Posted on Jul 10, 2015
SSgt Airman
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Okay so let's hear some of your favorite memories of hunting. I have developed a couple since I started hurting when I was 9 but one of my favorites was when I was 15. It was shot gun season and I decided I was going to use my muzzle loader. So the night before opening morning I collected it from dad's safe and gave it a good and thorough cleaning. Opening morning dad my brother and me all awoke at 0 dark thirty and went to the woods. Me and my younger brother sat together in the same deer blind and dad had moved on down a ways. Just a little after sun up we see this great big old 16 point buck and he's walking straight at the blind. I looked at my brother and told him he could have the first shot. He In turn told me to take the first shot so we start an argument trying to get the other one to shoot first all while this buck is about 20 feet from the blind just standing there broad side. I finally agreed to shoot first. I pulled up aiming perfectly where the hart should be at and pulled the trigger and all you hear is a loud kash.... The deer jumps and my little brother starts popping 410 rounds of at him he got away. After all the excitement my brother looked at me and said what happened and all I could say was I'm a dummy I forgot to shoot a couple caps through when I cleaned the gun last night. ... Needless to say I haven't made that mistake again and I did end up with 2 does that year.
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SFC Jeff L.
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I took one of my sons out deer hunting a couple of years ago for his first time. He was 14, but couldn't sit still for anything. That and kept *whispering* "Dad! I hear something right over there!" I told him his new name was going to be "Russel" because he made more noise than a pack of squirrels in a pile of dry leaves.
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SSgt Airman
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SOF Jeff Lyden, I think most of us can relate to your 12 year old son when it comes to our first time out with dad. I think it's a right of passage and it most definitely makes for some fantastic memories between father and son. Thank you for sharing. It brightened my day as it brought some of my memory's with my dad to mind. Thank you
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SFC Retention and Transition NCO (USAR)
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I love kids hunting
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1LT David Moeglein
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Duck hunting in Northway, Alaska with Dad, Mom, brothers, Joe & Mark and our dog Missy. Duck never tasted so good as it did with a wonderful cream sauce, as we ate around a fire with temperatures below freezing. Missy was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever with a short nose. She broke ice as she went out to retrieve birds in the early morning. Later she retrieved a double, holding a still live bird in her mouth, while pushing the other with her nose back to the blind. She loved retrieving. When my Dad shot at a double and missed, Missy began barking at him.
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SPC David Wyckoff
SPC David Wyckoff
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Used to play basketball in high school against you guys. Anderson Grizzlies.

Never got to go duck hunting. Moose and caribou was about it.
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1LT David Moeglein
1LT David Moeglein
>1 y
SPC David Wyckoff, Although we duck hunted in Northway, we lived in Anchorage. I understand about moose and caribou. Dad had the freezer stocked to feed three growing boys. No places where you could buy a side of beef in Alaska. It is definitely an interesting place to grow up. Telling stories about growing up in Alaska, most people CONUS think we are spinning yarn.
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SPC David Wyckoff
SPC David Wyckoff
>1 y
I used to get the "do you live in igloos?" all the time.
As I've gotten older I have realized that growing up and living most of my life in the Last Frontier afforded us experiences that most will never have.
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PO1 John Miller
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The next year my dad had another doe permit and there I was sitting in the blind by myself when I hear a twig snap behind me. Slowly I turn and there's a doe sniffing at something. I kept my cool and aimed my 30/30 at her and was about to take a shot when two fawns ran up to her. "I can't shoot Bambi's mom!!!" so I yelled to scare them off. Needless to say dad was pissed when I told him.
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SSgt Airman
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PO1 John Miller, that sounds like a good memory to look back on. About 4 years ago I took a friend out who had an interest but had never gone. So we stalked the woods for a little bit then I found a nice spot to sit with a bigger crick running by. I set back to back with said friend and we sat for a while when I heard the distinctive sound of deer moving towards us. So as quietly as I could I instructed my friend on what to do. Sure enough two does come walking up and he had a perfect shot broad side about 25 yards from us my back was still to them and I waited for what seemed for ever for him to shoot and he didn't so I slowly turned my head to look at him. What I saw made my hart drop. He was sitting there with my 20 gage (that I loaned him) across his lap, his hands in the complete wrong placement to pick up the weapon his eyes as wide as saucers starring at them. I whispered what are you doing shoot them. As I was in no position to take a shot with out blowing his eardrum out. He snapped out of it picked up the gun and in the silence of the woods all you could hear was click.... He had forgotten what I had taught him about the safety. Of course at that sound the does turned tail and ran with me knocking down trees along there path cause I didn't have a clear shoot. I still have a good laugh every time I think about it. But going back to your choice not to shoot. I have a great deal of respect for the hunter who is aware of the affect they have when they shoot something. When I was younger I never thought about that but as I've gotten older I have become more aware and choose carefully what I shoot. Don't get me wrong I hunt for food but one could say I have gotten wiser when I take a life. I put thought towards next years hunt. As well as where I'm at. Is it worth the long drag out of the woods or would it be beneficial to let it get bigger for next year.
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PO1 John Miller
PO1 John Miller
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That's a good way of looking at it!
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