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My First Deer
By Trentin Meyer
Video games can’t provide life-changing experiences like a first youth hunt can.
It was Nov. 8, 2014, opening day of Vermont’s youth weekend. It was my first official youth weekend deer hunt. My dad and I decided to start our hunt in Wilmington and work our way toward Stamford.
When we got to Wilmington, I was excited and couldn&rsquo... READ MORE
Congratulations, Dad!
By Aaron Rippstein
Sometimes the best bucks are the ones taken by the people we love. I wanted to share this buck taken by my dad, Rob, on Nov. 4, 2017 in Highland County, Ohio. Growing up in southern California didn’t offer many opportunities to go deer hunting, so when my family moved to Ohio in 1992, my father wanted to try something different. It didn&rsquo... READ MORE
Snow Falls in the Catskills
By Vincent J. Prybeck
To-the-point New Yorker has enough go for one more season. Nov. 17, 2018, Upstate New York. A Catskill Mountain deer season starts. Snow fell 24 hours earlier. Cloudy, windless, good snow, 28 degrees. In darkness, we hike uphill. With John settled, I head farther uphill. At 2,100 feet, I climb the ladder. Now wait. Season 48 now. How many do I have... READ MORE
Countdown to Kansas
By Carlo Longobardo
I’m a NYC fireman, and I’ve hunted since I was a kid. I’ve made a lot of memories with my father and family members. Now I’m proudly passing on the tradition to my son and daughter.
This past fall was the second time I headed to Kansas to bowhunt the rut, and I’d literally been in a countdown for a year.
On my first ... READ MORE
Whose Best Day?
By Marti Young
The only division in this family is when debating who had the best time. While every day spent hunting is a good day, some are better than others. For James Whetzel Sr. and 11-year-old Starr Young, their best day ever started at 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2017. The adventure started with a softly whispered “Wake up, Starr. It’s almost time ... READ MORE
Never Give Up
By Ray Thiel
It only takes a second for an entire season of frustration to turn amazing. The 2018 deer season in eastern Connecticut was slower than normal. After two years where gypsy moth caterpillars ate nearly all the leaves off the oak trees, they just didn’t produce acorns. Unfortunately, on property I have permission to hunt on in Griswold, acorns... READ MORE
Big Ten in the Buckeye State
By Jon Miller
After watching a big 10-pointer for two seasons, I finally got my shot at it on the evening of October 25, 2013.
I discovered this buck on my trail camera last year on my family’s 200-acre farm in Licking County, Ohio.
After capturing several photos, my cousin and I estimated the buck would push 140 inches. I knew if I ever saw this buck un... READ MORE
His and Hers
By Stacy Vaccaro
Food plot stand exceeds expectations and maybe saves a relationship. One beautiful, sunny afternoon in October 2018 in Coloma, Wisc., I made the decision to sneak out of work a little early for some stand time. My boyfriend, Wally, and I had worked hard on a nice food plot that produced daytime pictures of several decent bucks. No sooner had I deci... READ MORE
Cow Mountain’s First-Timers
By Bill Hanson
A first deer is a memory of a lifetime for more than the young hunter. As first appeared in The Community Voice of Sonoma County, California. From the highway the north end of Cow Mountain is the only green zone east of the 101, save the flat lands of the Ukiah Valley. The recent Mendocino Complex Fires which includes Hopland’s ‘River F... READ MORE
Right Place, Right Time
By James M. Chastain
It was September 2013, just before deer season in Wyandotte County, Kansas, when I set out deer minerals and my game cameras. When October arrived, I set up deer feeders. When I checked my cameras, I was pleased to discover there were a lot of deer using them.
I was most interested in the 10-pointer that consistently appeared on camera. That buck ... READ MORE