Forty yrs ago, a buddy and I started a hunt camp. At first it was one weekend, and only us two. Over time, friends, kids etc brought the numbers at times up to 8 or 10 hunters.

We had great times around the campfire at night, things that you remember more than the deer that we shot.

Gradually the numbers dwindled to me, my son, son in law, and one friend who doesn’t show every year. We usually stay at least a week now, and I enjoy it as much as I ever did.

MP

Hi DAN, Hope that You have LOTS of GOOD MEMORIES! BLESSED BE!

from my late teens till I moved to the eastern shore every Saturday we drove deer didn't matter bow black powder rifle. we had a blast killed a lot of deer & made great memories

Nothing better than a good deer/bird/fish/whatever camp. Chad

We used to solo up high in the early season of Corado Bow and go high, 13000 or so and just sleep on the ground under a small tarp. My buddy had a gore tex mummy bag and had a bear sniff him from head to feet one night 2 am and he needed to pee, lol.

You are lucky you can grow a beard! I tried a few times as a young man, but there were patches that seemingly didn't get enough fertilizer! Once, many years ago, my hunting partner and I spent a sleepless night at 4000' in NE Washington hunkered under a fallen log during the worst thunder and lightning storm ever! Huge snags kept falling all around us, lightning strikes were starting forest fires, and all we had to eat was tomato soup and Fizzies! We prayed hard and made it to daylight, safe and sound. We continued the hunt. My partner stopped to take a dump, and over the ridge came a group of mule deer, straight at him. He grabbed his bow, ducked behind a bush, and shot a small buck at 20 yards. Only then did he realize his pants and shorts were still around his ankles! We followed the wounded buck and found him dead not 20 yards from our car! Great trip! Richard

Dan, you just keep on ramblin’ old buddy. We’ll listen! Lance

My cousins and I used to go to the Yoop for Deer camp ,we started In The Baraga area, then moved to Crystal Falls. We hunted there many years , and stayed in a big army tent. We then bought a cabin back up in Baraga ,and hunted there for about 10 years. Now it's sits empty. Kinda sad everyone has either stopped hunting or has passed. I miss deer camp.

We use to just drive up in a car and sleep in it lol. We lived On baloney sandwiches and pop for about a week. We use to get alot of strange looks going home , 3 young guys with at least three deer tied to the roof of an old Pontiac. Ah the memories.

My first Bow deer the arrow appeared to have gone under the deer and bounced back at me. 15 yds with a Browning Cobra all wood compound. I left figuring the deer laughed and ran off. My experienced buddy said, "let's go look" and 40 yards later I had a dead doe, mystified by the killing power of a 40-pound bow, I could hardly believe it.

Very enjoyable tales guys.

Deno

Indian recurve on the outskirts of Madison Wi. Shot pheasants and rabbits on that property when i was at the university. Had a 63 Chevy station wagon i hunted out of for deer in spring Green. Wish i knew about tuning back then-could have been more than a terrorist with arrows in the animal kingdom. Amazing how far a can of sardines or Vienna sausages can take us in our youth.

Forest Park sub-division on the outskirts of Kenosha, WI in the mid- & late 1950s,...we were young teenagers and would hike the RR tracks out to "bum's woods" with out bows,...we'd hunt rabbits, squirrels, grouse and pheasants along the way,...there were four of us,...occasionally we'd bring home a critter to cook, not often though,...great fun,...I had a 43# dual-shelf Bear Cub bow and bought birch arrows at a "basement type" archery shop on 39th. avenue,...the shop was owned by an ex-Marine who fought on Guadalcanal in WW II,...in '65 I joined the corps, after boot camp and ITR I had my parents send my archery tackle to me at Camp Lejeune,...all these events,...over a half-century ago now,...set the stage for lifetime of archery involvement,...I was never the best competitive shot or the world's best bowhunter, but I sure enjoyed the journey,...still do, just a week ago bought a new recurve from Three Rivers in IN,...still shooting, still trying 'n I hope to 'til I tip over!

I can relate to what you're saying.. Almost all my bowhunting friends have passed away.

I should get rid of a bunch of bows but each one has so many memories of different hunts with different friends..

chris

My first deer was taken in 1967. I had a Sears (Ben Pearson) recurve at 40#, 37# at my draw...a cedar arrow and three blade Hi-Precision Head. At somewhere around 30 yards +/- only the feathers kept the arrow from passing through an adult doe. The shot was better lucky than good since I wasn't a great archer. That was in my third year of bowhunting. It took another five years before I got my first buck..in 1972. After that it was a yearly event for a while. You always remember the first one(s) and that's pretty cool. So many tales that would take too much typing. Even at 72, many of my pals are still around....but a few are gone also. That's what memories are for.

I hunted in a pack till I was in my early 20's. all my hunting buds started buying compounds and we drifted apart. My first kill was at dawn, I was sitting on a stool on top of a mountain in some grapevines. A nice 6 point walked up to about 5 yards and I got him with my Hill longbow. Ive shot another half a dozen within ten yards off the ground. That never gets old.

killed my first one with a Bear Whitetail Hunter. I smoked back then and saw a does coming across the field. I was in a fence row in an ash tree right where the cut through was for combines. I put a cigarette out on the trunk and the doe walked underneath. Show straight down and dropped her.

Lets see some pictures of your first deer, first buck, or first game animal with a bow if you have any. I like looking at vintage bowhunting pictures. I shot my first deer ( a doe ) in 1971 at 12 yards with a 45# Bear Green Fox. My first buck ( pictured ) was a 9-point I shot in 1973 at 20 yards with a 45# Black Hawk recurve. I couldn't wait for my Dad to get home from work to show him. My Dad was so proud he bought me a 60# Bear Grizzly recurve with the four arrow single spring arm quiver in 1974. Been hunting with a bow since I was old enough to except for a few years when I enlisted in the U.S. Army. Killed quite a few big and small game animals since them younger days. Time sure does fly by.

I've lost several hunting partners over the years. It's pretty sad when a friend passes, especially when you had hunting ties.

I also was part of different groups or camps that have all ended. The latest was "The Tribe" and our annual SC hog hunt at Wild Things. The camp has closed with the passing of our dear friend Andrew Harper. The guys are determined to continue doing something together each year. We've already put together a deer camp for this year. More exotic plans will be made later.

By the way, my beard starts on Labor Day and would typically go off after the March hog hunt.

Dan my 34 YO buddy just died last week I felt bad prior to this so now I am besides myself.

Thanks for the post Boxcall.

Yup, my best hunting buddy and I started with a canvas pup tent and went to camp in an old '57 Ford with bald tires, ate beans and beans that week and came home with nothing but memories. He drove a '52 Chevy with a losoe front end which only liked to start on warm days, so my car was uptown compared to his for traveling.

Within ten years, or the first of the seventies, we had a bunch of folks in those deer camps as my friend was a people magnent, with a quick and clean sense of humor.

One of our favorites in camp was my brother-in-law, "Bubba Lee", who was a huge Dudley Doright cowboy who coon hunted with hounds and mules, and later in life ran a duck camp southeast of Houston. Those characters sure made some memories.

Thanks for the post Boxcall.

Yup, my best hunting buddy and I started with a canvas pup tent and went to camp in an old '57 Ford with bald tires, ate beans and beans that week and came home with nothing but memories. He drove a '52 Chevy with a losoe front end which only liked to start on warm days, so my car was uptown compared to his for traveling.

Within ten years, or the first of the seventies, we had a bunch of folks in those deer camps as my friend was a people magnent, with a quick and clean sense of humor.

One of our favorites in camp was my brother-in-law, "Bubba Lee", who was a huge Dudley Doright cowboy who coon hunted with hounds and mules, and later in life ran a duck camp southeast of Houston. Those characters sure made some memories.

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