Who taught you to hunt?

[uturn]

I'm still learning - never had a teacher. So far it's been reading articles, watching YT vids, talking to people on hunting forums, and boot leather burned during class at the school of hard knocks in the woods.

I'd wanted to learn as a kid, however, my dad - a Vietnam Vet and had spent lots of time shooting stuff in the woods during 1967 and 1968 - had no desire to go shoot anything else in the woods. He'd had enough of the great outdoors, he wanted the grocery store, a kitchen, and a warm bed at night next to a warm bodied woman (my mom). Amongst the many things he did teach me, hunting was not to be one of them!

My story is much the same…my Dad Vietnam and Korean War Vet…the Greatest Man I’ve ever known as well!

He did take me across country and back to Alaska stopping at every National Park we could on the way back to Florida..and so began my passion for the outdoors. I started reading Field and Stream and anything else I could get my hands on relating to the great outdoors, hunting etc as a kid…still read a lot mostly related to archery hunting for the last 15/20 years..so I suppose it’s been me along with the 100’s of writers that have graced the pages…and yes I’m still learning as well!

 

[Slowmow24]

My grandfather got me started and now my brother and I are obsessed.

 

[whitetailfreak]

I come from many generations of bear and small game hunters in Western NC and that's where my love of hunting the mountains comes from. My interest in deer and turkey came at an early age and although I grew up on a North Georgia farm there were few deer in the area back then. My grandfather had a good friend with a small rough cabin not far away back in the mountains of Gilmer County that bordered NF and that is where I cut my teeth deer hunting at a very young age with my ol Marlin 30-30. Papaw and me spent just about every weekend of deer season at that ol' cabin and that's where I learned a lot about what not to do in the deer woods. There wasn't a lot of Killin going on in these earliest years but I had visions of grandeur. Shortly after that as a teen I met my now life long best friend and hunting buddy who had the same passion for deer and turkey that I had and we fed off each other's dedication spending every free minute in the woods learning mostly by trial and error and sharing knowledge with one another. We were deer hunters first and didn't care if it was a spike, forkhorn or doe as long as it was legal and that helped us mature into the hunters that we are today. Thanks Pap, Papaw, Dad and Joey.

 

[Waddams]

My story is much the same…my Dad Vietnam and Korean War Vet…the Greatest Man I’ve ever known as well!

He did take me across country and back to Alaska stopping at every National Park we could on the way back to Florida..and so began my passion for the outdoors. I started reading Field and Stream and anything else I could get my hands on relating to the great outdoors, hunting etc as a kid…still read a lot mostly related to archery hunting for the last 15/20 years..so I suppose it’s been me along with the 100’s of writers that have graced the pages…and yes I’m still learning as well!

My outdoor addiction came from scouting. I was in a very active scout troop - campouts every month, long hiking trips on the AT, the occasional canoeing or kayaking thing, etc. My summer job in high school was working the local summer camp. Then, college at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA - surrounded by national forest, mountains, New River nearby. I spent a lot of free time hiking, backpacking, and caving, and during the brief window of weather that allowed river fun, doing that.

When I moved to Atlanta, I got into outdoor meetup clubs. First hunting was on a work retreat to a client's property near Rome. It wasn't hunting, it was killing. Shot two doe from a box blind in an afternoon, and the other 15 deer just stood there watching while we dragged 'em back to where the truck would pick us up. Could have shot a few more but I already had to go buy a freezer for meat and figured 2 was enough for the afternoon. That was in 2015. Started trying to learn more on my own, had chances but kept screwing up. It's only been last 2 seasons that I'm really starting to get the hang of scouting and still hunting to get shot opportunities on deer in general. I've had 2 decent buck chances, didn't connect on either, but the last 2 years I've had a freezer full of venison and I've know gotten comfortable with handling my kills without a processor - gut, skin, quarter, age, butcher, grind, etc. My wife isn't so big on me cutting up big dead animals at home but there's something a bit therapeutic about the work. And I kind of feel like it adds a little weight to my man card, lol!

 

[johnpoulan83]

@Josh B I actually got to meet him before. I worked at a hunting store all my teenage years and I worked every turkeyarama and buckarama in the southeastern us.

I heard he’s a real peach to deal with . Got some buddies we hunt with that lease some of the same property he leases from, said he won’t even look at you, definitely not what he portrays on the tv

 

[sprewett]

I heard he’s a real peach to deal with . Got some buddies we hunt with that lease some of the same property he leases from, said he won’t even look at you, definitely not what he portrays on the tv

I ain't gonna say nothing at all because I ain't got nothing good to say if that answers your question

 

[kmaxwell3]

My father for the most part. Learned alot along the way from trial and error. Back in the 80's and 90's we didn't have alot of deer in Louisiana where we hunted. So it was a big deal when some killed a good buck. Most of the time those "good bucks" would measure less than 100" not that we cared back then on how big the rack was.

 

[Timberbeast]

Papa put the gun in my hand. Daddy took the time to let me tag along. He’d say I learned how to scare game off back then. We didn’t kill much back then, but I’ll never forget as a 5 year old my excitement and his excitement when I saw him drop a doe for the first time. There’s been several others along the way. Thankful for the ones that came before and invested their time in me.

 

[RamblinWreck88]

Dad got me started squirrel hunting, and my college roommate got me back into hunting and instilled within me a desire to hunt everything I can. I also deer hunt with an older gentleman from whom I've learned a good bit about deer hunting. But mostly, I've learned from reading what y'all post and getting after it myself.

 

[jbogg]

My father was a fine man, but he was not an outdoorsman. Growing up I never knew a single person in my world that hunted, yet I always knew it was something I had to do. Somewhere around my 10th birthday I started asking for subscriptions to Outdoor Life, SportsaField, and Field & Stream. I saved every issue and by the time I graduated high school I had stacks of magazines in my closet that were 3 feet tall.

Finally started hunting by myself in my mid 20s just a year or two before I got married. My wife still claims that I am guilty of the old bait and switch, since I never hunted while we were dating. I just smile and remind her “for better or worse.”

 

[Duckdiver]

Ken Tucker

 

[fireman32]

I also have to mention @Gaswamp, he started my boys and me turkey hunting. And we’re not the only ones he’s helped by a long shot.

 

[Nicodemus]

I also have to mention @Gaswamp, he started my boys and me turkey hunting. And we’re not the only ones he’s helped by a long shot.View attachment 1207719View attachment 1207718

He`s a good man.

 

[hawkeye123]

My dad was a bird hunter & a waterfowl man..quail hunting was no.1 then dove & ducks next..didn't deer hunt..grandpa was same except didn't hunt ducks..started deer hunting with buddies in college in Milledgeville Ga..they taught me..my dad taught me how to shoot at 6 or 7... .22 1st then 20 Guage at 11 or so..Dad always had a jon boat for ducks & small lakes fishing and a bass boat but wasn't that big of a fisherman..he loved working our bird dogs and back then quail hunting was fantastic!

 

[Geffellz18]

Primarily Dad, along with a few honorary “family” members from my youth-One in particular that made a huge impact on my life in many ways-Not just hunting. Was an instrumental figure for me growing up. Wasn’t my grandfather, but was more of one in many ways than my actual grandfathers were. He’s since passed on many years ago.
Another is still living and to this day hunts alongside my dad. Pretty much the only remaining member from the old group that regularly hunts with Dad.
Honestly, heading home to hunt now is a distant second to the time spent catching up with him and dad in fellowship at camp!

 

[FMC]

My Dad taught me. He's 89 now and gave up hunting in his 70's, but he was a heck of a woodsman. And a deadly shot.

 

[Havana Dude]

My Dad gets credit for getting me in the woods, chasing squirrels. I fell in love with the outdoors and eventually, with deer hunting. Dad, while a great mentor, wasn’t big into deer hunting. Along with a friend or 2, I found my way, and to this day, I’m still learning deer behavior, and loving every minute I get to be in the woods. In the end, Dad gets the credit for my addiction.

 

[antharper]

I wanted to say I’ve enjoyed this thread a lot ! And somehow it’s actually stayed on topic for 4 pages ! Thanks everyone for sharing

 

[georgia_home]

Saw dad bring home a squirrel or rabbit once. Took interest. He bought me a 20, and I hooked up with 2 cousin and 3 neighbor kids and walked the beach dunes and jumped the puddles.

only one person was over 18, the rest of us… I was only 11?12? We all had guns. mallards and blacks.

read a bunch of field and stream.

then a friend said let’s go duck / goose hunting years later, but only had slugs and buck. It was deer season too… so, we went deer hunting. And that was it.

learned the rest watching friends, tv, reading and getting outside when possible.

One guy we started hunting with, about 97?98? Was the most wood wise person I ever met. Sign, knowing how they would move, weather, escape routes.. he hunted the same parcels since he was a kid. If he told you to stand somewhere, you know to be ready, or you’d get run over. Uncanny ability to read the conditions and the place. The drives were always the best part of the hunts. He passed dec 2021.

 

[krizia829]

I have posted a picture a couple times in the forum, one for who over a certain age is still hunting and another for Oldies. As I looked at the photo I was thinking back to the man that taught and gave me a love for hunting. I remember soon after I first met him I begged my mom to marry him and eventually she did. I was never a "step" and to this day still not. He took me to the hunting club every chance he got, work days, scouting missions, and of course hunting. He put me in prime places to be able to kill my first deer and second. He smeared deer blood on my face the first one. Sad to say there were a good many years he wasn't in my life. Somehow, he made a bad decision which resulted in a terrible addiction. He has been clean for 15 years now and just last week received a full pardon and got his gun rights back. He and my mom aren't together any longer but praise the Lord he and I reconnected a few years back and it is awesome to get to share the woods occasionally with the man that gave me a passion for it when I was 7 years old. Van is pictured on the left. I'll forever be grateful for him not only for hunting but being a dad to me during the most vulnerable years of my life.
So who taught you to hunt?

I was taught by my dad! My grandpa and uncle also hunted but the one who sat with me since the beginning was dad! He doesn't get to hunt much anymore due to a back injury. He's had 3 surgeries and still isn't right. He can still hunt but not very comfortably.

Pictured below is me in my little mermaid pjs with my brother and my dad in Alabama. The one under is him with me after I shot my first deer also in Alabama and the last one was my dad and I a few years ago in Georgia posing with my husbands buck.

I now share the woods and water with my husband since dad can't go much, but we both are introducing our little girls to the world of hunting and fishing just like he did with me and my father in law did with my husband!