|
|
Lessons in the Wild
By James Oliver
Young bowhunter doesn’t make the same mistake twice! I have been hunting for as long as I can remember. It was a tradition passed down by my father, and I have passed it on to my two boys. My youngest, Hunter, has been at home in the wild since the age of 3 when I took him hunting for turkeys for the first time. When he was 4, Hunter took his... READ MORE
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
One for the Can
By Mike Kochheiser
Three generations of my family hunt on my father’s farm — my father, myself and my son. Until Ohio’s 2013-14 deer season arrived, none of us were aware of the huge, 196 1/8 inch buck with the 25 1/2-inch spread that my father would take before the season ended.
The first time we saw the buck was when it appeared on a trail camera... 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
The Fall that Changed It All
By Allen Wall
There’s no amount of experience or luck that will stop a treestand accident. The popping in my back sounded like someone running their fingers down the keys of a piano. The moment my feet touched the ground, my legs collapsed and my butt slammed to the ground. All of the vertebrae in my back compressed with the weight of my head and shoulders... READ MORE
Stress Test
By Richard C. West
It’s great to finally see the buck of your dreams, but don’t get too excited. On the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 2015, an Illinois buck tested my heart. It was the second day of the firearms season, and I’d spent my first day – all 12 hours – on the stand with nothing to show for it but a couple of song birds, a re... READ MORE
Hunter Does Papa’s .30-30 Proud
By Penny Robertson
My husband, our two sons Hunter and Seth and I moved from Tennessee to Moneta, Virginia, in May of 2013. We’d been looking forward to the chance to go hunting together as a family all year long, so we decided not to travel back to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. Hunter, our 13-year-old son, had been bowhunting earlier in the season on our ne... READ MORE
How To End a Season
By Miranda Cheatham
Every hunting season since I was 2 years old, my dad and I have traveled from our home in Niceville, Fla., to Macon County, Alabama. It had been four years since I was able to take a nice buck worthy of mounting.
This year I had a new gun handed down to me, a 1980s Browning BAR .270. I had been letting small bucks walk until the rut hit. Then, on ... READ MORE
The 165-Inch Spike
By Tony Crowder
Every time my daughter Alexis and I had been out hunting, she was determined that would be the time she would get a deer. She’d put in the work, helped build a box blind, and she’d been out there every chance she had regardless of weather. She was ready and hungry for her first deer.
We’d planned to go hunting early Monday, Nov. ... READ MORE
Heart of the Hunt
By Christopher Jecker
Shortened season doesn’t stop concerned son from taking his best buck ever.
While I live in Louisville, Kentucky, I hunt in Crawford County, Indiana. Two weeks before gun season, my work and hunting partner, my dad, had a massive heart attack.
We rushed him to the ER, where the doctor informed us that he needed to have open heart surgery. A... READ MORE