I'm another of the student/apprentice hunters in the program this year, and while I didn't get out opening weekend for various reasons, I did get out 2013-11-23, and got this fairly large doe. Like Kelu, I forgot to make pictures before field dressing, but one is attached.
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Here are some notes on the experience:
1) Glasses limit your vision. I've been told to move your eyes not your head to look, but with my glasses at least, I've only got clear vision for about a 60 degree arc. If you have the option, Lasik or contacts are a good idea. I spent most of the time we were just sitting and waiting trying to decide which to do for next year.
2) Don't forget the marksmanship. There are a lot of things to think about while hunting, but the fundamental thing is putting the shot where you want it. As soon as I fired, I turned to my mentor and told him I shot high. Well, we never identified the entry wound for sure, but the exit wound was in the neck, and I was aiming for heart/lungs. So, point of aim to (likely) point of impact was way off, and I can't blame the rifle. I got lucky this time, but it could just as easily have been a gut shot, a wounding, non-fatal wound, or a miss.
I imagine pulling the shot on your first ever deer isn't uncommon, but I know I'm not going to pull the trigger on another deer until I've had time to tighten up my shooting, and also a few days out in the woods going through the motions and being more observant. And a forked stick or shooting stick monopod is probably a good idea, too.
3) On being observant. There were three does in the herd , but I'm pretty sure I didn't notice the other two till after I shot.
4) People always say deer don't run far, but I didn't know how true that was. The other two never left my sight, and circled back, milled around for at least 10 minutes, and finally wandered off. In that time, they presented a dozen or more perfect opportunities, so if I had had room in the freezer, and more confidence in my shooting, I could easily have taken a second deer.
5) I need better socks.
6) The $14 Mora knife I have is a great deal, especially if I can keep the edge where it is now.
7) It may have been because I didn't hit anything in the torso, but the field dressing procedure is relatively easy, and relatively non-icky. Only smell I got was a vague chewed-grass, cow chewing it's cud scent, and blood. Take your time, and it's not really complicated. One shallow cut, stop, observe, plan next cut, another shallow cut, etc. Though once I separated the heart from the arteries, it got more complicated with the blood pooling in the cavity. With a heart shot, I might have thought about trying to drain the cavity once or twice while working, but I'd gotten most of it loose by the time the blood started flowing, so it wasn't an issue.
8) I need a bone saw before I go solo, and/or maybe a serrated knife.
9) A Gut hook probably simplifies things quite a bit, though I didn't have one, and didn't really need one.
10) Meat is meat. The loins, roasts, etc. look just the same as they do when they come back from the butcher when they're on a fresh animal. This shouldn't be news, but I sorta expected some sort of difference.
11) I want to learn to fully process the animal. I won't do it most of the time, but I want to learn how. I imagine I could get 75% of the meat off without any real practice, but I want to learn how to do it right.
12) Tanning, not anytime soon, but long term.
13) Get the gate key before you go out. Dragging is no fun, so the less of it you do, the better. I feel like I did a heavy squats workout, and I started feeling it yesterday afternoon. Don't underestimate the exertion involved. And some sort of drag handle would be really useful. Grabbing forelegs and pulling isn't particularly easy to keep your grip. Just a handle that ties the two legs together would be great.
14) Suburban granola-crunchy moms in Northern Virginia will jump at the chance to get some venison. I think my wife's given away somewhere near half the meat we'll get off this one. And not because she doesn't want it, but because her friends want to try it.
