Many Mainers grow up hunting with their families, but just as many discover the sport later in life.
That was the case for Jake Sparrow of Whitefield, who shot his first buck at age 40 in WMD 22, Kennebec County, on Wednesday afternoon. The deer weighed 224 pounds.
Sparrow started hunting about 15 years ago. His father didn’t hunt, but he became interested in his early 20s because many of his friends were.
Last year he shot his first deer, a doe, while hunting with his cousin.
This fall, Sparrow was still-hunting with a friend when they spotted a buck walking away from them. He looped around toward a nearby stream, and about five minutes later, the deer came down the bank and stepped within 55 yards of him.
Sparrow fired his .30-06, and the buck went less than five feet before dropping in the stream.
Over the years, he’s seen a few bucks and even taken shots, but missed. He alternates between sitting in a stand and walking.
Just three days earlier, he left his stand about 20 minutes before legal shooting time to move around, only to return and find two bucks standing at the base of it about 110 yards away.
“I should have stayed in my stand,” he said.
While many hunters start young — studies show more than 80 percent of hunters begin before age 18 — Sparrow’s story reflects a smaller but growing group who take up hunting later in life.
National surveys show participation peaks in the 25-34 age range. More than 60 percent of hunters today are over 40, and about one in ten deer hunters are 65 or older.
Recruitment of new adult hunters like Sparrow has become increasingly important as overall participation among younger generations declines. His success shows there’s no age limit on learning the woods or on the patience that hunting requires.
With his first buck down and a spot in the Big Buck Club, an informal group for hunters who harvest a buck weighing at least 200 pounds dressed, Sparrow’s story is a reminder that it’s never too late to start hunting and that persistence pays off.