First hunt(s)

[DUG]

My 1st hunt was a pig hunt near Kearney in 24A when I was 12. We were sitting on a ridge and I thought I saw a pig go from 1 bush to another. I told my Dad and he didn't believe me. ( After all it was our 1st hunt.) He decided to take a nap and I just sat there looking at that bush on the ridge across from us. Finally my Dad woke up and said I could start walking over to the bush with the pig in it. Just as I crossed the wash and started up the other side pigs started running everywhere. I shot twice at 1 pig and missed. My dad saw one and shot and missed. I finally connected on one running up another ridge. Shot at him three times and hit him twice with an old borrowed Winchester 94 with iron sights. I took my 1st deer the next year on the other side of the Dripping Springs, a 3 pt. muley that my Dad missed and my friend missed. We spent a lot of time in 24A and 37B back then.

[Jessedr]

Grew up in PRESCOTT AZ. Hunted 17A, 17B, 18B, 19A, 19B. and 21. That was be for the draw started. Sense the draw I have hunted 17A, 19A and B.

[LYONKILL33]

I grew up with a handfull of the hillbies earlier in the thread.Lived in cottonwood all but two years of my life.So ive cut tracks through alot of units in the center of the state.Soon as i figured out how to walk ive been chasin' my dad through the woods tryin' to keep up! When my brother started walkin' it was always the three of us from then on.My dad had his work cut out for him then! I remember him haulin'us up in the tree stand with a string of mule tape!that could'nt have been easy ,but we loved it.After that theres hardley a time of year there is'nt something to hunt and we usually take part in most of it.Life goes on and things change,but hunting has always been that one thing that brings us all together,and i wouldnt trade a day in the feild for anything.Now I have a son of my own ,and I only hope I can instill The same passion for the outdoors with him,as my dad did for me.I cant wait!...............my favorite units are 5b south for elk (grew up there) 21 for any kind of deer.

[jakehaffey]

I grew up in Chandler and still am unfortunately. My first hunt was at 10years old on a jr. javelina hunt in 24B, I got one on the last day because my dad was wise enough to put hunting above a day of school. Well maybe not wise but I sure am glad he did! That got me hooked! I got a little muley on my first deer hunt later that year and my love for hunting grew even more. Then when I was 12 I drew my first elk tag, a late bull tag in 10! I was stoked for this as my dad shot a 370 bull on the archery hunt the same year! I couldn't find anything near as big but this 6point stepped out and there was no hesitation.

[biglakejake]

My mother got me up before daybreak one autumn monday morning in 1965- I was 6!- loaded me in the truck, and off we went deer hunting. Dad and grandpa had to go back to work but mom had not filled her deer tag. Well mom & I did not get her a buck that day in skull valley.

lee.

 

 

 

 

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[dillon_camo]

I grew up in Utah. My first hunts were jackrabbit hunts, we would kill alot one day and the next come back to shoot the coyotes that were eating them. First big game hunt was mule deer at 14( legal age) got a 3X3 on last day. First turkey hunt was at 12 and got it on the first day. Stepped right out of the truck where my dad said there might be turkeys and not 40 yards off of the road there they were; he did that 3 times that day. First elk at 15 on cow elk hunt in 6A.

[wackycouesaddict]

My first hunt was a pig hunt in 37 b, shot it on the first day just befpre dark. my first deer hunt i had a deer at fifteen yardsa for like two min and i couldnt get the safty off. o well shot my first deer in aug with my bow last year in 19b

[loco4coues]

I've hunted coues with my dad and brothers since I was 10. I killed my first coues in 30A, since then we've hunted mostly unit 22. My oldest son just turned 8 and he can't wait until he can have his own tag.

[deerhunter]

I hunt unit 27 and 28. I grew up and still live in morenci. I killed my first deer in unit 27 with my dad. I will always remember that hunt. I aimed and aimed I wanted that perfect heart and lung shot that he always did. Well I was a little off. I blew his bottom jaw off. OOOPPPSS. He was still good eating.

[THOR]

My first hunt was in unit 32 for coues when I was 10. It was with my father who taught most of all I know about hunting, thats what great about this sport, you learn something new everytime you go out. since then I have bounced around quite bit all over Arizona.

he is a monster 3x3

I actually scrored him and he goes right 50"

great time

[Mikea81]

Grew up in PRESCOTT AZ. Hunted 17A, 17B, 18B, 19A, 19B. and 21. That was be for the draw started. Sense the draw I have hunted 17A, 19A and B.

I used to hunt 19b alot,but I heard they (ranchers) shut alot of the land down. Is that true?

[Scooter]

Grew up hunting the snowy hills of Western New York... I can remember tagging along with my Dad when I had to hop through his footprints in the deep snow. Took my first whitetails there- first with a 12 gauge and then two years later with a bow. I have A.D.D. when it comes to hunting... I get into one species/method for awhile then move on after a year or two. Since the Military has sent me to a few different regions of our country, I have gone from deer to ducks to predators to hogs to Coues and hopefully this summer/fall antelope and elk. I have not yet taken a Coues or Mulie, but I'm getting awful close with two days left on my leftover 35A tag...

[AzVTR]

I grew up in Southern Az, Sierra Vista area since the 4th grade. Moved here from Germany due to my father being military. Not much was down here in the mid 80's when we arrived. My father was always into shooting as he competed on the Army shooting team earlier in his enlistment, and he always kept us in practice and safely shooting through most of our years growing up.

 

My first time hunting with him was maybe around 10-11 yrs old. We would drive out to an area just south of Tombstone and do some dove and quail hunting. There were so many birds out there that we often would drive out every morning, park the truck, load shotguns and stand at the tailgate filling our limit within an hour or two of parking the truck. Total hiking distance maybe maxed at 100ft. We would bring home 30 dove a day between my dad, younger brother and I every day of the season. Mom was pissed having to buy a seperate freezer to keep all the meat in, lol.

 

High School started and girls and sports pretty much took me right out of the hunting world. I enlisted in the Army also after High School and spent the next 4 yr enlistment having good times with friends. No one else I knew hunted through those years. We were pretty much city slickers. Got married and have a son of my own now who just turned five. We ended up back down in Sierra Vista due to our families still living here.

 

Dec of '09' my wife bought me my first long rifle for Christmas. A Remington 700 VTR in .308, hence my tag. Spent all of 2010 coyote hunting the area and getting proficient with the rifle and was hooked again. My first Coues Deer hunt was Nov. 2010. Friends helped me out and put me on a great buck, estimated at 105ish by them (30+yrs exp hunting coues). I had no idea how big he was, just that he was a buck. Unfortunately I wasn't able to recover the deer after losing the blood trail and having to leave him overnight and try finding him the next morning. A heartbreaking experience being my first go at Coues hunting. I feel in love with the hunt that year. This year I again had late Nov. and unfortunately got skunked. Just didn't have much luck finding bucks. Could of filled a hundred or so Doe tags though, lol. Again a great time and experience and practice honing my glassing and hunting skills. Next year I'll be back at it again, hopefully successful. I ask myself to this day, "Why haven't I been doing this my whole life?" I thankfully have the rest of my life to enjoy the hunt.

[Idahocoueshunter]

First buck was a 4 point Mule Deer shot in the Dos Cabazes Mountains way back in 1972. My dad was with me, headed back to camp after a long day. My first exposure to gutting a deer and getting back in the pitch black. That was the first of many hunts getting back to camp in the dark. One can't even see a mule deer in the high country of the Dos Cabazes now. I'm not sure what changed. Moving to Idaho opened up diffenent hunting experiences including goats and moose. I still look forward to fall and my Coues hunts in southern Arizona.

 

 

Craig.

[JesusSaves]

I grew up all over and never got a chance to start hunting until I was about 22 because I grew up without a dad and my mom was on meth... but God saved her and she is clean now . But I have always loved escaping to the woods so I eventually got into hunting and I love it. I mostly hunt alone or with my wife and I love the solitude and peace of the woods. I can't sit around too long so I love to spot and stalk. In the past 3 years I have killed 2 archery cows, 2 Coues (1 Bow, 1 Rifle), 1 archery mule deer, 1 javelina with a bow, and a turkey all unit 22 (I live in Payson). Very thankful for my time in the woods and now I get to teach my 2 little boys and my little sister what I never had a chance to learn as a child- Hunting and following God.