Everybody's first tagged kill is something to be remembered for a lifetime. I remember my first kill like it was yesterday. With the help of my encouraging husband Chris, I had previously overcome a very strange fear to firearms and shot a rifle for the first time in my life. I felt so empowered, like I could hunt King Kong! I was ready to begin training for my first hunt! I could do this, right?
Chris and I began nightly shooting lessons at the range. I completed my Hunter Training Safety course to become eligable to hunt in Canada, and even applied for my own Firearms License. I was on a roll! Chris came home from work one night with my very own Weatherby 243 rifle, my own gun!! Never had I thought I would be the owner of a rifle, now I was.
We decided to hunt for a whitetail buck. For whatever reason, I have yet to be able to explain, I cannot shoot anything female. The bucks are a general tag here in Alberta and I did not need to be drawn for it. Every evening, we began "scouting" on land we had gotten permission to hunt on and Chris taught me that it's a great way to see what animals are out there. To me, the best part of our pre hunting training was when Chris taught me the art of "patterning." I have always thought hunting was like this: A deer is in the field and it's eating....you shoot it, that's it. The truth is, I was able to pattern deer movement and behavior every single night! I couldn't believe that whitetails do the same thing and pattern their routines on a daily basis if they aren't spooked...how cool!! This is when it became a real sport for me. I watched does with their baby fawns, bucks fighting and challenging eachother, herd movement, and I even learned which tree they favor.
On the third night of scouting, we spotted my first buck! He was a 5x5 whitetail . Not a huge guy, but for my first buck, I felt he was perfect! He walked with pride, and had respect from every other deer...a sign that he is the dominant buck in the herd.
It wasn't opening day of rifle season yet so I was unable to set up on him. I watched him for 4 more evenings and I knew what time he would cross the field to eat, and which buck he would fight to prove his authority. I knew where he bedded down and even where his favorite spot was to eat. This was incredible! I always thought deer hunting was point and shoot, done. Not at all. The way I look at it, to be a successful deer hunter even for your first kill, you have to learn the pattern and routine of the herd.
Opening day. Finally. I hardly slept the night before. Chris worked all day and we weren't able to go hunting until that evening...that was the longest day ever! Would the buck be there? Would I get a shot? Would I be successful? What if I wound him? All thoughts that ran through my mind and actually made my heart race.
5:00pm and we're off. I didn't say two words the entire drive out there due to nerves. We wanted to be in the field set up before the herd came out for their nightly routine of eating. Chris had been out a couple days before and set up a tree stand over looking the entire field. From there, I could shoot in every direction with my 243 Weatherby. Something we never practiced in the training was sitting in a tree stand. I am not a fan of heights and being in this two person tree stand with Chris was making me squirm. Every move he made, the tree stand would move and I would clutch on like I was falling to my death. "Relax" he told me but I couldn't! How would I tell him that there was no way I would be able to shoot from up there? After 20 minutes, and still no deer in the field, he sensed my fear and we made our way down the tree stand. Time for plan B for this hunt. We would wait until the buck came onto the field and stalk up on him in the high grass. This is not the ideal plan for a first time hunter as stalking takes much more skill and experience. We had no choice. Not every hunt will go as planned and you have to be ready to modify any situation.
An hour passed and out came the does. I learned in my training that does almost always step out onto the field first, followed by the fawns, smaller bucks, then the big guy. The most dominant buck will step onto the field last. The deer trickled onto the field one after the other so I began feeling confident that my buck would appear soon. A few minutes later, he stepped out. OK...heart pounding I was trying to organize my thoughts. Everything I had learned in the last two months was flying through my mind like a blur. After a few deep breaths, I was able to gather my thoughts. Patience. He ate at a tree right on the edge of the bush line for quite some time. When he continued to calmly move onto the field I slowly crawled in the long grass. Because I knew from patterning where he loved to eat, I knew I was safe crawling on this specific route to get closer to him. One thing that I realized during my stalk was you also have to be careful not to get busted by the other deer in the herd. That's tough, they're everywhere!
We had been crawling and stalking for 35 minutes. With Chris right behind me, I ranged him 220 yards. Ok I can shoot 220 yards right? I did at the range. My hunting instincts took over from that point on and a sense of calming came over me. I knew that 220 yards would work, and I knew that I had managed to stalk up on this buck without any other deer busting me. I was not going to blow this hunt by trying to get closer. I waited patiently as he finally moved broadside for a perfect shot. My patience and skill sort of impressed me at that moment. I had my chance. I sat on the ground, used my knee as a rest, and I saw him perfectly through my scope, his lung in my crosshairs. I heard "Good luck honey" whispered behind me and that gave me all the courage to take the safety off and shoot. BOOM...every deer around me ran as I automatically re loaded for a second shot, I found the buck in my scope again...running...down! I got him!! I shot my first animal and succeeded with one shot! Chris laughed with me and hugged me and we hi fived about 6 times then I rememberd safety...unload your gun Shelly. It's so easy to get caught up in the emotion and adrenaline and forget about what you should actually be doing. Once the gun was unloaded I sat there reflecting on what just happened. I couldn't help it but happy tears filled my eyes as I realized I could actually feed my family if I had to. What an accompished feeling! I wanted to scream to the heavens I GOT HIM...but in training I learned to sit and wait for about 30 mins to make sure the animal is dead. I could only wait about 10 mintues and I ran up to him in excitement. A perfect double lung shot. I grabbed his horns and beamed as I sat there speechless.
I'll remember that day for the rest of my life. That was the most fun I have ever had. It was that night that it dawned on me, I am HOOKED. I can only learn more from here and face myself with new challenges and that is what I continue to do today. I encourage all of you to challenge yourself becuase you can do anything you set your mind to!
Shelly Kruger- Prostaff/TV host for Those Guys Outdoor Adventures on Wild TV
Follow me on Twitter @shellykruger
By Mia Anstine 
By Chris Avena 
