Your first big game kill.

[BigAl52]

I worked with a guy who's wife's father was a local banker. He had some bank customers who had land on the South Platte river east of where I live about 30 miles. They were big corn farmers. I did some reloading for this guy and he asked me if I would like to go out to hunt their land for deer. You had to put in with the local DOW to get a license to hunt that area as it was draw only. Turns out that the land owner at that time could sign his right to hunt his land over to whoever he chose. So we both ended up with permits. Their land contained both whitetail and mule deer. The tags we drew were for does. We found 2 opening morning and I was able to kill one at about 75 yards with the 243 that I took hunting. We then took both animals to the tractor shed lifted them up with a loader and dressed them out. I hunted that same area for several years in a row and killed 2 more deer with TC Contenders. One of them was a nice buck mule deer.

[daytime dave]

I brought a 12 ga used Ithaca Deer slayer police gun.

my model 37 Deer Slayer had a slug barrel ..... on the positive side, it was the most accurate shotgun that I've ever owned with rifled slugs .... on the negative side, it weighed about 6.5 pounds and with slugs and/or buckshot it was the hardest kicking long gun I've ever fired

Mine was an 18" barrel, smooth. I prefer the non-rifled barrels still today. I use a smooth 20 ga 18" barrel for grouse in the thick woods. I traded off that Ithaca to someone. I don't regret it, but .........

[Hatchdog]

Great stories everybody, sure takes us back.

My first big game kill was a spike Mule deer. Like others my dad didn’t hunt so I had no exposure to hunting but did do a little bit of shooting with his M/94 30-30. At the age of 18 I went to work at a sporting goods distributor and some fellow employees took me under their wing and took me hunting. After a couple of years of no luck I shot this little muley. He was facing me and I took a shot behind the front shoulder the best I could. Note the exit wound on the far side. I was by myself and had to figure out how to gut him but I got it done. Shot him with my Ruger M/77 30-06 which I had for many years afterwards and took many deer with it.

This pic is from around 1980. Who is that young buck (x’2 )?

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[JEBar]

my model 37 Deer Slayer had a slug barrel

Mine was an 18" barrel, smooth. I prefer the non-rifled barrels still today.

now that you mention it, the slug barrel on my Deer Slayer was 18" with a smooth bore .... I've never owned a shotgun with a rifled barrel and really have no clue if I'd want one or not

[brm4450]

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This wasn’t my sons first deer but it was his first Muley buck!

[Centaur]

I shot a little whitetail doe in either 1963 or 1964 with my new Savage 99 in .308. The first of many more to come.