How did you start hunting?

[pointman]

In 1956 at age 14, I pestered my father to take me hunting. He didnt hunt at that time. After so time he relented and bought me my first shotgun(Remington 870). We hunted together for a while, me with my shotgun and he just following. Finally he purchased a shotgun and we hunted together for the next 25 years for rabbits and deer until he passed away. I hunt today with friends but still miss my best friend and hunting partner.

[bubba]

In 1956 at age 14, I pestered my father to take me hunting. He didnt hunt at that time. After so time he relented and bought me my first shotgun(Remington 870). We hunted together for a while, me with my shotgun and he just following. Finally he purchased a shotgun and we hunted together for the next 25 years for rabbits and deer until he passed away. I hunt today with friends but still miss my best friend and hunting partner.

now there is a good story.

[oneidacountyhunter]

I was raised in an outdoorsy family however hunting and fishing wasn't involved. Mainly camping. My Father-in-law got me into hunting and fishing when my wife and I were engaged. Been loving it more and more every year. Now my son is 12 and getting into hunting

[Paula]

In 1956 at age 14, I pestered my father to take me hunting. He didnt hunt at that time. After so time he relented and bought me my first shotgun(Remington 870). We hunted together for a while, me with my shotgun and he just following. Finally he purchased a shotgun and we hunted together for the next 25 years for rabbits and deer until he passed away. I hunt today with friends but still miss my best friend and hunting partner.

great story

[NFA-ADK]

Love reading all the stories guys and girls. Most importian point I would make is that many people seem to have hunting in thier blood, they just need a little nudge to get the blood flowing!!!

1)Hanging a deer in your yard might spark someone's interest.

2)Showing a real enthusiasm for hunting gets people asking me questions. I just can not hide it...

3)I offer many people free information on hunting and how to get involved, some jump at the chance others are not that interested.

4)Everyone hunts for differant reasons, some for the enjoyment of the outdoors, others for food, some for trophy and experiances with family and friends. Nothing wrong with any of those reasons and all are great to get us off the computers and into the woods.

5)While I have not heard of many things to get new recruits involved a couple sparked my intrest.

a) The survival game: With all the dooms day predections coming around many people are seeking hunting as a usefull and legitamate survival tool. (Hunger games helped!!!) For once I can thank Hollywood...

Best Idea I ever heard of was starting a survival course in our schools. Not only would this introduce hunting to our youth that does not have a mentor, it would give those with the hunting bug a chance to test the waters with out the need of a father, uncle or family member to make that happen. How can we get this accomplished? Anyone ever hear if this got off the ground? I heard it was in the works, just fear our liberals would reject such a proposal...

[deerpassion]

Love reading all the stories guys and girls. Most importian point I would make is that many people seem to have hunting in thier blood, they just need a little nudge to get the blood flowing!!!

1)Hanging a deer in your yard might spark someone's interest.

2)Showing a real enthusiasm for hunting gets people asking me questions. I just can not hide it...

3)I offer many people free information on hunting and how to get involved, some jump at the chance others are not that interested.

4)Everyone hunts for differant reasons, some for the enjoyment of the outdoors, others for food, some for trophy and experiances with family and friends. Nothing wrong with any of those reasons and all are great to get us off the computers and into the woods.

5)While I have not heard of many things to get new recruits involved a couple sparked my intrest.

a) The survival game: With all the dooms day predections coming around many people are seeking hunting as a usefull and legitamate survival tool. (Hunger games helped!!!) For once I can thank Hollywood...

Best Idea I ever heard of was starting a survival course in our schools. Not only would this introduce hunting to our youth that does not have a mentor, it would give those with the hunting bug a chance to test the waters with out the need of a father, uncle or family member to make that happen. How can we get this accomplished? Anyone ever hear if this got off the ground? I heard it was in the works, just fear our liberals would reject such a proposal...

the main problem with that is funding... the education system is also in shambles letting many teachers go and are already understaffed as it is... unless it was on a volunteer basis to teach it , it would never happen... good idea though!

[fasteddie]

Why I hunt .......

[noahmstone]

I remember when I was real little my father always went to hunting camp for a week and I always wished I could go. He would come back with a buck and I would help skin and process the deer. I wouldn't leave my fathers side until the last piece went into the freezer. When I was about 7or 8 my father started taking me out with him for a still hunt one day before he would take off to go to camp. He took me small game hunting for a few years after I took my hunters safety course but he he no longer had the hunting camp. So it didn't take long before he quit hunting. He refuses to hunt out of a tree stand and always said he had to travel to far every morning to have access to enough land for him to still hunt. To this day I still haven't spent time at a hunting camp I just hunted by myself. This year I bought a camp next to brasher state forrest and talked my father into taking a week off in november to start hunting again.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

[fasteddie]

My Dad wasn't a hunter but took me out woodchuck hunting when I was a little kid . When I was 12 he let me take his 22 to shoot chucks . When I turned 14 (1955) , I bought a Marlin lever action 22 at Hugh's Sporting Goods in Dansvillle and shot woodchucks for farmers in Groveland .

In 1965 my father in law asked me to deer hunt with him . I never had a hunting license and had to get one . I didn't own a shotgun at the time either . We hunted for a few years mostly on Gibsonville Road between Leicester and Perry . MY FIL quit hunting and so did I as I had no place to hunt alone . My SIL bought 69 acres in Geneseo in the 80's and asked if I wanted to hunt her property so I got back into it .

I started bowhunting around 1994 at the ripe old age of 53 . Now I get out as often as I can during deer season .

[adkbuck]

I got interested in hunting when I was 7 or 8 years old. I walked home a half mile or so everyday when we lived in in Saranac Lake in the 50's. I saw some beautiful bucks hanging outside many homes in those days and hunters suddenly became my heroes. My Dad never did a lot of hunting but was my mentor and encouraged me. He got me my a Savage 410/22 combination for Christmas. A 22 went cartridge off (probably from friction) while I was closing the breech and a piece of brass became deeply embedded just above my eyebrow. My Dad took me to our family Doctor who was also a hunter. He removed the piece of shrapnel and closed things up so it looked just like a scratch. Neither my Dad nor our Doctor ever mentioned a word of it to my Mom (which would have brought my hunting career to an end). When I was a bit older Dad borrowed a Parker double shotgun that I used for several seasons hunting partridge and woodcock. College and the Navy took me away from the woods for a while. After I got out of the Navy and school I became a serious back woods deer hunter and a bit later when we moved to CNY, a serious turkey hunter. Thanks Dad!!

[5.9cummins]

My dad grew up in Michigan and started bow hunting when he moved to NY but he gave it up before i was born. He bought me a BB gun when i was little but i never really took to "hunting". When i was 12 i went with a buddy and his dad down to there camp in the southern tier during spring turkey (we lived in CNY). At 4 am my buddies dad came in and woke us up and my buddy just rolled over and went back to sleep. I got up and went with his dad, fully clad in a gray sweat suit and packing my BB gun. We got settled in behined a blow down and he gave me a camo hat and shirt to throw over my cloths.

That first morning i was hooked after watching the woods wake up. Never saw or heard a thing but i had a great time.

When the fall rolled around i asked dad if i could take the hunters safety course but not knowing when they were we were to late and they were all booked. Tragically a week before the course at my local rod and gun club two boys from Syracuse who were scheduled to take the class started playing with there dads 12 gauge and one lost his life. My buddy and i took there spots. It still sends a little chill up my spine.

Its my turn now. I have two daughters who i take fishing and deer hunting and another daughter and son who I will be trying to introduce into the outdoors. I also got my wife involved now. She has been with my when i have shot toms and two years ago she got to go on her first opening day deer hunt. Last year she and i went and took the safety course and now she has her license. She missed last year because she was pregnant with our son but shes got her license for this year and two DMPS burning a hole in her pocket.

Probably one of the best memories i have is my first deer / buck. Taken with my dads old Fred Bear Whitetail 2 at 10 yards on the ground with a climbing treestand still on my back and not a freaking clue what i was doing.

I am hope that my wife's and or kids first deer will bump this memory from the top spot.

Edited September 1, 2012 by 5.9cummins

[defrazzle]

Love reading all the stories guys and girls. Most importian point I would make is that many people seem to have hunting in thier blood, they just need a little nudge to get the blood flowing!!!

1)Hanging a deer in your yard might spark someone's interest.

2)Showing a real enthusiasm for hunting gets people asking me questions. I just can not hide it...

3)I offer many people free information on hunting and how to get involved, some jump at the chance others are not that interested.

4)Everyone hunts for differant reasons, some for the enjoyment of the outdoors, others for food, some for trophy and experiances with family and friends. Nothing wrong with any of those reasons and all are great to get us off the computers and into the woods.

5)While I have not heard of many things to get new recruits involved a couple sparked my intrest.

a) The survival game: With all the dooms day predections coming around many people are seeking hunting as a usefull and legitamate survival tool. (Hunger games helped!!!) For once I can thank Hollywood...

Best Idea I ever heard of was starting a survival course in our schools. Not only would this introduce hunting to our youth that does not have a mentor, it would give those with the hunting bug a chance to test the waters with out the need of a father, uncle or family member to make that happen. How can we get this accomplished? Anyone ever hear if this got off the ground? I heard it was in the works, just fear our liberals would reject such a proposal...

Really don't remember exactly when I got an interest in hunting, but I think it was when my parents visited family in Beach Lake, PA. I remember my uncle handing me a single shot .22 and said, "here, go in the back and have some fun shooting". Once I held that rifle, something just "clicked" and a natural instinct took over. That was around 1960 when I was 10 years old. Fast forward...now have hunted in Germany, Spain, Nebraska, Florida, Kentucky and since 1982 back in New York.

I like what NFK-ADK writes about getting non-hunters into a thought process that will lead to their entering the realm of being a "HUNTER". For the past few years I was trying to come up with a not-for-profit program that would blossom into a state wide and maybe national mentoring program. I will start a new topic to see what others have to say or have done.

For those that are already mentoring - thanks! Send me a note off the boards on how you have organized it.

[defrazzle]

BTW - here are some of my son through his hunting years......mentoring worked!

My son's first hunt at 12 years old - pheasant ...his trophy ram in 2007...with his friend in 2009..by himself in 2006...Bear with bow 2010...buck in 2011...bear in 2011...buck #2 2011

[airedale]

I grew up in the country in a hunting culture, my Dad was the biggest influence, grandfather, uncles and my Dad's best friends were all hunters and talked hunting all the time. My neighbors were hunters along with many of my friends I went to school with. It was easy to get hooked on hunting under all those influences and hunting tales.

Al