There is no way I could ever forget my introduction to deer hunting. I didn’t grow up hunting deer; I was more a squirrel and duck hunter and my interest in hunting deer was marginal at best, partly because where I grew up, there were few if any deer.
One day as a young adult, I was squirrel hunting near my home in Claiborne Parish when I heard a hound headed my way, and I was upset. You can’t kill a squirrel if a bawling hound is in the area. However, just before the hound came through, a beautiful buck ran ahead of him, stopping long enough to look me over before bounding away.
Seeing that buck created something in me I didn’t understand at the time. A couple of weeks later when invited by a friend on my first ever deer hunt, I was ready to see if there was anything to that “something”.
It was, because sitting on a pipeline that morning, I listened as Bill Bailey’s bawling hounds were coming my way and once again, I felt that “something”. Moments later when the hounds ran a 10 point buck in front of my gun and I downed him, I realized what that “something” was and I was hooked.
In the years that followed, I was a serious deer hunter and if a buck was a spike or had a spindly 4-point rack and I got him, I felt fulfilled.
I was recently reminded of something noted outdoors writer and photographer, Charles Alsheimer had written about the five stages a deer hunter goes through over his lifetime.
The first phase, the Shooter Stage is one I enjoyed from an early age because I had a dad who got me involved in handling guns, from plinking BBs at a tomato can to shooting at paper targets with my .22 single shot rifle. Still later, I learned to handle a shotgun.
Phase two was the Limiting Out Stage where I got serious about hunting and I wanted to kill a limit of squirrels every time I went out or kill more deer this season than I did last year.
Next came the Trophy Stage. I was willing to pass up smaller bucks waiting for a “wall hanger”. Getting a trophy became more important to me than just taking any deer.
The Method Stage meant that I started studying firearms to find the exact one that fit my needs and wants as well as fine-tuning my hunting techniques and methods, learning how to read deer sign to know where to place a stand, the best time of day, becoming more focused on things like wind direction, barometric pressure and using trail cameras to get to know the one I was after and the absolute best time to connect with him.
Finally, I have comfortably settled in the final stage, the Sportsman Stage. I no longer hunt because of age and physical limitations but getting to relive in my mind some of those special times I’ve had in the outdoors, sharing advice and tips with younger less experienced hunters has been almost as fulfilling as being there myself.
Something the Good Lord has blessed me with is my ability to put pen to paper, or tap out words on my computer screen to paint word pictures of all the outdoors has to offer. Most rewarding is my assignment during deer season to interview successful hunters and vicariously be in the stand with them looking over their shoulder as the trophy they’re after steps out.
Having come full circle with the stages Alsheimer wrote about lets me look back and confidently say that my life in the outdoors as a hunter has absolutely been fulfilled. I haven’t missed a beat.