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I’ve been hunting for nearly 45 years, and, for the last 25 years my yearly hunt has been refined just to 4 days each November. A cousin owns a ranch in the very center of Montana, and it is home to elk, mule deer, and my quarry, whitetail deer. I pull my camper the hundred and forty miles to park near the old farm house, and for the next days I hunt during the daylight hours and tie flies after dark.

I always look forward to the time of quiet and relaxation -my very own once a year time away from the busyness of life. For the past couple years Caleb, my now nine year old, has been lobbying hard to tag along with me, and I have resisted, telling him about getting up way before sunrise and sitting for hours in a ground blind waiting for deer to pass.

This was a great season at the Rainey house for deer. We have been a home school family for 13 years and will continue for another 18 years or so. I am sending three pictures in, one of myself with a 138 inch 9 point I took during the early bow season. My largest with a bow so far.

Then there is Jessalyn my oldest daughter (17) with her 8 pointer she took on Nov.21 with her 44 magnum rifle, Jess has been hunting since she was 11, and she has become a very successful deer hunter.

Last but certainly not to be left out is our youngest daughter Mikaela with her first buck, she has been in the woods with me for three years now, but this was her first year to get to shoot. She took her buck at 50 yards with her new 44 magnum single shot on opening morning.

Those of you who hunt in southern Indiana know what the opener was like; cold, rainy and windy. But this nine year old hunter was determined to be out there with dad and get her first buck. She is really the only reason I went out that day. It's hard to put to words what it means to a dad to see his kids, especially girls wanting to get into the things that dad enjoys.

We enjoy many days outdoors together either in the woods or in the boat, I think it is very imporant to teach your kids about the things you trully love to do, it is a heritage you can pass on for generations to come.

But not only do these two young ladies like the hunt, but we also process our own meat and Jess is probably the best deer skinner I have ever had help me, and Mikaela likes to help wrap the meat before it goes in the freezer. I have a 9 month old son too, who in time will learn these skills as well.

I have to mention my middle daughter too, even though she does not hunt (she has too big of a heart to hunt)she encourages the rest of us in our success's in the field or woods. We also have a 9 month old son too, who in time will learn these skills as well. God is so good, He has blessed us with a great family that loves the outdoors and all He has created for us to enjoy! ( deer jerky, chili, back straps, ect... all the good things in life!)

A few minutes pass by, the wind picks up, and then – a red fox comes running down the hill towards my treestand! I figure, why not – I have chickens to protect, and I aim, take fire, and completely miss the running poof-ball of a fox. As I looked back toward where the fox came from…there stood a doe and large buck! They had no idea I was there, the hormones in the deer must have affected their hearing, as they stood about 50 yards away!

I hadn't had much luck the past couple of years so finding this nice 3-point was a real blessing!

I got pretty excited because usually the does come out first and I only had a buck tag. But it went into a big patch of pines a ways away. About 2 minutes later Dad saw saw the same one come out again. It was headed to a swamp to our right. It was too dark to use my 20 gauge because it doesn’t have fiber-optic sights. So Dad gave me the scope muzzle loader.

Dad grunted at the deer and it stopped. It was through some brush so I started to look around for a clear shot. The deer started to walk again so Dad grunted again and it stopped. I started looking around again but didn’t find a hole to shoot through. The deer started walking and got behind a bunch of brush. When it got to an area where it wasn’t so brushy, Dad grunted at it and it stopped. Again I started to look for a clear shot.

After seperating from T.J., Dad went to the general area where he had left his watch. Sitting down, he leaned back against his backpack. Snap! Dad realized that the animal making that noise was a lot bigger than a squirrel. Dad slowly stood up and waited. The noise sounded close, but it was still dark. For forty-five minutes Dad listened to this deer circle him.

Finally, as it was getting light Dad saw him come through some firs. Problem. When the buck stopped, his heart was behind a big tree. “No problem,” Dad thought. Raising his gun he got the chest in his sights, put his finger on the trigger, and prepared to wait until the buck took a step forward. BOOM! Oops! the trigger was more sensitive than he thought.

Dad had been sick for a while and wasn't hunting much, but on this day Preston wanted to go with dad to check cows. When we did Preston spotted this deer for his pops and after a well placed neck shot he helped me gut and load the deer. Then of course he had to show it off to his big sister Morgan when we got home.

Here is my big buck and it was the shortest hunt I have ever been on. it is actually a really exciting story even though I was only in my seat for less than 60 seconds! I prayed on my way out to hunt that I could bring home a big deer for my wife to fill her freezer she was sad as I hurt her earlier and I wanted to bring her something special.

I chose the area in my woods to hunt, then set out a scent bomb, chose my tree and set out a few more. I climbed my tree with my climing tree stand and heard a grunt as I got to my stopping point. I froze and looked to see what was out there. a nice 4 point buck started walking toward me, i thought great, God sent a buck, but I didn't even have a bow up in the tree yet! Then he traversed the creek nearby and kept his distance since he either didn't see any does or he might have seen me. Once he left, I pulled up my bow and rattling antlers and sat down. I loaded an arrow and turned the saftey off, put a peice of hunters gum in my mouth and within 15 seconds another buck was coming in from another direction. it was cloudy and dim in the deep woods so I could only tell that he was large and had a decent rack...i had no idea how nice he was until I got down. He was 250 lbs after field dressing him, he was the largest deer I or any of my hunting buddies have ever seen. He was a 12 point, but lost one in a fight. Both of his ears are split all the way down and they say he was about 6 yrs old. I see that God decided that a 4-point was not a good enough prize to bring my bride!

Hi my four boys my dad and myself all rifle hunt here in Wisconsin. Next year my two daughters will be old enough to also hunt with us . But this year my 20 year old son got married and his wife who hunts came along. So the group keeps getting bigger every year. She actually could of killed the buck in the picture but let it go for her new 14 year old brother in-law Alex to shoot his first big buck. My 14 year old got a nice buck and my 20 year old got a nice wife. The deer is a nine point buck and weighed around 210 lb. dressed out.

I only started hunting a few years ago. I can truly say that I have "Buck Fever". Over Thanksgiving I was given the chance to hunt with some family members at a place that was known to have some big bucks. Up until now all I had ever seen were does. I took a doe with my bow earlier in the month but I was anxious to take a buck. Well, I was blessed when this 8 pointer walked out on the same fence line I was sitting on. There are just not too many things more exciting than getting your first buck.

As this deer walked along side a doe, he made his way directly to me. If he had not turned he would have walked directly on top of me. But as luck would have it he turned broadside at about 75 yards and my 270 short mag. found it's mark. What a great Thanksgiving night that was!