How long have you been hunting

[Hock3y24]

Never had any Intrest till I turned 18 and i was addicted after the first season, 7 years for me.

[fasteddie]

I used to shoot starling and pigeons with a BB gun . When I was 12 I shot woodchucks with a 22 that i put a makeshift rear sight on ( uncle had run over my Dad's 22 - cracked the stock and broke the site ) . Bought a used Marlin 22 lever action from Hughs Sporting Goods Store in Dansville when I turned 14 for $35 and I still have it .Walked all over Groveland Hill shooting chucks for farmers .I got out of the Marine Corps in '63 and my father-in-law got me started with deer hunting in !965 . Hunted with him for a few years and he quit . I stopped hunting for about 10 years and then my sister-in-law asked if I wanted to hunt on her property in Geneseo . Got back into deer hunting .

I had always wanted a bow . I started bow hunting about 1994 when I was 53 and still prefer bow hunting over gun hunting . I hunt alone alot and sometimes with 2 of my sons .

[Fantail]

About 25 years give or take.

Like many of us I was on critter control in my teens for a while until the family moved off the farm. Guess I just don't count that. Then over two decades ago I got separated and was in a bad way. Long story short - friend of mine got me into hunting to help settle my mind. Going on about 7 years for Archery.

[Mr VJP]

I started hunting 45 years ago in NJ.  I hunted small game, waterfowl and deer with a firearm for 2 years then got a bow to hunt deer with too.  I was an avid fisherman from age 5 and always wanted to hunt, but had nobody to go with.  Met a very good friend in 5th grade who's father hunted and we both took our first hunter safety course together.

 

One week later we were hunting pheasant together.  Small game and duck season that year hooked me on hunting for life.  We hunted deer that December too.  Didn't get my first deer for 5 years, but it never made me consider not going.  I did a lot of duck hunting in my early years because I had access to a lot of good duck hunting spots.  Later on, I got into goose hunting big time as well.

 

I got a bow license as soon as I could, to be able to hunt deer more than just 1 week a year with a shotgun.  Soon NJ allowed muzzle loaders too, and I was in on it the first year it opened.

 

Eventually NJ opened a turkey season in the spring, then decades later a bear season and a coyote season.  I hunted everything and anything they would allow me to hunt.

 

At 16 I started hunting deer in NY with a rifle and now have a NY Lifetime license.  I hunt NY, NJ and PA now, and have also hunted waterfowl in MD when I was in college at Univ of MD.

 

It's funny to think, hunting is the one thing in my life that I have done for that long.

[moog5050]

Grizzled old veteran with 2 seasons and 8 deer under my belt. lol

[F-150]

I gota late start on hunting 20 years ago at age 39. A friend asked me to go bowfishing for carp, I went and enjoyed it.He had an old compund bow I started with, bought a new bow a few weeks later, a bunch of guns. I enjoy the outdoors and especially the woods. I stillprefer bowhunting over gun anyday !

[skeets716]

Started in 1996 when I was 28 (46 now), my brother got me into Duck / Goose hunting up on the St. Lawrence River.  Around 2000 I started Deer hunting and it has been my #1 ever since.  From time to time, some grouse - rabbit - turkey hunting as well.  I just love being in the woods and am grateful my now 15 year old son is hooked as well.  We both got deer last year (his first) and it is a memory I'll always have with me.

[stoneam2006]

I have been hunting my entire life. My father was a self taught hunter and passed the hunting trapping and fishing down to me some 22 years ago. I was Givin my first bb gun at 3 as he worked for the manufacturing company who builds them. Started teaching me gun safety and cleaning at 6 he moved me to a 22 and up from there. Been pushing deer with him sence I was 8 running them for him and my uncle and still do to this day. Now I have a 4 yr old son who I am passing the knowledge I have down to him and learn new stuff from all you guys on here daily as well as other guys I hunt with. It's a tradition and lifestyle I grew up with and can't wait to hunt with my boy in a few years...

[G-Man]

31 years, older brothers hunted with my dad so i wanted to when i could. hit 12 and just tagged along..now much lighter in the pocketbook and more obsessed with habitat improvement than hunting. taken a lot of game and the thrill has gone out of it for me personally, but i love getting new people into the sport.

[adkbuck]

I've been hunting for 51 years unless you count the years that I terrorized the local songbirds and chipmunks and bats with my slingshot and the squirrels with my homemade bow (made from raw tree limbs shooting short branches for arrows). The bats were fun to shoot at with my sling shot because they actually flew into the pebble I shot at them thinking it was a fast moving bug. In spite of that I don't think I shot down any bats.

Unlike Pygmy my Dad refused to let me have a BB gun. However my first real gun was given to me by my Dad. It was a Savage 410/22 O/U. I got it for Christmas and Christmas night I went to sleep with it in my arms dreaming about the times that lay ahead.

[Borngeechee]

I wish I was hunting at an early age. Better late than never though.

[Two Track]

Started tagging along around 4-5 years old for occasional rabbit and pheasant hunt, and an occasional deer hunt.

About 9-10 I tagged along on bigger rabbit hunts with my dad, uncle, a couple of their cousins and uncles with their beagles.

 

I was probably 11 when got to hunt with a .410 single-shot for rabbits.  Started deer hunting around 14-15 years old. Hunted through college and a couple other years.  Just had no where to go and no place to safely store a firearm until a few years ago.

 

Gun hunting off-and-on for ~ 34 years.

 

Been learning the turf and rules in NY for about 5 years now.  Was much easier when could hunt on the old family farm, which has been sold off, and other friends lands.  Since then I moved to NY and they moved to NC and Ohio. Now trying to learn the hots spots and patterns on public lands.

[PREDATE]

I've been a licenced hunter for 19 years and a bowhunter for 17. I remember going fox hunting with my dad when I was 8 or 9.

Hunting to me is not just a sport or hobby, but more of a family tradition. I have pictures of my great grandfather and my grandma posing with their bucks & bunnies they'd just shot on our family farm where I still hunt with my dad, brother, & cousin to this day

Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

[RangerClay]

If you count shooting birds in the backyard with my bb gun, over 40 years.

[hunter49]

  50 yrs. & counting.  started with pheasants & rabbits. learned from dad ,brother, uncles & friends.  Lots of great times!

[tj1187]

Was to young to remember when I started to tag along behind my Father and Brother. Iam 61 now so it has been alot of great fall days in the outdoors. Lots of memories.

[greg54]

Got my license in 1979 I was 18 my friends dad took me out pheasant and duck hunting and just learned more every year as I climbed the age ladder. Even several major health issues haven't stopped me, just slowed me down some. But I got the ok from my doctor that im good to go this year. Starting to count the days!!

[Borngeechee]

Well I need all of y'all to compile all of your knowledge, type it up real nice and pass it on lol. Deer season is here.

[Zem18]

I started tagging along with my Dad, grandfather, and uncle when I was 12. My brothers had no interest so I became the benefactor of this great family tradition. My dad was a shotgun hunter only. He has hunted since he was 12 and is now 77. I started hunting at 16 and have enjoyed the last 26 years and plan on many more. Shotgun,rifle,bow, muzzleloader and a new pistol permit holder as well. I take my 12 yr old daughter and 8yr old son fishing all the time and we have also shot the .22 the last two yrs. Nothing better than sharing the outdoors with friends and family. 

[NFA-ADK]

My best friend Shawn asked if I wanted to deer hunt in 1988, I was hooked instantly.  We hunted the southern zone our first year and the ADK almost every year since including many other areas in NY.  Hope to get his 2 boys into a deer this year and bring them up to the deep wood Dacks in a few years.

 

No mentor except my brother taking me turkey hunting once and a poacher teaching the "finer points" my first and last year with him.  27 years not including the Crossman American Classic and wrist rocked years.   

 

One thing is for sure, my passion has only gotten deeper as the years have progressed.  For me it is about the adventure and knowledge gained.  The depth of knowledge and experience on this site is astounding, one reason I love this site, the people are awesome, passionate and share their knowledge to us without mentors, THANKS!!! 

 

Don't be afraid to post a question these vets love to help us newbies and even experience hunter gain more knowledge.  

[ATbuckhunter]

I started going out with my grandfather when I was around 5 or 6 years old I believe. 

[Doc]

I was just noticing how many people on this thread had parental guidance into hunting.... or uncles or parents of friends or grandparents. The percentage is huge. It just points up the importance of taking kids (or others) out hunting if you intend the sport to grow or maintain. There are very few self motivated or self taught people here. They all had somebody that gave them the idea and helped them get started.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Started back in 71. Went on many hunts with relatives before that. Your right Doc, what better to learn from through continued generations. Long live hunting!   We would harvest over 100 coon a season back then. Some mighty nice pelts. Neighbor ate the meat.  Pheasant, squirrel, and rabbit all went on the dinner table. You learned to like the taste or you ate a lot of potato and greens., LOL.  Even the left over meat on the bones were enjoyed in some mighty tasty soups.  Some mighty nice hunting without the new fangled gagets of today. Those are the most cherished memories, right on top, along with my kids later deer hunting adventures. How I"ll remember them for the rest of my life.

Edited August 5, 2014 by landtracdeerhunter

[Borngeechee]

I was just noticing how many people on this thread had parental guidance into hunting.... or uncles or parents of friends or grandparents. The percentage is huge. It just points up the importance of taking kids (or others) out hunting if you intend the sport to grow or maintain. There are very few self motivated or self taught people here. They all had somebody that gave them the idea and helped them get started.

You're right. I've notices the same thing. It's def harder to start out in your own and now with the addition of all kinds of rules and regulations, it's just that much harder. Those that were lucky enough to have someone guide them when they were young are blessed indeed.

[Mr VJP]

Born, back in the old days, it was a little easier to get started because there were far fewer regulations and they were a lot easier to understand.  Fish & Wildlife Depts have really complicated a lot of the regs now, in an effort to allow more hunting opportunities.

 

That, plus the fact there are fewer places for a new guy to hunt, probably hurts the sport more than anything else.