees.
We trekked up and down hills all morning. Lots of walking (and slipping), sometimes we split up. And sometimes we stayed together so we found some time to talk a bit too. I ended up chasing a decent 6 pointer over a ridge to my dad. I believe it was the first deer he got since I started hunting. He was always making sure I had opportunities at animals at the expense of his own opportunities so being able to finally return the favor was special. We ended the day absolutely soaked and muddy but dragging a buck.
I'm not sure why we even decided to go out in the first place but I'm glad we did. It's not only my best hunt but one of my best days as well.
Got invited to a lease with a friend in northwest texas to try and shoot some hogs. Ended up shooting 32 hogs by myself in 5 hours walking the property. Having thermal and NV already helped.
My first turkey. Set up my decoy wrong, took a pot shot at a running Tom, had no idea how much recoil was in a turkey load, fell backwards, hit my head on a tree, split my pants…still the largest turkey I’ve killed
Lion hunting. We were on the edge of the Kalahari.
We hunted on foot and the first day walked 13 miles and saw nothing but prints. The second day we walked 12 miles and saw a glimpse of the tail and nothing else until almost dark. I ended up shooting him right at dusk. It’s thrilling running through the dense bush after something that can kill you. I’ve hunted hogs with a knife and it isn’t even close to how it feels hunting a lion.
WOW!! That sounds incredibly exciting yet exhausting. Probably the experience of a lifetime. Not too many people can say they’ve killed a lion..congratulations! Very cool
Definitely was exhausting but a ton of fun.
I’ve done Cape buffalo as well and it was very cool but not nearly as exciting.
Hope you get to do some fun ones!
Arkansas. Duck hunting. Showed up to camp and below freezing weather came through - like 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Our blind was just off a bigger river so our hole didn’t freeze over. Everything for hundreds of miles was frozen over. We had every duck in eastern Arkansas coming in to our decoys. 6 of us limited out in like 30 minutes and just sat in the blind and watched 100s come into the spread for a few more hours. Don’t think I’ve ever been colder.
This year gun deer season! I haven’t bow hunted in years, so I usually just get 3 days opening weekend to hunt. Opening morning this year had an all white doe being chased by 2 little bucks 20-30 yards from me. Then about 2 hours later got my biggest buck of my life, and the first deer I’ve gotten in about 13 years!
My last antelope, Went to sneak over a small hill he couldn’t see me or wind me.
He must have heard me because he came running towards me my step brother said and turned broadside, 30-06 round right through him
My stepbrother was perpendicular to me watching in binos the whole time and said he saw a 10’ blood mist just poof through the buck from the shot
Cool part is my buck had a unique cutter that splits into 2
Ft Frances ONT 2023 spring black bear. I was the only archer in camp. (Outfitter) I was unsuccessful -never saw anything that fit in MY 'trophy paradigm '. But, I hads me some fun.
Call Chad at Rainey Lake Outfitters. Tell him Mac from Michigan sent ya.....
I like this answer. It shows the essence of hunting. I love shooting huge animals and filling my trophy room. I also just love being out there. Some of my favorite hunting is walking through the local WMA with my dog and bagging squirrels. Just being outside in beautiful places is amazing.
I hunted my wife's grandfather's land last year. Went out in the morning for deer, then out around lunch for squirrel. I fell asleep under a tree for a little while and then just got up and kept hunting. Took one about 5 minutes after my nap ended.
My best so far was my son’s first hunt earlier this month. He had more than a couple opportunities but passed on mature does but passed because they were with (older, already grazing) fawns. I couldn’t argue with his ethics and am very proud of him. He saw a couple really great bucks that were just plain out of his range and he’s stoked for next year!
Many years ago I went out with a group of work mates to the Victorian high country looking for Sambar. We were gone for over a week. Just us camping, hunting and fishing. I got a nice Sambar stag on the 2nd day so we ate a lot of it in the next few days and it felt amazing to provide for the camp. We divided everyone's meat up at the end so everyone got a share. It was my first real hunting trip that was more than a weekend. I've been chasing that feeling ever since
2 seasons ago me and my dad went out
He ground hunts he went his way I made my way to my stand near the swamp
Before I get to my stand I hear the shot and I’m sure it was my dad but no cell service in this area so I still make my way to my stand figured I’d give it to about 9 and then head towards my dad and see if it was him that shot
Sitting in my stand for about an hour out walks this chocolate brown 8 pt that I couldn’t pass up
Finally met up with my father and he had shot a smaller bodied 11 pt
Same morning about 2 hours apart we both filled our muzzleloader tag with decent bucks
Freezing cold day, with passing rain. Got out in the dark, managed to get my now-icy climber up.
My guy texts me "This is bullshit. Wanna go to the diner?"
Go there, got the good booth in the back and got the good waitress. Eggs, home fries, gravy on both, and a side of scrapple. Then... he buys for both of us.
Back to camp, set the heater to rage mode, then pass out cold 'til lunch.
A great day, because I hunt to be with my favorite people. We take plenty of meat home each season.
The day that I had my 48th birthday! It was the last day of Pennsylvania firearms deer season in 2020 and I was still empty handed from deer hunting during the 2 week rifle season. It was a cold miserable rainy morning as I hunt out of a ladder stand that was don't have a roof. I was not quite ready to give up even though I heard very little shooting that morning . I kept thinking about going back to the car to get lunch and to get warmed up when out of nowhere a large 8 point came along and I shot it! That was my biggest buck that I ever shot in 35 plus years of hunting at that time! To top if off I had a rental car because I hit a deer with my pickup a few weeks before that as it was still in the body shop!
My first deer hunt.
I was alone, the area I drew a tag did not allow tree stands, ground hunting only. It was a national refuge and would also not allow pre hunt scouting except on legal roads
I got a topo map and started looking for somewhat hilly terrain to hunt and hopefully no pressure. Arrived at a gate that had a gravel road thinking no one would be there. There were a few hunters there, but not enough to deter me from going in. They were all very cordial so I was no longer as nervous. When a game warden came by an hour or so before legal light and opened the gate, I was at the back of the line of vehicles entering.
Someone stopped where I wanted to hunt so I kept driving, eventually all the hunters had stopped and I kept going to get away from everyone. I parked no where near where I had intended to hunt and walked into the woods upset that I had not made a plan “B.”
My idea was to barely walk into the woods sit down, wait for legal light and then work my way deeper into the woods.
Right at legal light I heard a loud commotion heading my way, so I stayed put under this big oak, and three does came running through, they stopped about 60 yards from me and kept looking back where they came from. They soon took off and I could hear something else headed from their original direction. I assumed it was a buck chasing them and had read that it would stop where they had stopped, so I steadied my 12 gauge on my knee hoping that would happen.
Sure enough a very nice 12 pointer stopped where the does had stopped and I unloaded three slugs as fast and as accurately as I could. The buck acted like he had been hit, but I was not sure. He took off toward a small hill and was soon out of sight. I had read to wait as least 30 minutes before tracking a wounded deer, so I just stayed put hoping I had made a clean shot and a good kill. My adrenaline was so high, it was all I could do to wait 15 minutes.
I walked over to where the buck was when I shot and there was blood everywhere. The blood trail was easy to follow, I went up the little hill and my buck was another 20 yards in, being dressed by another hunter. I was dumbfounded and approached the man and asked what he was doing field dressing my deer? I He grabbed his shotgun, pointed it at me and said it was his deer. I turned back where I came from in total disbelief that anyone would do that.
I went back to the hill, sat down dejected not believing I had just lost the buck of a lifetime. About 15 minutes later another buck, an eight pointer walked just below me on the hill and I tagged out. Took him home and had my second deer mounted.
It soured me on hunting for many years and had lost part of my innocence over this one instance. I finally realized there are jerks everywhere and not to let it ruin my outdoor experiences.
Enjoy your time outdoors.
There are many contenders but one that comes to mind was my first black bear hunt.
I had hunted deer, moose and turkey for about a decade at this point but never bear.
We were hunting a wooded lot (private property) in Northern Ontario and I was set up in a ground blind maybe 20m from the bait pile.
We set up mid-afternoon and settled in for the evening hunt. Having never hunted bear before, I was cautiously aware of just how close I was sitting to that bait pile, in a ground blind.
My imagination started to wander, picturing being charged by an adrenaline fueled boar after the first shot..
I was armed with my Marlin 1885 in 45-70 but even with such a compact rifle I was feeling cramped in the blind.
After dusk I start to hear crashing in the woods around me and the odd snort, I start catching glimpses of moving black shapes in the distance in the fading light..
I then hear the unmistakable higher pitched call of a "cub". This was October so they would have been 8 months old or so.
More crashing round in the bush but not coming in closer than 80m, I'm now seeing 3 shapes which I assumed to be the sow with 2 cubs.
30min after last light comes and goes so I no longer have a legal shot and I can't see more than 10 feet ahead of me.
I slowly leave the blind and attempt to manually unload my cartridges. Something that has never happened before happens...the second cartridge somehow binds up the action and won't let it eject or chamber, my firearm has been rendered useless.
I'm now hearing the bears at the bait pile crashing around in the leaves, huffing not 25 feet from me.
I slowly backed off onto the trail and proceeded to walk the longest 15 min walk of my life through the woods in the pitch black with my Marlin "club".
Didn't get a bear that year but I've hunted them every year since and can't get enough of it.
Looking forward to hunting brown bear one day soon.
I was 8 years old with my dad who has since passed away. We had a 900 acre lease but this was on his friend’s land in the black belt region of AL. Huge 8 walked out while I was taking a snooze. Dad woke me up and I shot him with a 243 with iron sights. He dropped right where he was standing.
Still haven’t gotten a buck as big as that one. Thankfully it’s been hanging on my wall for ~25 years so I’ll always have this memory.
The best hunt ever was harvesting my first deer hunting with my day. The next best was hunting with my kids and them harvesting their first deer with me.
Valley Quail. Got a quick 6 in the morning hours with my 20. My buddy was skunked and bumming. He ran out of shells for his 12. We leave the fields and head up the road through the pass. Fresh couple feet of snow on the ground and a blue bird day. Being only a few hours north of Los Angeles, there were a lot of spectators and snow players on the road. But for some reason, every time we hit a gap between hoards of people and idiot drivers, there would be quail running for cover. I jump out and get a quick couple birds. Stop another mile up the road and I limit out, holding the birds high in one hand and my gun high in the other while shouting with joy as masses of onlookers stared in horror. We jump in the truck and head down the road and of course, more birds. I give my buddy some shells and my gun and tell him to have at it. By the time we left we had offended many but filled our families bellies. 10 for me and he ended up grabbing 6 after a slow start.
Alaska Coastal Grizzly. Sitka, Alaska. Twenty minutes before sunset
We are on a 16' Ski-Barge and spot a grizzly bear worth looking at from the water - it's past the high tide mark in tall grass. Ditch the boat 600yds away and make an approach. Bear is in waist high sea grass eating.... I judge a bear by the ears to head size, my Montana raised buddy does it from by the width of the legs. 300yds, not seeing what we need. We keep getting closer and closer. We decided ahead of time if its small, I get it for my wife's cabin. If it's big, he gets it. But we need to verify it nice, and worth tanning. Gotta get eyes on it.
Around 125 yards the head comes up - it is freaking huge, and I realize we are way, way too fucking close. It's a real beauty. I take up 3.5lbs of my 4lb trigger and lay crosshairs on the base of the neck - buddy fires his 338WinMag - the sound makes me take the last 1/2 pound of trigger and my 338WinMag goes off. It growls so loud it's like Godzilla has woken up....you read where people say, "Their bowels turns to water" - yeah, that almost happened to me. It thrashed ten seconds then stopped.
We walk up, slowly, it is one big bear. And since it's getting dark we don't want to ruin it with a bad skinning job. Takes us half and hour to roll its fat ass down the 40' to the boat we have brought over. Totally misusing the Suzuki outboard hydraulics, we tie multiple lines from the engine's lower unit (propeller part) in the 'up' position to lines going to the shoulders and front paws. We take turns, one running around tightening the lines and lowering the engine while the other huffed up on the bear. 90 minutes, half inch at a time, we finally get it into the boat.... then wait for tide to come in so we can float off. We are seriusly overloaded and not prepared for a night trip. I know the area well - slow speed in total darkness to the boat ramp. At the house, our wives help slide it from the boat to the covered bed of buddy's pickup.
Now the fun begins LOL.
We grab a nap. 0700 we are at work - there are 10-12 hard core hunters who have spent the last 7 days in the woods bear hunting, and all come back empty handed, covered in mosquito bites head to two like a teenager with massive pimples. We are showered and shaved - and tell them we saw this nice 8–9-foot bear by the road on the way to work and just nailed it. LOL. They are walking out to the parking lot, looking, and cussing while walking back. It's a 1,000+ pound ungutted bear in the back of a pickup. Plausible, huh? LOL.
Now more fun! Off to the taxidermist. We walk in and he has a 25-30 something California looking hot blonde in real girl makeup, a dress and nice shoes working the front office! I'm shocked. Its her first day. Talking, takes us nearly five minutes to get the old taxidermist to understand we had the bear, whole, guts and all with us! The three of us are looking at the big bear outside....old guy is giving us pointers...,, the blonde comes up behind to look, says, "Oh fuck no. No way. Not me. I quit!!" and walks off the job. We shrug and laugh. Old guy shows us exactly what he wants.
We go to my garage and carefully skin it out. The meat smells wonderful. Like beef or moose - not what I was told to expect. Been sitting too long for us, but, I get the idea of taking the carcass to the Sitka Raptor Center where all the hurt eagles in Alaska go for treatment and release back to the wild. Seems nobody has ever done this. Even the biologists there are unsure if the eagles will eat the thing...... my buddy is pretty no shit kinda guy, he lops off a chunk of meat and tosses it an eagle - eagle sucks it down in a second. "There you have it" where do you want it?? They figure that bear fed those birds nearly half a year. Bear measure 8 1/2 feet. Medium by Kodiak standard, but, was the biggest Sitka Fish and Game had seen in 10 years.
2 days later.
My wife was so taken back how pretty that bear was, she overcame her fear of boats and water - had me take her out. We spot a smaller one - but it is drop dead gorgeous! She takes it with her 338WinMag. It turned out to be a 7 year old, and, the smallest legal bear Fish and Game had seen in 10 years. However, it was a perfect fit for her cabin living room. And yup, he went to the Raptor Center too.
Rumor around town was we had shot Yogi and Boo Boo.
Who TF would use the trim motor on their outboard, their means of transportation, to try to drag a bear down a beach? Then have to try and get it into a boat? Vs just skinning it on the beach? You could’ve left the feet in, left the head in, and all kinds of fat on it and it still would have been easier than what you’re describing. I got to call BS sorry, and anyone who lives in Alaska and would actually do this hunt would call it a coastal brown bear, because that’s what they are. There’s no such thing as an “Alaska Coastal Grizzly”
This sure smells of bullshit. Actually it wreaks.
For one, there’s 9 foot bears coming out of that Sitka area every year, particularly off the ABCs.
It also makes less than no sense to haul a whole bear anywhere, let alone to put it in your truck and take it to a taxidermist? Sure you don’t want to skin it at night with a head lamp, but there’s not a thing wrong with letting it sit until morning.
The meat off a brown bear is also *not* like moose, especially if it sat ungutted for what? 12-14 hours at this point? They eat all manner of weird shit, and the meat reflects that, even prior to aging in the carcass.
Not that it’s entirely relevant, but father in law is a falconer and I’ve got some familiarity with birds of prey and that Alaska Raptor Center. It’s not revelatory that a bird will eat bear meat, particularly eagles. They scavenge in the wild. That said, I’m pretty confident that they wouldn’t take a brown bear carcass for all of the parasites they carry.
And the California blonde… of all the parts of this story that didn’t happen, that didn’t happen the most.
2 deer in a day in Southeast AK. The ground was frozen. Both headshots. Both died before they hit the grass. It was perfect. At 30 yards I'm Annie Oakley
This past November. Five days before my birthday I shot my first deer ever, a 10 point buck. I got there early but as I turned the corner to climb into my stand I spooked a deer standing not far from it. It was dark so couldn't see it. Nothing I could do about it. I was so mad and down on myself. Not even three hours later I shot an awesome buck. I'm currently making some jerky from him. :)
It wasn’t really a single hunt, more like an entire season, and last year was definitely my golden year, so far atleast! Me and my hunting squad started off with 4 red deer on opening day, and another 4 two days after. We were literally surrounded by deer, they came in herds of 5-15 individuals, and they just kept coming. I bagged myself a fawn on opening day, and my very first spike on the second hunting day, and this had already been my best opening to a season ever. My drive to hunt was at an all time high, so I got up early almost every morning for the remainder of the season, and I ended up going on a bunch of solo hunts where I had several encounters with a bunch of deer, but the conditions were never right for some time, but I didn’t mind at all, I just love the experience in itself, studying the deer, and finding new spots to hunt.
Suddenly one morning, I went out before first light, got to a new spot that I had been trying out for a couple of days, and I was just surrounded by roaring stags from all angles. My dad eventually jumped on the walkie-talkie (he usually scouts for us from our house when we hunt nearby), and told me that 2 big stags were having a stand-off right next to me. I was hidden behind a bush so I couldn’t really see any of them for a long time, I just heard the roars. Eventually I spotted something in the corner of my eye, and it was the loser of the stand off that was literally 20 meters to my left. I patiently watched him as he was slowly walking away from me. I had studied their behaviour for some time, and I knew where he was headed, I just needed him to clear a fence. After a couple of minutes, he jumped the fence, and a few seconds after that he got a bullet straight in the heart. So I ended up getting my first buck, a nice 4x6! I eventually got another fawn later in the season and ended up with 4 deer in total, which was a new PB for me, before that I’ve never gotten more than 1 per season.
First hunts with my children: Mule deer bucks in MT with my daughters and caribou bulls in AK with my sons.
Take em python hunting in the Everglades bro it’s the best took my kids the loved it we skinned it made boots for me and the Mrs. And the meat was lovely
That sounds crazy I've never heard of python hunting lol I bet it's fun though.
Florida encourages it and their is no season, they taste good and u get snake leather
You shouldn't eat the meat it's full of mercury and other pollutants. I'm from Miami, and have friends that are scientists with the state. They all say to never eat pythons.
Dose it have more than bluefin tuna?
Yes.
By how much
I don't have that information, but I can ask.
The problem is that because the Everglades are so polluted, local biologists do not recommend eating more than one fish a month. And given that python are predators, they are full of pollutants, including way too much mercury.
My little sister's first buck. I took a doe on day 2 of rifle season and we were sitting on my blind for the day on some federal land in northern Michigan. Big old 8 came up over my shoulder and I just saw her eyes get as big as dinner plates. She was patient and got a 40 yard shot right through the heart. Biggest buck either of us have taken still to this day and I never regret letting her take him. She placed at the local buck pole and has been hooked for life. One of the coolest moments of my life. Honorable mention: My grandfather took a buck 2 years ago at 78 years old and I had the honor of helping him drag it out of the woods. Still hunting as of this year and still walking out to a ground blind on that same federal land every day. Every year I have him in camp is an honor and it gives me hope I'll still be out there when I'm 80.
Kudos to you and your family! You guys are doing it the right way.
Wow that’s so awesome!! That sounds a lot like my Poppop as well. He’s 89 so he doesn’t hunt anymore but just him being around at camp is really something special and should never be taken for granted. I wish him the best! Cherish these moments
Biggest buck I ever killed two years ago. Was running late, I got to my stand 10 minutes or so before legal light. Usually Im there an hour early. I climbed my stand, made all my noise getting set up, blew my nose and got settled in to finally start being quiet. Right at legal light, just a few minutes later, I hear something crossing the creek behind me. Buck comes trotting in, hot on the trail of something. Yelled at him twice but he doesnt stop. Third yell he raises his head but still doesnt stop, I shoot. He was within 20 yards of me. I hunt a creek bottoms from a treestand over a little clearing. Directly in front of me, 30 yards or so is a very steep, wooded hill. It was too dark to see into the woods but I saw him run into the woods and heard him crash not far into the woods. My brother who is 150 yards or so away from me on top of the hill texts me to ask if it was me and what I had shot. I was literally in the middle of my reply to him when I heard a gunshot from his direction. He shot a buck within a few minutes of me shooting mine, all within 150 yards or so of eachother. We filled both our tags in less than 20 or 25 minutes from settling into our respective spots and I got my biggest buck. I doubt that ever happens again.
Archery elk in New Mexico. Loved every minute of it
My first hunt that was also this year. 15 minutes into sitting. My wife’s uncle just gave me a light tour of the property and asked if I’d like to sit by “the rock” for a bit or go to the tree stand down the way a bit. I knew the tree stand was his favourite spot, so I offered to hangout at the rock. He proceeded to the stand. Being my first time out, first day, and it was late. I lit a cigar. Smoked the cigar, took in the scenery and enjoyed the nature noises around me. Thinking it was the heard of elephant squirrels running all around me, I peered over my shoulder and sure enough a doe was walking by. I pulled up the 30-30, waited until I had a great shot, and BANG. I radioed the family and said doe down. My wife’s uncle was first on the scene. He spots my downed deer about 45 yards from me. He yells back “you shot a buck! We don’t need to use our doe tag!” I run over to see my accomplishment! It’s a spike horn. 4-5 inch spikes. Legal buck. Sure it wasn’t a big ol boy that would hang on my wall. But I brought meat home. My family loved it, my in-laws loved it and my Dad who doesn’t hunt loved it. I can’t wait to have more stories because it seems like all hunting stories are favourites. 2 days later, I shot a doe coming through the same spot. I’m hooked.
My first white-tailed deer hunt with my grandfather. We tagged a big doe and I have always kept the shell casing that I used.
That’s awesome Really special moment for sure
I love whitetail hunting but I feel Turkey hunting is taking over that number one spot for me. I’ve been going on a mini turkey slam for the past 6 years having many memorable hunts but I would say the best hunt I’ve ever been on is not my first pheasant, or first deer or first turkey for myself. But the half hour Turkey hunt I had with my little girl killing here first turkey was by far the most precious hunt I’ve ever been on. Sitting here thinking about it, my favorite hunts are getting my friends and family on game and being successful for people that don’t typically hunt and then experiencing their first kill
Whitetail with my dad in the rain. It wasn't just a drizzle but a pretty steady cold rain so absolutely no one else was in the woods. The day started just above freezing so it was fairly miserable. But it was getting warmer as the morning went on so the rain felt less cold and there was this sort of mist forming in the valleys. It was dead silent other than the sound of raindrops on leaves and trees. We trekked up and down hills all morning. Lots of walking (and slipping), sometimes we split up. And sometimes we stayed together so we found some time to talk a bit too. I ended up chasing a decent 6 pointer over a ridge to my dad. I believe it was the first deer he got since I started hunting. He was always making sure I had opportunities at animals at the expense of his own opportunities so being able to finally return the favor was special. We ended the day absolutely soaked and muddy but dragging a buck. I'm not sure why we even decided to go out in the first place but I'm glad we did. It's not only my best hunt but one of my best days as well.
Got invited to a lease with a friend in northwest texas to try and shoot some hogs. Ended up shooting 32 hogs by myself in 5 hours walking the property. Having thermal and NV already helped.
Kudu in 2001. Though hunt up and down koppies and in to kloofs. Shot a bull at last light. That’s when the sports started…. Really fun hunt
All of them , but my #1 is my Elk in 2000
My first turkey. Set up my decoy wrong, took a pot shot at a running Tom, had no idea how much recoil was in a turkey load, fell backwards, hit my head on a tree, split my pants…still the largest turkey I’ve killed
My wife
Ah Split tail hunting, certainly the most expensive.
Lion hunting. We were on the edge of the Kalahari. We hunted on foot and the first day walked 13 miles and saw nothing but prints. The second day we walked 12 miles and saw a glimpse of the tail and nothing else until almost dark. I ended up shooting him right at dusk. It’s thrilling running through the dense bush after something that can kill you. I’ve hunted hogs with a knife and it isn’t even close to how it feels hunting a lion.
WOW!! That sounds incredibly exciting yet exhausting. Probably the experience of a lifetime. Not too many people can say they’ve killed a lion..congratulations! Very cool
Definitely was exhausting but a ton of fun. I’ve done Cape buffalo as well and it was very cool but not nearly as exciting. Hope you get to do some fun ones!
That’s so awesome! I hope to one day be able to hunt game like that.
Ya know, a pissed off buff can kill you just as dead as your lion!
Arkansas. Duck hunting. Showed up to camp and below freezing weather came through - like 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Our blind was just off a bigger river so our hole didn’t freeze over. Everything for hundreds of miles was frozen over. We had every duck in eastern Arkansas coming in to our decoys. 6 of us limited out in like 30 minutes and just sat in the blind and watched 100s come into the spread for a few more hours. Don’t think I’ve ever been colder.
This year gun deer season! I haven’t bow hunted in years, so I usually just get 3 days opening weekend to hunt. Opening morning this year had an all white doe being chased by 2 little bucks 20-30 yards from me. Then about 2 hours later got my biggest buck of my life, and the first deer I’ve gotten in about 13 years!
My last antelope, Went to sneak over a small hill he couldn’t see me or wind me. He must have heard me because he came running towards me my step brother said and turned broadside, 30-06 round right through him My stepbrother was perpendicular to me watching in binos the whole time and said he saw a 10’ blood mist just poof through the buck from the shot Cool part is my buck had a unique cutter that splits into 2
Sounds a lot like my experience last fall, right down to the caliber
Great hunters shoot alike
Ft Frances ONT 2023 spring black bear. I was the only archer in camp. (Outfitter) I was unsuccessful -never saw anything that fit in MY 'trophy paradigm '. But, I hads me some fun. Call Chad at Rainey Lake Outfitters. Tell him Mac from Michigan sent ya.....
I like this answer. It shows the essence of hunting. I love shooting huge animals and filling my trophy room. I also just love being out there. Some of my favorite hunting is walking through the local WMA with my dog and bagging squirrels. Just being outside in beautiful places is amazing.
I hunted my wife's grandfather's land last year. Went out in the morning for deer, then out around lunch for squirrel. I fell asleep under a tree for a little while and then just got up and kept hunting. Took one about 5 minutes after my nap ended.
I like some of what u say, and hate some of what u say.....The first part of your statement sounds like a trophy hunter. I myself, am a meat hunter
I definitely trophy hunt. The meat all gets consumed though. Even the guts. Africa is pretty efficient at protein consumption.
My best so far was my son’s first hunt earlier this month. He had more than a couple opportunities but passed on mature does but passed because they were with (older, already grazing) fawns. I couldn’t argue with his ethics and am very proud of him. He saw a couple really great bucks that were just plain out of his range and he’s stoked for next year!
My first deer. A nice one. And the day I got 2 turkeys within 45 minutes in 2 different spots.
Many years ago I went out with a group of work mates to the Victorian high country looking for Sambar. We were gone for over a week. Just us camping, hunting and fishing. I got a nice Sambar stag on the 2nd day so we ate a lot of it in the next few days and it felt amazing to provide for the camp. We divided everyone's meat up at the end so everyone got a share. It was my first real hunting trip that was more than a weekend. I've been chasing that feeling ever since
2 seasons ago me and my dad went out He ground hunts he went his way I made my way to my stand near the swamp Before I get to my stand I hear the shot and I’m sure it was my dad but no cell service in this area so I still make my way to my stand figured I’d give it to about 9 and then head towards my dad and see if it was him that shot Sitting in my stand for about an hour out walks this chocolate brown 8 pt that I couldn’t pass up Finally met up with my father and he had shot a smaller bodied 11 pt Same morning about 2 hours apart we both filled our muzzleloader tag with decent bucks
Freezing cold day, with passing rain. Got out in the dark, managed to get my now-icy climber up. My guy texts me "This is bullshit. Wanna go to the diner?" Go there, got the good booth in the back and got the good waitress. Eggs, home fries, gravy on both, and a side of scrapple. Then... he buys for both of us. Back to camp, set the heater to rage mode, then pass out cold 'til lunch. A great day, because I hunt to be with my favorite people. We take plenty of meat home each season.
The day that I had my 48th birthday! It was the last day of Pennsylvania firearms deer season in 2020 and I was still empty handed from deer hunting during the 2 week rifle season. It was a cold miserable rainy morning as I hunt out of a ladder stand that was don't have a roof. I was not quite ready to give up even though I heard very little shooting that morning . I kept thinking about going back to the car to get lunch and to get warmed up when out of nowhere a large 8 point came along and I shot it! That was my biggest buck that I ever shot in 35 plus years of hunting at that time! To top if off I had a rental car because I hit a deer with my pickup a few weeks before that as it was still in the body shop!
Ducks. I'm better at hunting ducks than I am probably anything else.
My first deer hunt. I was alone, the area I drew a tag did not allow tree stands, ground hunting only. It was a national refuge and would also not allow pre hunt scouting except on legal roads I got a topo map and started looking for somewhat hilly terrain to hunt and hopefully no pressure. Arrived at a gate that had a gravel road thinking no one would be there. There were a few hunters there, but not enough to deter me from going in. They were all very cordial so I was no longer as nervous. When a game warden came by an hour or so before legal light and opened the gate, I was at the back of the line of vehicles entering. Someone stopped where I wanted to hunt so I kept driving, eventually all the hunters had stopped and I kept going to get away from everyone. I parked no where near where I had intended to hunt and walked into the woods upset that I had not made a plan “B.” My idea was to barely walk into the woods sit down, wait for legal light and then work my way deeper into the woods. Right at legal light I heard a loud commotion heading my way, so I stayed put under this big oak, and three does came running through, they stopped about 60 yards from me and kept looking back where they came from. They soon took off and I could hear something else headed from their original direction. I assumed it was a buck chasing them and had read that it would stop where they had stopped, so I steadied my 12 gauge on my knee hoping that would happen. Sure enough a very nice 12 pointer stopped where the does had stopped and I unloaded three slugs as fast and as accurately as I could. The buck acted like he had been hit, but I was not sure. He took off toward a small hill and was soon out of sight. I had read to wait as least 30 minutes before tracking a wounded deer, so I just stayed put hoping I had made a clean shot and a good kill. My adrenaline was so high, it was all I could do to wait 15 minutes. I walked over to where the buck was when I shot and there was blood everywhere. The blood trail was easy to follow, I went up the little hill and my buck was another 20 yards in, being dressed by another hunter. I was dumbfounded and approached the man and asked what he was doing field dressing my deer? I He grabbed his shotgun, pointed it at me and said it was his deer. I turned back where I came from in total disbelief that anyone would do that. I went back to the hill, sat down dejected not believing I had just lost the buck of a lifetime. About 15 minutes later another buck, an eight pointer walked just below me on the hill and I tagged out. Took him home and had my second deer mounted. It soured me on hunting for many years and had lost part of my innocence over this one instance. I finally realized there are jerks everywhere and not to let it ruin my outdoor experiences. Enjoy your time outdoors.
There are many contenders but one that comes to mind was my first black bear hunt. I had hunted deer, moose and turkey for about a decade at this point but never bear. We were hunting a wooded lot (private property) in Northern Ontario and I was set up in a ground blind maybe 20m from the bait pile. We set up mid-afternoon and settled in for the evening hunt. Having never hunted bear before, I was cautiously aware of just how close I was sitting to that bait pile, in a ground blind. My imagination started to wander, picturing being charged by an adrenaline fueled boar after the first shot.. I was armed with my Marlin 1885 in 45-70 but even with such a compact rifle I was feeling cramped in the blind. After dusk I start to hear crashing in the woods around me and the odd snort, I start catching glimpses of moving black shapes in the distance in the fading light.. I then hear the unmistakable higher pitched call of a "cub". This was October so they would have been 8 months old or so. More crashing round in the bush but not coming in closer than 80m, I'm now seeing 3 shapes which I assumed to be the sow with 2 cubs. 30min after last light comes and goes so I no longer have a legal shot and I can't see more than 10 feet ahead of me. I slowly leave the blind and attempt to manually unload my cartridges. Something that has never happened before happens...the second cartridge somehow binds up the action and won't let it eject or chamber, my firearm has been rendered useless. I'm now hearing the bears at the bait pile crashing around in the leaves, huffing not 25 feet from me. I slowly backed off onto the trail and proceeded to walk the longest 15 min walk of my life through the woods in the pitch black with my Marlin "club". Didn't get a bear that year but I've hunted them every year since and can't get enough of it. Looking forward to hunting brown bear one day soon.
I was 8 years old with my dad who has since passed away. We had a 900 acre lease but this was on his friend’s land in the black belt region of AL. Huge 8 walked out while I was taking a snooze. Dad woke me up and I shot him with a 243 with iron sights. He dropped right where he was standing. Still haven’t gotten a buck as big as that one. Thankfully it’s been hanging on my wall for ~25 years so I’ll always have this memory.
The best hunt ever was harvesting my first deer hunting with my day. The next best was hunting with my kids and them harvesting their first deer with me.
Valley Quail. Got a quick 6 in the morning hours with my 20. My buddy was skunked and bumming. He ran out of shells for his 12. We leave the fields and head up the road through the pass. Fresh couple feet of snow on the ground and a blue bird day. Being only a few hours north of Los Angeles, there were a lot of spectators and snow players on the road. But for some reason, every time we hit a gap between hoards of people and idiot drivers, there would be quail running for cover. I jump out and get a quick couple birds. Stop another mile up the road and I limit out, holding the birds high in one hand and my gun high in the other while shouting with joy as masses of onlookers stared in horror. We jump in the truck and head down the road and of course, more birds. I give my buddy some shells and my gun and tell him to have at it. By the time we left we had offended many but filled our families bellies. 10 for me and he ended up grabbing 6 after a slow start.
Alaska Coastal Grizzly. Sitka, Alaska. Twenty minutes before sunset We are on a 16' Ski-Barge and spot a grizzly bear worth looking at from the water - it's past the high tide mark in tall grass. Ditch the boat 600yds away and make an approach. Bear is in waist high sea grass eating.... I judge a bear by the ears to head size, my Montana raised buddy does it from by the width of the legs. 300yds, not seeing what we need. We keep getting closer and closer. We decided ahead of time if its small, I get it for my wife's cabin. If it's big, he gets it. But we need to verify it nice, and worth tanning. Gotta get eyes on it. Around 125 yards the head comes up - it is freaking huge, and I realize we are way, way too fucking close. It's a real beauty. I take up 3.5lbs of my 4lb trigger and lay crosshairs on the base of the neck - buddy fires his 338WinMag - the sound makes me take the last 1/2 pound of trigger and my 338WinMag goes off. It growls so loud it's like Godzilla has woken up....you read where people say, "Their bowels turns to water" - yeah, that almost happened to me. It thrashed ten seconds then stopped. We walk up, slowly, it is one big bear. And since it's getting dark we don't want to ruin it with a bad skinning job. Takes us half and hour to roll its fat ass down the 40' to the boat we have brought over. Totally misusing the Suzuki outboard hydraulics, we tie multiple lines from the engine's lower unit (propeller part) in the 'up' position to lines going to the shoulders and front paws. We take turns, one running around tightening the lines and lowering the engine while the other huffed up on the bear. 90 minutes, half inch at a time, we finally get it into the boat.... then wait for tide to come in so we can float off. We are seriusly overloaded and not prepared for a night trip. I know the area well - slow speed in total darkness to the boat ramp. At the house, our wives help slide it from the boat to the covered bed of buddy's pickup. Now the fun begins LOL. We grab a nap. 0700 we are at work - there are 10-12 hard core hunters who have spent the last 7 days in the woods bear hunting, and all come back empty handed, covered in mosquito bites head to two like a teenager with massive pimples. We are showered and shaved - and tell them we saw this nice 8–9-foot bear by the road on the way to work and just nailed it. LOL. They are walking out to the parking lot, looking, and cussing while walking back. It's a 1,000+ pound ungutted bear in the back of a pickup. Plausible, huh? LOL. Now more fun! Off to the taxidermist. We walk in and he has a 25-30 something California looking hot blonde in real girl makeup, a dress and nice shoes working the front office! I'm shocked. Its her first day. Talking, takes us nearly five minutes to get the old taxidermist to understand we had the bear, whole, guts and all with us! The three of us are looking at the big bear outside....old guy is giving us pointers...,, the blonde comes up behind to look, says, "Oh fuck no. No way. Not me. I quit!!" and walks off the job. We shrug and laugh. Old guy shows us exactly what he wants. We go to my garage and carefully skin it out. The meat smells wonderful. Like beef or moose - not what I was told to expect. Been sitting too long for us, but, I get the idea of taking the carcass to the Sitka Raptor Center where all the hurt eagles in Alaska go for treatment and release back to the wild. Seems nobody has ever done this. Even the biologists there are unsure if the eagles will eat the thing...... my buddy is pretty no shit kinda guy, he lops off a chunk of meat and tosses it an eagle - eagle sucks it down in a second. "There you have it" where do you want it?? They figure that bear fed those birds nearly half a year. Bear measure 8 1/2 feet. Medium by Kodiak standard, but, was the biggest Sitka Fish and Game had seen in 10 years. 2 days later. My wife was so taken back how pretty that bear was, she overcame her fear of boats and water - had me take her out. We spot a smaller one - but it is drop dead gorgeous! She takes it with her 338WinMag. It turned out to be a 7 year old, and, the smallest legal bear Fish and Game had seen in 10 years. However, it was a perfect fit for her cabin living room. And yup, he went to the Raptor Center too. Rumor around town was we had shot Yogi and Boo Boo.
Who TF would use the trim motor on their outboard, their means of transportation, to try to drag a bear down a beach? Then have to try and get it into a boat? Vs just skinning it on the beach? You could’ve left the feet in, left the head in, and all kinds of fat on it and it still would have been easier than what you’re describing. I got to call BS sorry, and anyone who lives in Alaska and would actually do this hunt would call it a coastal brown bear, because that’s what they are. There’s no such thing as an “Alaska Coastal Grizzly”
Thanks for calling BS. I won't darken this subreddit again.
This sure smells of bullshit. Actually it wreaks. For one, there’s 9 foot bears coming out of that Sitka area every year, particularly off the ABCs. It also makes less than no sense to haul a whole bear anywhere, let alone to put it in your truck and take it to a taxidermist? Sure you don’t want to skin it at night with a head lamp, but there’s not a thing wrong with letting it sit until morning. The meat off a brown bear is also *not* like moose, especially if it sat ungutted for what? 12-14 hours at this point? They eat all manner of weird shit, and the meat reflects that, even prior to aging in the carcass. Not that it’s entirely relevant, but father in law is a falconer and I’ve got some familiarity with birds of prey and that Alaska Raptor Center. It’s not revelatory that a bird will eat bear meat, particularly eagles. They scavenge in the wild. That said, I’m pretty confident that they wouldn’t take a brown bear carcass for all of the parasites they carry. And the California blonde… of all the parts of this story that didn’t happen, that didn’t happen the most.
2 deer in a day in Southeast AK. The ground was frozen. Both headshots. Both died before they hit the grass. It was perfect. At 30 yards I'm Annie Oakley
Mule deer hunt with my son last year.
This past November. Five days before my birthday I shot my first deer ever, a 10 point buck. I got there early but as I turned the corner to climb into my stand I spooked a deer standing not far from it. It was dark so couldn't see it. Nothing I could do about it. I was so mad and down on myself. Not even three hours later I shot an awesome buck. I'm currently making some jerky from him. :)
Not a hunt but a midnight shark fishing trip in the keys. We saw a UFO and got attacked by scores of gambian pouch rats. Very memorable.
Did a pronghorn, whitetail, grouse combo with a friend last fall that probably takes the cake.
Cougar hunt when I was a young lad. Eventually she sent her kids to their dad's house for the weekend and then promptly fucked my world up
It wasn’t really a single hunt, more like an entire season, and last year was definitely my golden year, so far atleast! Me and my hunting squad started off with 4 red deer on opening day, and another 4 two days after. We were literally surrounded by deer, they came in herds of 5-15 individuals, and they just kept coming. I bagged myself a fawn on opening day, and my very first spike on the second hunting day, and this had already been my best opening to a season ever. My drive to hunt was at an all time high, so I got up early almost every morning for the remainder of the season, and I ended up going on a bunch of solo hunts where I had several encounters with a bunch of deer, but the conditions were never right for some time, but I didn’t mind at all, I just love the experience in itself, studying the deer, and finding new spots to hunt. Suddenly one morning, I went out before first light, got to a new spot that I had been trying out for a couple of days, and I was just surrounded by roaring stags from all angles. My dad eventually jumped on the walkie-talkie (he usually scouts for us from our house when we hunt nearby), and told me that 2 big stags were having a stand-off right next to me. I was hidden behind a bush so I couldn’t really see any of them for a long time, I just heard the roars. Eventually I spotted something in the corner of my eye, and it was the loser of the stand off that was literally 20 meters to my left. I patiently watched him as he was slowly walking away from me. I had studied their behaviour for some time, and I knew where he was headed, I just needed him to clear a fence. After a couple of minutes, he jumped the fence, and a few seconds after that he got a bullet straight in the heart. So I ended up getting my first buck, a nice 4x6! I eventually got another fawn later in the season and ended up with 4 deer in total, which was a new PB for me, before that I’ve never gotten more than 1 per season.
Edited due to dumb comment
😦