Rare Breed Whitetail Hunting: Jennie's First Dog Hunt

Hey! Shelby and Emily recently took me hunting and I wanted to share my trip with you. It was a pretty fun day for me and I hope you enjoy reading about it. Jennie Byrd

On January 24, 2015, the day before my 40th birthday, I went dog hunting for the very first time. I was invited by my nephew, Chase Byrd and his fiancé Leigh Black. Their hunting camp, Persimmon Creek is up above Atmore, AL in Excel and is about an hour away from our house. Shelby and Emily have gone a few times this season and have had a great time. I had no idea what to expect as my only hunting experience was sitting in a shooting house while I wait on something to happen.

One of my birthday gifts was some girly hunting camo! That was exciting since I did not own anything of my own. They took me to Bass Pro Shop and set me up. I got a She brand fitted camo long sleeve base layer top. Then a pair of pants, Scent-Lok Mayhem. My jacket is the Scent-Lok HeartStopper with the pink embroidery!! It fits me and has pink! I love it. Both are the Realtree Xtra camo pattern. To top off the outfit they got me camo gloves. Those were Redhead and they were great! Very warm for sure. I really loved having clothes that fit me better and did not look super bulky like when I borrow Shelby’s camo. I already own a set of Under Armor fleece lined leggings and top for running on the super cold days and those were worn underneath all of this new stuff. Added tons of warmth with no extra bulk. I did wear jeans and a sweatshirt between the layers since the morning was going to be very cold.

My new camo

So we had to get up to meet Chase and Leigh at 4:30 am and that was not a big deal because I usually get up at 3:45 am to run. We got ready and went up to where Chase has his dogs. When we got there they were chasing a little run-a-way that had made a break for the open door when Leigh was trying to get him in the box. I think they spent close to 30 minutes chasing that dog from the pen and all over the yard and even all the way back to our house. Poor Leigh even fell in a puddle when she tried to grab the dog as it ran past her. That was a sight to behold and I was a little concerned that this happens every time and it did not seem like all that much fun. Apparently this is not a common occurrence and once the dog was corralled they finished loading the other dogs and off we went. I tried to sleep a little in the truck on the ride up but about the time I fell asleep (we picked up Hardees for breakfast) we were arriving at the camp .

Yummy Hardees at 5am

When we got to the club everyone gathered in The Pit-a dirt pit where you sign in and meet the hunt master before each drive. I had to laugh when I saw how they stored their camp log book. It was in an old microwave but I guess that works and keeps it safe and dry. We got signed in and waited to see where we were going to go. The camp president, Allan was great at putting us in good places to hopefully see deer. Each time he would set us on our stand he would show us where we would be most likely to see a deer and where they tend to cross the roads. The first drive really caught me off guard. We were right on a main road over looking the pit and it was cold. I really wanted to sit down and not be standing up holding a gun. I had no idea what to expect and was getting antsy already. At one point with the drivers hollering and the dogs yelping it sounded like a murder scene out of a horror movie. We did not see a deer that drive but the dogs sounded really close. I think they actually changed direction at the last minute and ran away from us if the sounds were any indication.

Microwave / sign-in station

Now I was into this! The second drive Allan set us out on a road going up a hill. We were about 3/4 of the way up the hill and there was a small little creek that crossed the road at the bottom of the hill. It was so pretty and the sun was out, birds were everywhere. It was such a beautiful day. This one took a little longer to get everyone in place before the drive started. I was using a vintage Belgium made Browning 12 gauge automatic shotgun. I actually started getting sleepy here and forgetting that I was standing outside holding a gun. I kept nodding off and startling myself. At one point I was shocked to wake up and find myself falling forward!! That was good stuff. I decided to sit down for a bit and “rest”. This time the dogs got close to us multiple times and one of the the drivers and a dog crossed the road a little ways down the hill from us. There were a few times the dogs sounded like they were fixing to run the deer right out of the woods into us. We did not see a deer this time either but just really enjoyed the spot we were in for all of the beauty around us.

After this drive we went back and ate some lunch while we waited for the third drive to start. There were people looking for dogs that had not come back. The group gathered in the pit were mostly men and boys with a few ladies. Me and Emily sat in the truck listening to music and eventually got in the truck with Leigh and played some games on the phones. As people started rolling back in I was getting excited about going again. This time Allan put us on the main road out of the pit just up from the big creek crossing. We were at a fire break and checking the area around us. Allan had showed us the most likely place for the deer to cross and I kept my focus there when the dogs started running. All day Shelby had been telling me to be ready to go if the deer come to us. I was not taking that very seriously and was not really holding my gun ready. The dogs were getting really close and he reminded me to get ready. I got the gun up and all of a sudden he is telling me there is a deer and I see it fly across the road right where Allan said it would cross. It gets into the woods and of course my gun was not ready. I got the gun up and look and there is another one quick as a flash. I aimed and see the third deer streak across and this one I shot at. I did not hit it but I shot twice and was probably close (I tell myself). That was awesome! I was so bummed that I did not hit the deer but I have never shot at anything moving before and these deer were moving!! Chase’s friend Landon rode by and asked who shot and I was excited to say I had but hated to say I missed. He was very encouraging and went on down the road. Everyone we talked to was excited that I was able to see one and take a shot.

Me and my side kick right before I shot at a deer

Emily kept telling me that since I shot but missed they were going to want to cut my shirt tail. I was very nervous about that since I had on my brand new hunting clothes. Thankfully no one brought that up!

I was definitely not ready to go home after this so we decided to stay for one more drive. We were put in a completely different location this time and it was beautiful. Where we parked was down a little road and we were able to walk out to the main road or go back and walk down to a pretty little bottom. We chose to walk down to the bottom. When we first started walking we heard something in the woods and stood there trying to figure out if it was a deer. The woods were very thick and whatever was there moved on so we kept walking. As we got down towards the bottom of the trail we could hear the dogs and drivers getting close. We waited and eventually they changed direction and moved away from us so we headed back to the truck. We hung out for a bit and it started getting too dark to safely hunt. We decided it was time to head for the house as we had an hour drive back.

Shelby and the ride home

I had a great day and look forward to going back again next year! I was so glad that I went and got to spend the day with my husband, daughter and Chase and Leigh. Leigh even killed a doe that day. I wish I could have hit the deer I shot at but it was not bad for my first time. I will work on this and hopefully get a chance to get a deer next time. All in all it was a beautiful day and a great day before my birthday!