My first time deer hunting, I was 13 and didnt know very much about it. My older cousin had set up a couple ladder stands for me and told me what time to go but didnt really tell me much beyond that. So I'm sitting there on opening day of gun season with my grandpa's old, heavy Sear's 12 gauge loaded with buckshot. Eventually a couple of does head my way through the woods, but cross out into a field behind me before getting within range. The does fed along the edge of the field towards an opening about 25 yards behind me. When they reached the opening, they were directly behind me so I had to turn completely around to be able to shoot one.
At that time, I dont think safety harnesses had become a big thing yet and I had never shot that gun with buckshot. The furthest thing from my mind was any chance of falling off that stand. So I'm standing on the second rung from the top of that ladder, facing the tree, picked which doe I wanted to shoot and pulled the trigger. A couple seconds later I'm laying on my back looking up at the stand and the tree tops. My first thought was "Well, that sucked, but I'm ok." Followed immediately by "I hope I hit that deer."
I did hit the deer and dropped it in its tracks. It ended up only being a 90lb doe, but I was still excited. The next time I went hunting, the very next Saturday, I decided I would hunt the other stand my cousin had set up for me. Through a combination of dumb luck and good stand placement, I ended up killing the buck in my avatar pic that afternoon. I was 2 for 2 after only 2 hunts and then didn't see another deer for 2 years. Took me 20 years to finally kill a bigger buck than that one.
At that time, I dont think safety harnesses had become a big thing yet and I had never shot that gun with buckshot. The furthest thing from my mind was any chance of falling off that stand. So I'm standing on the second rung from the top of that ladder, facing the tree, picked which doe I wanted to shoot and pulled the trigger. A couple seconds later I'm laying on my back looking up at the stand and the tree tops. My first thought was "Well, that sucked, but I'm ok." Followed immediately by "I hope I hit that deer."
I did hit the deer and dropped it in its tracks. It ended up only being a 90lb doe, but I was still excited. The next time I went hunting, the very next Saturday, I decided I would hunt the other stand my cousin had set up for me. Through a combination of dumb luck and good stand placement, I ended up killing the buck in my avatar pic that afternoon. I was 2 for 2 after only 2 hunts and then didn't see another deer for 2 years. Took me 20 years to finally kill a bigger buck than that one.
