Who or what introduced you to hunting?

[Doc]

How did you get hooked on hunting. Was there some individual who talked you into trying hunting?

[CharlieNY]

It was my late father who got me hooked on hunting. When I was a young boy my dad would go hunting with his friends and would often bring home a mixed bag of pheasants, rabbits, and squirrels. I couldn't wait for him to get home to see what he had gotten and would watch him clean the game. I begged him to take me with him. My dad started to let me tag along when I was 6 years old and I have been hooked since. We hunted together until he passed away and my fondest memories of my dad were when we hunted together. When my son came along history repeated itself and he became hooked on hunting when he was very young and we are best hunting buddies. 

[Northcountryman]

I was introduced by my Grandfather back in the early to mid 70s when he would go squirrel hunting.  When I was real small, I would accompany him as an observer only; later, when I was around 9-10, I used his old .410, bagging ,my first Gray in the woods outside of Massena just down from the old Alcoa plant.  Great times- Some of my fondest memories of childhood .

[Daveboone]

Dad was a social hunter....he hunted with friends to get out doors and enjoy the company, but was never very succussful. Small game hunting was a reaosn for a walk in the woods, and he deer hunted, but to our knowledge never saw  one and never raised his gun to one. From a very young age I recall pawing through his hunting coat pocket and being fascinated by contents....compass, 12 gauge shells, a few feathers, acorns or whatever else he  picked up to share. He would take me for fall walks, and I still can smell the mouldering leaves and spice of the apples on the ground....

He and my brother in law  took me hunting, but success was very....limited. It wasnt until I went with one of my best buddies and his dad, that I discovered you may actually see (and shoot) a deer (Dad was shocked the first thanksgiving I hunted when I brought home a big finger lakes doe (multi person doe tags then). Earlier that fall, I went with him to a friends hunting camp in the ADKS deer hunting....and I was the only person in camp who saw something, even if it was just a small  first year doe. Moms family were the hunters, but they had all passed on by the time I came around, so I think I actually got my hunting drive from that side ...Dads family wasnt allowed to own guns!!

[Doc]

I can't really think of how I became started on this lifelong need to hunt. Yes my Dad took me squirrel hunting once when I was little, but I don't remember that as being a very pleasant experience. It was cold, and his version of squirrel hunting was to sit still and wait for the squirrels to become active again.

Then several years later, I found an old draw-knife up in the shop and fashioned a pretty decent longbow out of hickory. And with some willow arrows, I went up in the hay loft of the barn and started hunting pigeons. I got two and had my mother cook them up. That hooked me on hunting. And then there was the trapline that I ran. While that is not actually hunting, it does kind of result in the same kind of thing. Then too, I enjoyed reading books about the old pioneers and their ways of subsisting, and that put a bit of adventure and even historical culture into the notion of hunting. All these things fashioned an appreciation of the outdoors, that has lasted through the years and among so many other outdoor activities came the need to hunt.

So as it turns out, there really was no one who introduced me to hunting. My rural life and so many other outdoor activities promoted my interest in hunting. In fact it was me that introduced my Dad to archery and bowhunting.....ha-ha-ha. But that is a whole other topic.

[First-light]

I subscribed to Outdoor life and watched American Sportsman with Curt Gowdy. I still have some of those issues! My brother and his friend small game hunted and would take me along. I would retrieve the game like a bird dog!!!! lol There were these small adds in the back of the magazine to become a forest ranger, "sleep under the stars and catch your breakfast from a cold stream" that's what I wanted to do at the age of 12!

Edited January 24 by First-light

[Northcountryman]

20 minutes ago, Doc said:

I can't really think of how I became started on this lifelong need to hunt. Yes my Dad took me squirrel hunting once when I was little, but I don't remember that as being a very pleasant experience. It was cold, and his version of squirrel hunting was to sit still and wait for the squirrels to become active again.

Then several years later, I found an old draw-knife up in the shop and fashioned a pretty decent longbow out of hickory. And with some willow arrows, I went up in the hay loft of the barn and started hunting pigeons. I got two and had my mother cook them up. That hooked me on hunting. And then there was the trapline that I ran. While that is not actually hunting, it does kind of result in the same kind of thing. Then too, I enjoyed reading books about the old pioneers and their ways of subsisting, and that put a bit of adventure and even historical culture into the notion of hunting. All these things fashioned an appreciation of the outdoors, that has lasted through the years and among so many other outdoor activities came the need to hunt.

So as it turns out, there really was no one who introduced me to hunting. My rural life and so many other outdoor activities promoted my interest in hunting. In fact it was me that introduced my Dad to archery and bowhunting.....ha-ha-ha. But that is a whole other topic.

So, Your Dad wasnt a Deer Hunter?

[Doc]

8 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

So, Your Dad wasnt a Deer Hunter?

He became a deer hunter (Gun and bow) long after I was already established as a hunter. My Grandfather was a "city guy" who never did hunt. I guess I was the initial hunter in our family.

[airedale]

In the setting and atmosphere I grew up in it would have been almost impossible not to become involved in hunting. Unlike today where it seems very few hunt, especially young folks, back when I was a kid almost everyone I knew hunted. Family on both my mother and father's side were avid hunters, my Dad was a fanatical hunter. When family and friends got together the conversations invariably were many times about hunting, it was easy to get drawn into the culture and excitement. My Dad encouraged me all along the way, hunting books, Sports Afield and Outdoor Life magazines in the house were read voraciously, so it was pretty easy for me to get psyched and involved.

Lot's of small game hunting got me started, my Dad was a big time rabbit hunter with top notch Beagle rabbit dogs, he had friends that had Coon dogs, that is where my love for hunting with dogs got started. Back then there were plenty of Pheasants, Squirrels, and Grouse along with assorted waterfowl, still my prefered type of hunting today. The good old days really were good. Absent was the greed one sees today.

Al

[Shoots100]

In the mid 70's my father and his Army buddies "Uncles" bought a cabin in the Catskills together and introduced all of their siblings to the outdoors.

Some of my Uncles were serious men and hunters.

Every year we would travel to Maine, where they would load up their canoes and go Bow hunting for a week in the backwoods.

We would wait with the other families in the campground until they returned.

We learned a lot about how to survive in the woods and had to prove our proficiency + safety with firearms before we were introduced to hunting.

Being we were kids, Deer camp was out until we we're of age and unfortunately by that time the cabin was sold.

That didn't stop us from being out in the woods though and my father did the best he could to keep it that way.

Of course we had a lot more woods to hunt back then.

My father was a Bronx city boy.

If it wasn't for his moms side being dairy farmers and him spending summers upstate on the farm being exposed to the out of doors, my life would probably be a lot different.

 

SJC

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 24 by Shoots100

[landtracdeerhunter]

My parents were actively involved in 4H in the 70s where one of my projects was to raise pheasants from chicks. Quite a long time ago, but they would be released  along with a ECO. on the farm 15 to 20 weeks old, as I recall. Made for some really challenging pheasant hunting. We also took the Red Bone and Black and Tan Raccoon dogs out to do some fantastic late night hunting. The family squirrel, rabbit, and woodcock hunt on our farm as well as the neighbors. In those days, we all knew each other in the neighborhood. We all hunting on each other's property. Not like it is today with all the land being bought up, divided and you stay off my property attitude. 

I didn't know it then, but it had a big influence on what I would be doing, the rest of my life. It was a great start in life growing up.  I would never want to ever trade it.

[Northcountryman]

4 hours ago, airedale said:

In the setting and atmosphere I grew up in it would have been almost impossible not to become involved in hunting. Unlike today where it seems very few hunt, especially young folks, back when I was a kid almost everyone I knew hunted. Family on both my mother and father's side were avid hunters, my Dad was a fanatical hunter. When family and friends got together the conversations invariably were many times about hunting, it was easy to get drawn into the culture and excitement. My Dad encouraged me all along the way, hunting books, Sports Afield and Outdoor Life magazines in the house were read voraciously, so it was pretty easy for me to get psyched and involved.

Lot's of small game hunting got me started, my Dad was a big time rabbit hunter with top notch Beagle rabbit dogs, he had friends that had Coon dogs, that is where my love for hunting with dogs got started. Back then there were plenty of Pheasants, Squirrels, and Grouse along with assorted waterfowl, still my prefered type of hunting today. The good old days really were good. Absent was the greed one sees today.

Al

People arent as connected to their environment as they once were; dont you think? Since there are fewer truly rural spaces than there once were, many people are indifferent to their man-made surroundings, and for good reason.  

[Daveboone]

one of my greatest wishes was that I had an opportunity to bring Dad up to my modest little hunting  camp deer hunting (or our annual St. Lawrence River fishing trip in the fall), but he passed in 81 when I was only 20, and busy with other things....

 

[Four Seasons]

6 hours ago, airedale said:

In the setting and atmosphere I grew up in it would have been almost impossible not to become involved in hunting. Unlike today where it seems very few hunt, especially young folks, back when I was a kid almost everyone I knew hunted. Family on both my mother and father's side were avid hunters, my Dad was a fanatical hunter. When family and friends got together the conversations invariably were many times about hunting, it was easy to get drawn into the culture and excitement. My Dad encouraged me all along the way, hunting books, Sports Afield and Outdoor Life magazines in the house were read voraciously, so it was pretty easy for me to get psyched and involved.

Lot's of small game hunting got me started, my Dad was a big time rabbit hunter with top notch Beagle rabbit dogs, he had friends that had Coon dogs, that is where my love for hunting with dogs got started. Back then there were plenty of Pheasants, Squirrels, and Grouse along with assorted waterfowl, still my prefered type of hunting today. The good old days really were good. Absent was the greed one sees today.

Al

Exactly. After being in the game for over 50 years and watching how the hunting world has changed I’m afraid in another 10 years the hunting world will look much different. With land getting ate up by expansion and with the large land lots leased out by those that want their hunting taken to the next level and not challenged by smaller animals it tough finding land for new hunters. Years ago we would walk railroad tracks for miles hunting off both sides and never saw posted signs or had anyone ever say we could not hunt. The other biggest problem now is the lack of small game to start new hunters out. Like you years back we ran coon hounds and had a blast and that now has changed to running yotes but even with that we have a hard time finding bigger blocks of woods to run the dogs. A different world no doubt. 

[Doc]

I'll tell you another influence that kept my mind in these kinds of outdoor activities was other kids in school. It's hard to believe but back then there were a lot of kids that ran traplines and hunted and fished and all of that stuff. Is that how it is today?

When I went to school, opening day of deer season was an unquestioned excused absence. Imagine that! Also another hard-to-believe fact is that I took my hunter safety course in the bus garage at school. Yes, we even had real guns there and did some shooting. Imagine that today.....A school resourced hunter safety class....lol......With guns!

Yes, times were a whole lot different back then. they were a lot more hunter-friendly and made it a lot easier for a kid to become self-motivated to get into hunting.

[Doc]

On 1/24/2024 at 3:10 PM, Four Seasons said:

Exactly. After being in the game for over 50 years and watching how the hunting world has changed I’m afraid in another 10 years the hunting world will look much different. With land getting ate up by expansion and with the large land lots leased out by those that want their hunting taken to the next level and not challenged by smaller animals it tough finding land for new hunters. Years ago we would walk railroad tracks for miles hunting off both sides and never saw posted signs or had anyone ever say we could not hunt. The other biggest problem now is the lack of small game to start new hunters out. Like you years back we ran coon hounds and had a blast and that now has changed to running yotes but even with that we have a hard time finding bigger blocks of woods to run the dogs. A different world no doubt. 

Yes, hunting areas have seen a lot of changes over the decades. You are right, it has morphed into situations where money has kind of locked up gobs of hunting land with huge leases and or clubs, or simply those that want to keep people out. That does make it a challenge for existing hunters and also new ones that want to come into the activity. We even have those that see hunting as an agricultural activity, buying up tractors and fitting and seeding equipment along with the huge tracts of land. Who the heck ever thought that that would happen. few parents can or will do that to get their kids involved in hunting, and yet the TV programs and magazine articles tout this activity as almost a "must" for deer hunting.

[Northcountryman]

Hunting has become a big business out in the midwest/ West hasnt it? Those big guided hunts for Elk in Idah and Montana, plus whitetails for TV shows and what not. I dont think thats helped the situation cuz its become way too commercial now.