When/How did you get your start in hunting/fishing?

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
My family always were hunting & fishing, & or surrounded by people that did. For my dad & uncles growing up in the 50's & 60's, hunting was a requirement not just for entertainment.

Got my 1st BB gun at 4, started out hunting squirrel & dove at 5 with dad, got my 410single shot at 9. Dad never deer hunted so around 15 I started going with my pasters son. A few years later we moved where I was able to get land access. Taught myself what little I know.

The best hunting experience of my life was last yr, sitting in the stand with dad when he shot his 1st deer at 63. A few weeks later, he got his 2nd- a decent 8pnt.

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Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
My dad started taking me fishing when I was 3. I could fish on my own and cast on my own and land fish on my own before I was 4. I always wanted to go hunting as a child but my dad had gotten out of it before I was born and would never let me go on the annual dove hunt every year with the rest of the family because he always knew he would lose his fishing buddy, but finally when I was 11 my cousin took me on the family dove hunt, I had a single shot 20ga, I shot the first dove that flew over me at 12pm and I've been hooked ever since. I learned EVERYTHING I know about hunting on my own and a lot about fishing as well. I burnt the woods up with a bird dog most every day as a teenager. I got my first boat when I was 14 and discovered what real duck hunting was like(as I had always had to walk in and hunt creeks). Have been in it ever since. I owe a lot to my dad for taking me fishing early and often and to my cousin for taking me hunting the first time. Me and my cousin are like brothers and grew up together and learned a lot of things the hard way. But now we're successful most of the time. I still learn something about every time I go. I was never a deer hunter when I was a teenager, but I took a guy turkey hunting about 8 years ago and he took his bow and on the first try I called one in and he smoked it. I had to have a bow and find out what it was all about and have been deer hunting ever since. I deer hunt through bow season but when duck season comes it it takes priority. I came from a long line of bird/duck hunters and that is always the top priority for me. I miss the days of hitting woods with my setter as a teenager day after day in search of quail, woodcock and snipe.
 

Lucky Clucker

Old Mossy Horns
I started around 4 years old , my dad and grandpa started taking me and showing me how to read sign and set up, make blinds, and slip through the woods silent and hunt the wind.I remember my dad rattling and grunt in bucks before it was ever mentioned back in the early 80's. It was a sight to see when a buck would charge in and get a load of 000 buck out of the ole L.C. Smith. I learned to call and hunt early on, I never had a turkey call for years, I learn to call with my mouth, and it still works to this day.My grandpa was a old school turkey hunter and taught me a ton of knowledge on how to find them, and call and killem. Hunting is in my blood and heritage ,like the force ,it runs strong in my family.
 

the sarge

Six Pointer
Kinda jealous of all of you guys who have been able to do this your whole lives. No one around me ever hunted or fished growing up. When I was 12 I bought my own fishing gear with my money from my first job delivering the afternoon newspaper. I fished ponds, streams, and lakes anywhere I could till I joined the military but never had anyone teach me anything. It was always something I did by myself. I still fish regularly but now it's something I do with my kids. I don't think I've fished without them since they decided to join me.

A few years ago I began slowly buying the equipment needed to hunt. And at 30 I hunted my first season with rabbit, duck and coyote. I missed the two seasons after that due to work but haven't stopped wanting to be out there. This year will be my first attempt at deer and turkey. I'm hoping I can harvest my first deer and continue to learn. I'm doing it the hard way right now too. On game land trying to figure it out for myself since I haven't figured out any other way and don't know anyone with land.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Dog hunting and squirrel hunting was a tradition with my Mother's family in NW Florida so anytime I had the chance(usually when we were visiting on Christmas break at school)I would go dog hunting in the Apalachicola National Forest or the river swamps in the area. We spent many a cold wet night out looking for lost dogs in those swamps.
As I got older I bought my own shotgun and eventually a rifle, and went with locals wherever we were living at the time, from pheasant in Illinois to wild boar in the mountains of Tennessee I've tromped many a mile after all kinds of game in many states as the child of a traveling preacher.
My Dad never hunted with me, and we went fishing only a handful of times that I can remember, so mostly after my Grandpa and Uncle died when I was in my mid-teens I've learned from others, TV shows and trial and error. I've been very fortunate to have hunted with a lot of very knowledgeable people over the years, who have tried to teach me as much as possible and I've tried to do the same for new hunters that cross my path as well.
 
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