A GAW-For Tomorrow, We Hunt! Winner selected!

My dad had a faithful beagle rabbit dog named Rusty. He would come home every season with several rabbits as that dog would circle them round for the shot As the family grew, it became apparent that that beagle was not good for having small children in the home, and he went off to life with my grandparents. Well, Rusty got bred with another beagle and we wound up with one of the pups, Gypsy. When that pup was coming of age, that year my dad gave me and my next youngest brother each a H&R 20 Ga. single shot. My brother wound up getting into some trouble that summer, and wound up in reform school. So my dad took me and the new dog out to hunt some rabbits. Gypsy was great at picking up the scent, but he would chase for maybe 50-100 yard and then sit down and wait for us LOL that dog did not hunt. His dad would disappear for days chasing things through the woods, but this one was probably not trained properly, or just didn't have the instinct...I now have both of those H&R's sitting in a closet. My brothers is pristine condition with black lacquer finish, mine was damaged by being wrapped in a piece of vinyl which destroyed the finish, I stripped the stock and sanded it and applied a nice dark Jacobean stain to the wood. I don't have anyone to pass them on to, so not sure where they will wind up.

Wow, I just realized I have very strong mixed emotions on this story...

 

I am NOT in for the give away...
But, I have to say... this has been one of the most awesome threads I have read here in quite awhile. I'm enjoying everyone's stories. @Kiteman72 ... you need squirrels? You need to come to where I work... we have so many dang squirrels here that it's near criminal levels.

A hunting story you say? I can give you some of the things that I have experienced while turkey hunting in NW Illinois... I have seen more wildlife, (than turkeys most of the time...) while turkey hunting. I have had deer literally walk up to me and sniff my boots. I have had a sparrow alight on my shotgun barrel. I have had a hawk attack my hen decoy. I have had a male pheasant strut about 10' in front of me. Had a squirrel come down the tree right next to where I was sitting and sit and look at me from about 3 feet away... right in the eye. I watched two possums doing the nasty. I had a raccoon come up to within spitting distance of me, and wouldn't leave! Thing was.... I had a roosted turkey about 30 yards to my left, and he would have seen me If I even waved at the coon. Ended up flicking a twig at his face ciggy style! Thing was... the day before, my hunting partner shot a coon that was acting erratically in mid day. (either rabies or distemper) and had me a little spooked about coons. Never did get that Tom that was roosted.... he flew down, gobbled lustily to my call... but hung up at a creek that I didn't know was there. Came way too close to a coyote's den on the way in one morning... Mom freaked out and was doing her best to scare me away. I damn near shat my pants! I found out later that day that another hunter that was in an area adjacent to ours saw her moving her pups to another place. She scared the living daylights out of me! I guess I scared her too.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all your stories! Keep them coming!

 

I’ve been trying to think of a good hunting story that involved a side story about a knife and this happened about 6 years ago. It was a very cold day in January and I had been hunting every afternoon that I could and had hardly seen a deer at all that year. Right before dark a nice eight point walks out about 100 or so yards away and turned broadside. I put a 130gn hornady sst from my .270 win. in the boiler room and he fell right there. I was ecstatic! It was the biggest deer I’d ever killed(but it really wasn’t that big). Well I called several buddies and coworkers and we all gathered in my small shop celebrating. I decided I was going to do an European skull mount. I had never done one before but my brother in law had so he was going to help me. Per his instructions he said to skin the head an remove the bottom jaw an as much meat as I could, so I went to cutting with my very sharp fixed blade benchmade. I was doing real good I thought but trying to hold the head an skin it was tough. So I wound up putting my foot on the antlers to hold it still. Now we had been “celebrating” for a few hours at this point and probably shouldn’t be using a knife by this time anyways. On the last cut to remove the hide I used a little to much oomph and cut through the hide, through my new red wing boot, and through my big toe! It stopped at the bone. Everyone one saw me do it and they got a good laugh until the blood started running out of my boot. I had had a tetanus shot recently so I bandaged it up and called it good. But my boots were no longer water proof! Now if I’m going to euro mount the skull I skin the head before I remove it from the body and I’m a little more careful with my knives.
I too miss the stories by Johnnytwoshoes about hunting with that stag handled 72. Those stories really really made me want a stag handle 72! Or any 72 for that matter.

 

Back in the 80's I gave my youngest son an 870 express in 12 ga. He'd never been hunting so I took him to a public hunting area near the Potomac river above Great Falls. We were looking for squirrels and we finally saw a big gray. The boy shot at about 40 yards and the squirrel took off up a huge tall tree and got to the top and stayed there for about five minutes. We waited for him to move. Finally he peeled backward off the tree and landed dead on the ground. Son went to get him and said he didn't know what was wrong.
We looked closely and a single BB had hit him in the heart. One single BB in the whole animal. The boy was fascinated, I was amazed.

 

Living in Az. now and while on a quail hunt about 50 miles east of Yuma my bud and I were walking along a road and saw this big lizard hotfooting it toward us. We just looked. About 50 or 60 feet behind the lizard a big snake was following that lizard, very quickly I might add. Neither critter paid the least attention to our presence even though they both passed within ten feet of us. Every time that lizard would deviate that snake would too. We watched for about 5 minutes til the lizard left the road and headed into a big thicket. That Snake followed exactly where that lizard went in. Don't know if the snake ever got him but I'll bet he did. The way the road terrain was and the distance from the lizard there was no way that the snake ever put eyes on that lizard. His tongue was working overtime that day. Nature is a fascinating thing. We still talk about that chase.

 

In 94 several of us from Yuma were up in northern Az. on an elk hunt on the Clear Creek Ranch, about 25 miles south of Winslow. We had three animals down, all bulls . Mike and I gutted them and trucked them back to the camp site and set them on the ground. It was November and cold. Mike and I skinned all three of those elk using two Swiss Army single blade pocket knives known as the cowboy. One would pull hide for awhile while the other would skin. When the hands got to tired to pull we'd trade and the other would pull and the old puller would skin. Our third guy was kind of older and the altitude and his smoking kept him from doing much to help. We set him over by the fire with a fifth of peach brandy to keep him out of the way. After skinning the elk we hung them up in some tall pines with ropes and chains we had. I think my hands took a week getting over that skinning ordeal. Mike and I still hunt together and we both still have those two single blade sak's. I think we put them on a stone only one time while doing those three animals. Memories of times past.

 

I'm out trying to get you another story, but it's not looking good. Getting past prime time this morning, but I'll sit another hour or two.

 

Great idea for a generous giveaway! Thank you for the opportunity.
I've been hunting since I was 14, and following my dad while he was hunting even younger. I have a photo of me at about 4 years old holding a ruffed grouse that my dad shot. I'm 39 now, and I have a lot of great memories with hopefully a lot more to come.
My first year deer hunting (I was 16), on opening morning I was in a tree stand that was no more than a small platform of plywood in a couple of maples. I was watching a field to the east with a maple bush (with an old sugar shack) in every other direction. Around 8 or so, a doe came out into the field and stood broadside at about 50 yards. I don't think I'll ever forget how much my heart was pounding as I brought the rifle up and fired. The deer took off running. A short time later I heard my dad shoot. He was in a ground blind in a copse of maples in the middle of the field. I stayed in my stand (as I was told to do) until my uncle came by, told me to unload the gun, and come down to my dads blind. The deer was down, so my dad and uncle showed me how to field dress it and then we headed back to the camp. We went back with a truck and brought the deer out and hung it up. I had to go back to school on Wednesday, so I got a ride back home on Tuesday night with one of our group who had to go back to work. When I got home, I somehow convinced my mom to let me take the rest of the week off (I was hooked!). I don't think my dad was too surprised to see me back at the camp the next day. They were taking the hide off the deer when I got there. My uncle asked me how the deer was standing when I shot, so I told him - broadside, facing right - at which point he put his knife through the bullet hole. It was straight through, which meant that it wasn't my dads shot, but mine. The deer managed to run about a hundred yards to where my dad was, and dropped as he shot.
Like most hunters I know though, it's being out in nature with family and friends that means the most to me, not the kill. I really enjoy seeing all the different animals that come by when I'm in a blind or walking the trails...bears, coyotes, bobcats, racoons, and all kinds of others. This fox used to hang around my dads moose camp. We haven't seen it for a few years though.
_NKN4262 by Trevor Becks, on Flickr

 

@Scott J. Good luck out there this morning. Black powder deer season opened in eastern NC this morning, but the water has also cooled so the Spotted Sea Trout should be in the inshore areas and I’m going fishing today. I will get back out deer hunting when the rifle season opens October the 17th. OH

 

I am not really looking into being in a contest, I just like relating some hunt experiences that have come to mind since this thread.
About ten years ago while on a prairie dog shoot up on the Boqullas ranch near Seligman Az I was slowly driving up a dirt road and saw dirt in great amounts being thrown up in the air. I stopped to see what was doing it. It was a big ass badger. Badger being hated and despised up in that area I shot it. Went to put my rifle back in the truck and more dirt came flying out of the hole. Dayum I said, how'd I miss that. Get the rifle back up and waited, sure enough the head came up again and this time I nailed it. put the rifle in the bed of the truck and went over to the hole which was about 30 yards away, and got a heck of a surprise when I found two dead badgers. I guess they were a pair digging out a new home. I almost felt bad, but not really. On the way back to camp a fox jumped out in front of the truck and I got him too. I'd never seen a fox up there. On the road back to camp which went up to the top of the Aubrey Bluffs and it was 8 or 10 miles to the camp if you wanted to you could shoot 40 or 50 jackrabbits with a .22 if you had a mind to.
Hunted up there for several years til the Indians bought the ranch and restricted it's use for hunting and made it a pita to go there.

 

Another story on the Boquillas. Shooting Prairie dogs with an AK22. Spittin image of a large caliber AK. Game warden came up on us and got really pissy about my rifle with the large magazine, etc. Showed him it was a .22 and legal with more than 5 rounds in the mag, unlike the center fire rifles. He was really red faced, apologized and said he'd never seen an ak22. He went on his way and we continued to murder prairie dogs. Any magazine capacity in .22 caliber is legal in Az.

 

Turkey hunting is my passion! My Dad taught me how to turkey hunt. One of my proudest mornings was when Dad wanted me to try and call in a gobbler he had fooled with for a couple weeks. We set up and I started calling, in 10 minutes the gobbler showed up and Dad bagged him. I knew then that Dad had passed on the torch. I was about 15 then.

Since then I have called in some birds for my wife and taught her how to hunt them. She has since called in and bagged birds on her own.
My daughter and her fiance have went with me and have been successful. I could not type all my stories about turkey hunting in one night. but it has certainly been a great endeavor.

There is nothing like calling in a gobbler for a new hunter and seeing the excitement and adrenaline.
Take a novice hunting and pass the torch.

Hopefully I can take my grandchildren some day, if not I know their Mom and Dad will pass it on to them.

 

Im in, this is great. Ill share one of my hunting stories.
So I went to Maine on a black bear hunt with my family. It was a great family vacation, and I got lucky the first day. The first hour in fact.

I was with my brother and our guide, and we were trying to cut off a bear that was being followed by the bear dogs. I had never seen a bear except in a zoo before, and was hoping to see one.

We ran down an old railroad track to cut off this bear, and the dogs got louder and louder. My brother was supposed to shoot but he stepped on a railroad tie wrong and twisted an ankle, so I took over for him. I ran up to the guide and he said "It sounds like a big one!" I readied my rifle, my trusty 1958 vintage Winchester model 1894 rifle in 30-30.

Then, I saw the bear. It lumbered up over the railroad tracks 20 yards away out of a solid dark green wall of pines, with the dogs hot on its heels. The guide was telling me to shoot. I looked at the bear over my sights, and asked "You want me to shoot that little thing?"

It looked like a cub. I couldnt judge the size of that bear to save my life. What is a shootable bear supposed to look like? I had no clue. The guide said again "shoot it, SHOOT IT!!" So, I figured the guide would know and I took the shot. The bear spun, nipped at his flank and took off the way it came.

Well, that bear went about 5 yards with a 170 grain slug through and through both lungs and out of the other side. When I got there (carefully!) I found out that I am NOT a good judge of bears! My "cub" turned out to be a 596 pound bruiser with paws the size of my head!

The rest of the week we chased bears all over Maine, through brush and thorns, with no luck. My brother had a shot early but passed because his bear looked small. He should have shot, we didnt get any more shots that week. It might be a good thing, since we had so much bear meat that we would have needed extra coolers.

It was a hunt Ill never forget, and a beautiful animal in a beautiful place. Great times, great food and I was with family. My profile picture here is a picture from that hunt actually. I wish everyone could have such a great experience.