To accompany Deer Camp '09, we've asked athletes, prominent figures and outdoorsmen to relate their first time afield or their first kill.
Hunting a major hit for Braves' Chipper Jones
Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones is one of the most popular players in baseball — and he has the talent to back it up.
The 16-year veteran and six-time All-Star holds a career .307 batting average, has earned two Silver Slugger awards (1999 and 2000) and was named National League MVP in 1999. But Jones is also an avid outdoorsman with property in Oklahoma and Texas that includes an affiliation with the Double Dime Ranch, a working game ranch in South Texas.
Hunting since he was young, Jones says it serves as great relaxation.
"It's my solitude. There's nothing better than climbing into a tree with my bow and arrow. It's really therapy to me, because I know there are no crowds, no traffic and nothing but me and a huge buck." Story
Farnsworth full of stunts, hunts
Growing up in a Hollywood family certainly opened doors for Diamond Farnsworth, both in the business and the outdoors.
"I shot my first deer when I was 14, on a pack trip into the high Sierras with my father, and someone you might remember, Guy Madison," says the award-winning Hollywood stuntman, whose father is the late two-time Oscar-nominated actor Richard Farnsworth.
"My dad and Guy had both shot really nice bucks and we were on the way out when I saw this buck standing on a hillside. My dad says 'Take him, but don't shoot off the horse.' Well, of course, you know I shot the buck off the horse. My dad was upset. I asked him if it was illegal."
"No," he replied, " but I was afraid that the horse would buck you off." Story
Swan's first comes much easier than one arrowed decades later
The longest 15 minutes of my life of James Swan's life was the wait after he arrowed his first deer on a hunt with his father in Chippewa County, Mich.
It was a quick successful hunt in 1956, way different from a more recent hunt being filmed for a television show.
After 20 years of chasing West Coast blacktails, which sometimes don't seem to be much bigger than a hefty collie, I got invited to hunt in Wisconsin for a TV show. How could you pass that one up?
The more recent one left Swan waiting two days for kill, but it still ended up as his largest trophy with a bow. Story
Oh what a hunt, late December back in '63
One of the most zealous hunters to walk among us killed his first deer 46 years ago, in late December back in '63.
While it wasn't what Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were singing about in their 1976 hit, it was a special time for one lucky teen, Rob Keck, former CEO of the NWTF and now a member of the Bass Pro RedHead Team.
"The first time a hunter takes any game, it etches deeply in the mind, no matter how big the critter is, because it's the size of the experience that really counts," Keck said.
Back then, a boy couldn't hunt Pennsylvania until he was 12 years old, something that really chafed the eager young hunter. So when family friend John Hoover invited Keck to hunt state forest land in Mifflin County, the 13-year-old jumped at the chance.
Author John Annoni spent years chasing first deer
Until Sarah Palin's new book comes out, John Annoni is probably the most visible hunter to mainstream America.
Annoni recently has appeared on MSNBC, CBS Evening News, and done numerous newspaper and radio interviews. Google his name and you come with 429,000 listings!
John's inspirational life story — a kid from the projects raised by his grandmother escapes drugs and gangs by hiding in the woods and learning to hunt and fish — told in his book, From the Hood To The Woods, is an American dream come true.
Annoni not only got out of the projects, he became a schoolteacher and went back to teach kids in the projects. That's a great accomplishment in itself, but then he started Camp Compass, to mentor inner city kids, using hunting and fishing opportunities as rewards for good behavior and ways to build self-esteem and love for nature.
His first hunt is a story of perseverance over 7 years. Story
First Lady of Hunting shot from the hip
Brenda Valentine, The First Lady of Hunting, said back in the day, you were lucky to see a track in her home state of Tennessee, much less a deer.
When she was about 12 years old and working in the tobacco field, Valentine saw her first whitetail. She said people came from all over to see the tracks, convinced Valentine had lost her mind. Some of the local folk had no clue what the tracks were, speculating a goat or calf had scampered off the farm.
Her first deer came with an amazing shot.
"It surprised me so much I never shouldered the rifle and aimed but pulled up and shot the lever action from the hip by instinct. Guess I'd been watching too many "Rifleman" TV shows!"
Carrying it back to camp also was an adventure. Story
Lawyer's first deer was driving force
It's not surprising that Milwaukee attorney Michael Hupy cannot remember a time when he did not hunt.
Growing up in the town of Menominee in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, he began hunting at age 5, following his father through oak and spruce thickets on grouse hunts.
When he was 12, he shouldered his first shotgun, a .20-gauge, joining his father in pursuit of grouse, or as the "UPers" call 'em, "pats."
The first year that Hupy went deer hunting was 1960. He was 14.
"I hunted really hard and did not get a shot. I was really disappointed," he said, recalling that a license in those days cost $5.
The following year, 1961, Hupy returned to the woods near Spalding, Mich., and had better luck. Story
Falcons players get away from stresses of NFL through hunting
The NFL's Atlanta Falcons may call a city of more than 5.5 million people home, but it doesn't stop many of them from getting away from the Georgia Dome gridiron and out into the great outdoors. Several veteran members of the team who are also avid outdoorsman share their favorite hunting memories and their hopes for passing on the sport to future generations.
Jerious Norwood, one-half of one of the most dangerous ground attacks in professional football, killed his first deer when he was about 12. The former Mississippi State Bulldog is known by his teammates for being an avid outdoorsman.
Backup quarterback Chris Redman is an avid hunter, fisherman and golfer, and he is also known for taking NFL teammates, both novice and expert, on frequent hunting trips to share his passion for the sport.
Eleven year veteran center Todd McClure grew up in Baton Rouge, La., and has a 60-acre tract of land in the state where he hopes his son will take his first deer. Story
Olympic shooting medalist got off to an early start
Though Kim has taken a big bite out of life — doing everything from developing an iPhone hunting/shooting game with designer genius Ethan Nicholas, to attending college and practicing for the 2012 games in London — she admits she wishes there was more time for hunting now.
No wonder. It was a huge part of her growing up years. From the time Kim was three months old, her parents bundled her up so she could tag along to hunt camp with the rest of the Rhode clan.
Like most young hunters, Kim started off trailing along behind her dad. What she lacked in hunting savvy when she was a nipper, she more than made up for in enthusiasm. On one occasion, Kim recalled how she "helped" dear old dad while they were hunting muleys in Utah. Story
