how did you learn to hunt?

[WNYBuckHunter]

Mostly self taught here, with a bit of guidance here and there from friends. I gained a bunch of knowledge from organizations I belong to, this site and others, and reading alot. I am always learning though. I try to add a new tactic or two to my hunting style each year.

[Steve D]

I started with my Dad and branched out into other critters to hunt on my own. I did a lot of reading and talking to others but I would say most of it came from experiences and time in the woods.

[Doc]

I will say that every trip into the woods provides an ongoing training session that can't be beat. The old school of hard knocks is a very effective teacher....lol. It's a tough way to get started, but the lessons learned are there forever.

[Hunter007]

From my father and with out looking i bet   probably like 90% will have similar storys about it .  i think gun ownership also is very generational thing in this country also .  

Edited August 6, 2018 by Storm914

[stubborn1VT]

My father and grandfather introduced me to hunting, but didn't teach me much.  They were both farmers, and didn't have much time.  I learned by wandering the farm by myself.  I hunted squirrels with a pellet gun.  I probably learned the most hunting partridge and woodchucks.  Where to be, when to be there, how to wait.

One of my cousins took up bow hunting.  I started because of him.  I liked to shoot.  I made more stupid mistakes than I care to count.  We had a pretty big deer herd back then.  It took me 3 years to shoot my first buck.   

I learned pretty much on my own.  I'm not much good on a brand new piece of ground, but I know our little farm pretty well.  We didn't have a turkey season until the 90's.  I bought a box call and borrowed a 12 gauge and shot a 20 pounder the first time I went out.  I've learned a bunch since then.

It seems like every year has its own challenges.  I like that it's the same each fall though.  Just me and the deer.  They're a whole lot smarter or more aware than I am.  I just wait them out.  I hear stories of guys hunting with their dads, and that's pretty neat.  I'm kind of glad I have always hunted on my own though.  I spent one year overseas, and didn't get to hunt.  It helped that there were no trees or grass or whitetail deer.  It made me thankful that each year the temperatures drop and the leaves fall and the days get shorter.  

8:15 and mostly dark.  

[Swamp_bucks]

My dad and oldest cousin,grandmother.  I was introduced young my grandma would hand me my grandfathers old binocs so i could see the deer in her field and tell me his stories(he passed away when i was 3).  And after the stories ide go look through all his old antlers.   But as soon as i was old enough to walk my dad and cousin would take me along with them.   Showed me alot of what i know today.  They let me fail quite often and then die laughing and then they would show me the right/better way.   But as i get older i teach myself by trial and error and i always keep my ear open for a piece of advice the old timers are willing to share.

[Borngeechee]

On here and the internet.

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[Nomad]

Lee and Tiffany !

[PREDATE]

Hunting is in my blood.
First time I tagged along with my Dad I was 7 or 8 and we were fox hunting at night. This was the late 80's and coyotes were just starting to become more prevalent in NY so I was not expecting to hear any howling. Well we did and I still remember him smiling and saying "it's ok" when he saw me get uneasy. Since then I've been hooked on predator hunting & trapping. My Dad, brother and I still chase song dogs every year. The first one I saw harvested was(and I am not exaggerating), a 110yd running shot with a 22LR made by my older brother out of the window of the house.
Waterfowl is about the only thing in NY that I never really got into hunting, yet.

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[J.B.]

I grew up with a father and uncles that hunted for deer primarily and fished in the summer. I have a brother and a few cousins that are around the same age that took to the woods and water as well. Im close with my brother and cousins and always have had a competitive/ helpful relationship. We enjoy seeing someone take a deer or catch a big fish as much as we like to get one ourselves. I learned how to hunt and shoot from my father and as I've grown we have both evolved as the technology changed. Hunting is a year round activity for us now. This is the same for my cousins as well. If we get a chance to all be in the same place at the same time hunting/ fishing dominates the conversation.

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[Rattler]

I was born to hunt.  As a child I can recall taking friends into the woods to show them how to hunt, when nobody had ever taken, or shown me.  It was innate, as if I was a hunter in a prior life.  I mostly associated with people who would take me hunting as I grew up.  I always thought hunting was great.  I loved reading Sports Afield in my early years of grade school, spending time in the woods as much as I could.  Fishing was great too, but hunting was greater.

I'm going into my 48th hunting season this year.  I have done nothing else in my life for that many years.  It's an all consuming passion that steers my life's course, and I'm quite pleased with the course it has taken me on. 

How did I learn?  I'm still learning.  That's part of the lure.