My First “Hunt”

I have never been exactly sure when my first “hunt” occurred, but I have always been glad that it did. For as long as I can remember, I have loved being in the woods, especially chasing game. I don’t think there is a time I can remember that I was not thinking about hunting nearly year round.

In starting this blog, I have done a lot of reading of our camp log, from which I have found a lot of stories I hope to share here. While reading stories in the log, I came across an old entry from December of my 10 year old year written by Uncle Rob. It brought me back to my first hunting experiences and how they shaped my love for the outdoors and hunting.

An excerpt from the entry is as follows:

“…Ken, Andrew and Rob got up Thursday morning to head for the wilderness for a muzzleloader hunt. Found the Government Road to be too hazardous, so we hunted $85 road (named because Vince once got an $85 ticket for parking in front of the gate – a story that I am sure will one day appear here) instead. No deer were spotted; however, a nice day for Andrew’s first “hunt” (this was the first time Andrew came along at 10 years old). Ken and Andrew radioed for Rob to meet them for lunch. After checking his watch twice to confirm that it was indeed only 9 AM, Rob proceeded to meet up with the rest of the group. A short food fight erupted with Andrew and Rob each landing one direct hit to the other’s face. Andrew was firing a piece of cheese stick, Rob launching pieces of gullet. Met up one more time before heading back to camp, with a short snowball fight breaking out. No major damage done on either side…”

Reading this story brought back why I became so addicted to hunting in the first place. While I am sure that I was excited to get out and look for game, I was dually excited to be myself and be outdoors. Generally speaking, I have always felt more at home out of doors rather than in. Growing up I played sports, ran, swam, biked, jumped, kicked and did pretty much anything that I could outside. I felt that was the one place I could especially be myself.

Today I feel I take my hunting much more seriously than when I was 10; maybe too serious at times. I, like many others, get caught up in the tactics of hunting and chasing whitetails and other game. I stress about stand locations, trail camera pictures, scent elimination and on and on, as many hunters do. I hope that reading back on my first hunt, when I was just excited to get in the woods and enjoy added time with family, can still help shape my hunts today.

Heading into the woods this upcoming season, I have a goal to spend more time enjoying my surroundings. By no means am I saying I won’t be hunting as eagerly as I usually do. I am sure that I will be chasing game as hard as ever, just with an added appreciation while doing it. For those of us who have been introduced to hunting, I feel we have been blessed with the best gift. I want to be sure that I appreciate that gift in its entirety – part of which being the added time outdoors.