Tips & Tactics

In hunting, the chance to capture a special memory on film passes like lyrics to a song by Kansas: “Only for a moment, and the moment’s gone.”

I learned that lesson the hard way in 1977 on Thanksgiving Day when my father took me deer hunting for the very first time, but we never took a single picture.

We’d jumped a herd of whitetails while stalking in Alabama’s Talladega National Forest, and Pop raised his .30-06, dropping a 3-pointer in its tracks while I looked on in amazement. The buck might have been small, but a new hunter was born. Who knew then hunting would lead me to places like Africa, Alaska and Canada?

My father has since traded his rifle for a paintbrush, and hasn't picked up a rifle since that life-changing day 40 years ago.

Although that first (and possibly last) hunt with my dad remains one of my fondest memories, we were in a rush to get the deer out, gutted and processed, so going home to grab a camera didn’t make sense at the time.

Now, I'd give anything if we’d taken five extra minutes to capture just one image of us kneeling beside that milestone buck! Too bad we were more focused on preserving venison than memories.

A coworker summed it up best: Photographs ARE your memories. As a trophy, they last much longer than taxidermy, and pictures preserve people along with the animal.

When my son got his first buck in 2012, believe me, I took lots of photos. I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

And whenever a hunting partner takes a deer, I insist on a quick photo session before they get gone.

My friends usually get a little annoyed, especially if it's cold and dark and they are hungry and tired. But, that’s okay.

They usually whine, “We’ll take some later,” to which I answer, “there is no later.”

So, I get them to unload their deer, then I start snapping away, often by the headlights of a vehicle, taking lots of photos at different angles and coaxing them to laugh.

PRO TIP: From two decades in the hunting industry, I know if I take 50 shots, only one might turn out good. Ignore your subject’s grumblings and keep snapping. They’ll thank you later.

I always smile to myself whenever I see one of those photos framed on a friend’s desk, remembering how much they griped and wanted to skip the photo session.

Film is cheap, and they don’t call them memory cards for nothing. Your images will someday be worth their weight in gold — your TRUE trophies.

Take time to take photos. Once that moment’s gone, it’s gone forever. Like dust in the wind.

For tips on taking magazine quality photos, read Buckmasters photo tips, Part I
Also, Part II