After posting in the “This is the last weekend of summer” thread that I was going to go hunting, Archer replied that he was going as well. Well, it’s deer season, who’s going? What are you going for?
I’m a newbie hunter. I just started two years ago and haven’t taken a buck yet. I started out hunting squirrels and upland game birds(mostly grouse). I’m looking forward to bagging my first buck this year. I had a couple of seasoned hunters for teachers when I started out in WA state. I moved back to CA last year and went last season, but only saw a doe (I was sooo tempted ;)).
:: Praying to the gods of the hunt ::
My hunting “arsenal”:
Mossberg 500 12 GA pump-action shotgun
Winchester model 70 Black Shadow 30-06 w/ Tasco 3-12 scope.
I started off shooting pigeons and other vermin with a .22 when I was really little - 6 or 8 years old.
I hunted A LOT when I was in high school - ringneck pheasant with a 12 gauge and whitetail with a 30-06.
I haven’t hunted since I graduated high school and moved away from home; haven’t gotten back into it since I’ve been back, either, since my little brother got the gun I used to use. :mad:
I used to hunt a lot, but to be honest it got kind of boring. If you happen to see somthing, it’s easy to kill with a rifle. I have always want to try bow hunting, cause it seems much more sporting, but from a humanitarian viewpoint I’m not near good enough to ensure a kill with an arrow. And the thought of the prey running around with an arrow stuck out of its ass for a few months just doesn’t sit right, so I’ll probably never do it.
I’m one duck hunting fool. Teal season opens this weekend in south Louisiana. After I rid the world of a few of those dangerous little birds, I’ll paddle my pirogue around and catch a few red fish and speckled trout.
Not since I reached the age where I had to buy a license. And having converted to Judaism, it’s pretty much out on religious grounds these days. That being said, I spent a lot of time as a kid in the flooded bottomlands of the Cache and White Rivers in Arkansas in the wintertime, huddled in a wooden johnboat, behind a blind with decoys around it, an ancient Savage single-shot 20-gauge across my knees, watching my dad knock down mallards and wood ducks with his Ithaca 12-gauge pump. I don’t think I ever hit anything while duck hunting. With him hunting every day of duck season and running trot lines every day from April to October, though, I practically lived on duck and catfish growing up.
I actually preferred dove hunting, which I mostly did with a Winchester Model 37A .410 shotgun (also a single-shot breech loading gun). Seemed a bit more sporting and to require much better shooting. When I brought down a relatively small bird with a single shot from the .410, I felt like I’d accomplished something. My best day was bringing down three birds on a total of five shots.
Don’t even ask me about my one experience of deer hunting. I’ve never been so cold and miserable in my life, and by the time a herd did come within range, my gun was leaning against a tree and I was staring off the other direction. Saw some small animals go running through the woods near the edge of my range of vision that I took to be dogs. When my dad tramped up five minutes later to ask if I’d managed a shot at them, it took him a while to convince me that what I’d seen had not in fact been dogs but deer.
I love to hunt, but deer season doesn’t start until late November. I’ll have to look up the exact date. It is dove season, though, and I’ll be going this weekend. Life is good.
One time my uncle shot a duck with a .243…pieces of feathers were the biggest parts he found. :eek:
My friend once shot a duck with 00 buckshot (forgot to unload last shell after hunting deer). He wondered why it kicked so much, then when he went to look for the duck, all he saw was feathers.
I have no qualms about hunting, but it’s not the pastime for me. I remember the first (and only) time I went deer hunting with my Dad and one of his buddies. It was to be a day trip. Dad drug my butt of of my warm, comfortable bed at oh-dark-thirty that morning. We piled into the pick-up truck; them excited, me semi-concious. We drove for about an hour and stop for breakfast. This marks the first occasion I’ve ever heard the phrase “More than a mouthful is more than enough!”. My Dad’s buddy was ‘splainin’ women to me, see? We finish breakfast and drive to our hunting spot. We pile out of the truck and walk a mile or so into the woods over some incredibly rough terrain. They get me situated in my deerstand and leave to take up their positions. I carefully note my field of view, which amounts to about one foot in front of my face because it’s still dark. I also begin to notice that it’s cold out. Very cold. I then have the epiphany that if I did shoot something it would have to be drug back to the truck over the same terrain we just had trouble walking unencumbered by 200 pounds of dead weight. That’s incentive? Sounds like work to me. After 3 eternities the sun began its glorious rise in the eastern sky. Its light is a welcome addition to my life, as is its warmth. I quit shivering and start to become really comfortable in my temporary home in the trees. I watch the squirels play around me. I can see out about 100 yards now. The warmth feels good. The woods are quiet. Young Doctor Jackson falls asleep. The next thing I heard were footsteps and voices as my Dad and his buddy walk toward my tree. I quickly rub my eyes and try to look alert. Dad says “Didja see anything?” Young Doctor Jackson, feeling much better now, cheerfully and truthfully answers “Nope, not a thing!”. Dad says “Yeah, neither did we.” My hunting cherry busted, we drive home.
Next time I want to repeat the experience I’ll get up at 3:00 AM, sit in my freezer for 4 or 5 hours, then go back to bed.
Used to hunt. When I lived in Wisconsin I took up hunting. don’t have a problem with using a gun, but to avoid all of the idiots I took up bow-hunting. Our season was earlier, much much better that way. Never bagged anything, but I didn’t really try that hard either.
Um, I hunt the Great Round Haybale… I’m a target shooter. Purely recreational. Bought a bow and some arrows from Wal * Mart, taped a picture of Rusty Wallace to a tree, and started shooting it. Bullseye was his nose and right between the eyes. I’m not bad at it, and eventually I got my hands on a regular target (stand up and everything), about two, three feet diameter, the kidn you can also use for clout shooting, but I prefer regular target shooting.
I’m so purely recreational that I coudln’t even tell you what equipment I use.
