My first deer!

Congrats, and great job!

The deer not dropping dead instantly is no sure indication of a bad shot! I just shot a very similar deer through the heart at 35 yards last weekend with a .45cal 250gn SST moving at over 1900fps (muzzleloader). He went about 35 yards. He actually fell dead about 5 feet from the tree I was in!

I've not killed nearly as many deer as a lot of people, but in my experience a heart shot will still allow the deer to go 30-100 yards (normally about 10 seconds) just depends how fast they run. Lung shots they get a few minutes sometimes and can go much farther, but that's still a good shot. Nothing wrong with a tracking, but I avoid it when I can! The only DRT shots I've personally seen are when the bullet or chunks of bone (from ribs or legs deflect into the spine and shut down the central nervous system. Most people don't recomend shooting for the spine or head though. That's been my experience anyway with shotguns, muzzleloaders, and bows since that's what we can user in the MidWestern states that I've hunted.

Great idea, although it was good I thought what it would taste like putting maple syrup or brown sugar in it to make it hot n sweet!

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Last year, my wife and I were sitting in the kitchen and she read a maple syrup recipe out of a magazine for breakfast sausage. It was WONDERFUL. I want to try stuffing some of that for the smoker.

Great job on the harvest. Will make for some fine steaks on the grill too.

My daughter is a top notch deer slayer with her Savage .243! That rifle knocks them down every time.

Where abouts in Georgia are you? I hunted down around Valdosta for years. Mosquito's are a bitch but after I got a Bug Tamer, they weren't so bad.

Enjoy.

Fine deer and a great trophy! I imagine there will be a lot more where this one came from as I have killed many nice deer in Central GA.
I never cared for the GA hunting season because it was 100 during archery season. I hunt almost exclusively in AL now and like our season better.
Don't worry about the deer running 40 yards or even 100 yards. I have made seemingly perfect shots and had the deer run 150 yds downhill into a swamp. A whitetail can cover a lot of ground in 10 seconds at high speed.

Great job on the harvest. Will make for some fine steaks on the grill too.

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Uh? If you want to eat boot leather and have to cut it with a chain saw. I've never found venison worth a toot to grill, not any fat in it, know there are recipes, but it can be tough even pan fried. That's why I just grind most of it except the backstraps and the tenderloin. The rump makes for a decent roast in the crock pot, though.

Venison must be added to pork for sausage. Now, wild hogs, there's ya some good BBQ! Especially true if they've fattened up on some farmer's corn.

No matter how many you may or may not shoot in the future, this one will always be the best.

Great job. You will learn to clean the on their side, and not have to gut them. About the smell... Just don't shoot one in the stomach. Lol

Congratz!

The first one is such a rush. I remember thinking how relaxing hunting was...until I shot my first deer....which happened to be a trophy buck.(just lucky)...then I was like..relaxing? I think my heart is about to jump out of my chest and take off hopping through the woods....



Now I crave both the solitude and peacefullness and the rush of a kill.....it's quite a roller coaster of wonder and excitement.

Congrats on your first.
I wouldn't worry too much about your 3" groups, that's pretty typical unless you have a really good rest.

COngratulations! You always remember your first deer!!

Did you know that it is a tradition to eat the heart of your first kill?

One of the things I do is keep a journal. It is not "dear diary" thing, but I record the day or weeks events frequently. On something like a deer, you need to do the writing quickly so you capture some of the enthusaism rather than just distilling it down to important details; date & time, distance, gun & caliber, location, etc. What you write depends on you and you may find it interesting years from now. You'll relive it every time you read the text. If done in a traditional software program, you can even insert pictures which is pretty darn cool. Good stuff!

Yes blood on the face, then go to your local Trader Joes to get additional food supplies Congrats on the nice deer

Every hunter tries to get the young hunter to do something gross even though they didn't actually do it themselves...LOL....thats the real tradition.



I don't suggest eating a raw heart, unless you plan on vomitting up everywhere while all of the old guys have a good laugh.


The tradition that I use, is to thank the deer for his meat in a quick prayer.

CZsp01 said:

Thank you all for being so supportive! I havnt seen one smart comment like, "He would've been a good un next year." haha

Are you supposed to eat the heart raw? Ive also been told that your supposed to wipe blood on your face with your first kill.

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Yeah, you should have eaten the heart raw and rubbed blood all over your body. Dancing nude in the dark is another tradition. It's not too late to go to the store and buy a liver and take some posed pictures, we can pretend it's another deer.

Our tradition is to rub blood on the face. Nothing disgusting, just a couple of fingers like war paint.
Every deer you kill in your entire life would have been "A good one next year". Unless he was already 8 years old and I have killed maybe 2 of those in my life. A trophy is in the eye of the beholder so a spike that I would NOT shoot is a great kill for a new hunter or a meat hunter. My oldest son killed a 5 point for his first deer and my youngest killed a doe. Both were proud moments. The only time I get upset is when someone who has been hunting a long time shoots a young buck and had the chance to shoot a doe instead. We have a lot of deer around here so I like to at least let them get to 3 years old. That only works because I own the land and can control, to a degree, what we shoot.

I built up courage and saw in laying in a pool of blood. My sidearm drawn, just in case. I nudged it with my foot and blood squirted out, I nearly fell backwards.

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sigh...i remember these days! for me it was when i started hunting alone at 18 or so. i literally almost peed myself as i approached my first solo kill! congrats brother! this will be the first of many and they dont ever get any less exciting!

Uh? If you want to eat boot leather and have to cut it with a chain saw. I've never found venison worth a toot to grill, not any fat in it, know there are recipes, but it can be tough even pan fried.

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MC, it sounds like you are over cooking your deer steaks. They cook much faster than beef or anything else with more fat. I grill or pan fry deer steaks rare, basically just searing the outsides and they never get too tough.

Congrats on your first deer.

I nudged it with my foot and blood squirted out, I nearly fell backwards.

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Congrats on your first deer. I remember my first deer was an unintentional neck shot at 30-40 yards (I swear the crosshairs were in the kill zone but the fever came over me and that rifle was dancing!). The 8 pointer dropped like a sack of potatoes but was still alive for a couple of minutes. That was the only day that season I didn't carry a sidearm and as I approached it, it struggled to get up. Then it looked at me. Eyes locked on mine while struggling to get up and, within 30 seconds or so, died. I think that moment gave me, as it does with many hunters, a great deal of acknowledgement and reverence for a large game animal you just killed. While you don't want to see any animal suffer, I think in some way it gives you a deep appreciation for the animal and hunting all together. Some may scoff or disagree, but it can be an eye opener.

Every hunter tries to get the young hunter to do something gross even though they didn't actually do it themselves...LOL....thats the real tradition.

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With me, it was "roll in the guts", but my grandpa never made me do it. I was terrified of the thought at age 11.

MC, it sounds like you are over cooking your deer steaks. They cook much faster than beef or anything else with more fat. I grill or pan fry deer steaks rare, basically just searing the outsides and they never get too tough.

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I want my meat medium. I don't like it when my steak says "MOOOO" when I stick a fork in it. I'll just do it my way, thanks.