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40 years ago

I have an interesting topic:

My first hunt was in the middle 70's, I was 14 when I killed my first deer in 76 with a 12 gauge mossburg pump. We didn't have a bow season in Georgia until late 70's or early 80's, killed my first archery deer in 82. Shot at 4 deer that morning (and missed), had to go retrieve my arrows, climb back up and finally killed a doe 10 yards away. Carried my 4 arrows in an athletic tube sock using borrowed broad heads. Deer populations bounded in the early 80's, but the 70's I'd been lucky to have seen 6 deer a year. My first compound bow was a Browning wood laminated bow that costed me around 120 bucks brand new. The laminates split right down the riser the following year while practicing the day before bow season. The times have certainly changed.

My dad used to take me to Hardy county in the late fifties and early sixties to deer hunt. He killed his first deer an 8 point buck in 1962 in McClintoc smart in Mason county. There was only 2 deer killed with a bow in Mason county that year, the other one a doe taken by Dick Walker fromNew Haven. I killed my first deer in 1970 on Kaiser aluminum , a 9 point buck field dressed 182 lbs. Deer few and far between in those days.

I used to go hunting with my dad and you were lucky to see a deer in the 60’ and 70’s

Lucky to even see a squirrel in the 60's 70's. My father was military, back then we lived in one place for 12 to 18 months, then another finally ending up on the edge of Hell in Georgia as a young teen. Times we couldn't go with him, we'd move back to Quinwood, WV or Rainelle to live with my mother's mom. I can still remember the first deer I saw back then, a doe and her fawn. A few years later, I was bending over tying a lure on my rod and a 6 pt jumped off the bank clear over me into Hominy Creek. That had to be around mid 70's. Deer in Ga were starting to populate and by early 80's, I'd see 50 to 80 deer in a year.

My first antlered buck with a bow sometime in mid 1970s in Mercer county . My first was a year or two before that. A button buck in Summers county. My third deer with a rifle was a year or two later, a spike in Summers county

Dang Gobbler, didn't realize I was that much younger than you. You were a good looking young man back then. Some of us were just down right born ugly, that's why we took up hunting cause we had nothing else to do.

Shot my first deer, a first year doe, in Jackson county in 1973, my fourth year of bowhunting for deer. Like Don, I shot it on Kaiser property--right behind the plant sign. Five deer were checked in that year for the county.

Is that a Blazer Gobbler? I had a red 71 blazer. It was a beast. Had it all restored and took it dental school and it was stolen out of the med center parking lot and I never saw it again. I would still be hunting out of that blazer today.

Koogie, LOL

JR , yes it was a blazer. It was my uncles. I had to borrow it. Couldn’t afford a vehicle of my own back then

Funny story with that buck. I could only go hunting that evening. The road came in from top of mountain and there were hay fields on a big bench before dropping down to Bluestone river. Driving down the mountain I saw a buck chasing a doe across the hay field and into a stretch of woods behind the hay field and before it dropped down to river. I parked and got my bow in left hand and a baker tree stand in right hand and went to that stretch of woods to find a tree to get in. I hadn’t walked 100 yds into the woods and I heard something running toward me . I looked and saw this buck running toward me. I went to my knees and propped the stand against my right thigh and knocked an arrow. He came by at a slow trot to my left . I didn’t know anything about grunting to stop a deer back then. I just aimed and followed him a little and released. Everything happed so quick I wasn’t even sure I hit it. I kept watching and it went into about a 70 yd circle and just fell dead close to where I hit it. Pretty cool experience for first antlered buck. You just don’t know when or how it’s going to happen

Amen to that Gobbler. I told that to my brother the first hunt he joined me in Kansas. He botched a nice buck on day one by day 8 or 9, after my son and I tagged out, he lamented and wanted to pack up and go home although he had 4 days left. It takes 2 minutes to go from "I can't find a buck" to putting one on the ground and he has 4 days. I took him to my stand the next morning while I backtracked out about 200 yards and sat down under a tree perched in the middle of some high prairie grass. At exactly 7:30, I heard what I imagined was a crossbow. At 9:30 I moved up to where I had cell phone service and I texted him. Sure enough he went from being down in the dumps to riding cloud nine sporting a 7 year old nine point and a huge smile to match on his face.

When I starting bowhunting in 1975 I only knew a couple of people who had actually killed a deer with a bow. No Horn Porn back then, if you killed a doe it was an accomplishment. First one I got was in Webster county.

Greg was in college then or high school?

I don’t remember which? Either last year of HS or first year of college

Cool picture either way Greg!

Great pic. Love the blazer too

Great pic. Love the blazer too and the old chamois shirt and camo pants. Old school

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