So in 1989, at the age of 25, I borrowed my father in laws .30-.30 lever action, his wool clothes, and a pair of boots and went out to shoot a deer. Well, I think everyone knows how successful I was (none!). I was arrogant, rude, and very aggresive about hunting. In fact, I knew NOTHING!! I was fortunate to see 2 deer that year and they were running away! Luckily, my brother in law, John, and an elderly gentleman, Bill, took a liking to me. They taught me the basics and did me many favors in the woods those first few years. My third year I shot at a spike horn (The first buck I ever saw) and couldn't track it. Bill and John made it a point to teach me how to find the deer. Unfortunately, the deer appeared to have been hit in the leg and we never got the deer. However, I learned something every time I went out. The following year my brother in law introduced me to his friend Mike. Mike and John started to really spend time with me out in the woods, not just trying to shoot them but to LEARN about the animal. I was in school, ( returning to college for my advanced degree) my third year of hunting. I was able to spend a lot of time in the woods that year. Opening day of southern tier that year was a disaster. My brother in law had a friend of a friend who said we could hunt some property. We went and scouted and saw lot's of deer. The only thing that happened was somebody shot at me!! I started looking close to home and found friends who were willing to let me hunt during the week on their property. I was stalking the field when I saw that someone was in a free standing tower on the other side of the field. I stopped not wanting this person to know I was out there. While I stood there I heard some grunting and saw a young one horned spike buck was chasing a doe. It didn't come close enough for my shot gun. A few seconds later I heard more grunts (this time I thought it was a buddy of mine grunting from the stand). At that point a much larger spike coming blazing by me and stopped dead in his tracks. I got my first deer!!! A few weeks later my friend Mike asked if I wanted to hunt near his house the end of the season. It was quite cold and there were deer everywhere. The last day of the season it was about -5 degrees F, so at 10:00AM I was thinking coffee!!! while trudging back to Mike's house. On the way a nice 8 point was laying RIGHT BEHIND HIS HOUSE NEAR HIS PINE TREES!! I was shooting away from his house but I was only 100 yards from it. These few days at the end of that season were a key to my future success. I learned more in those few days about deer than in the previous 3 years! The picture of that deer and Mike are on my photo page.
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