My Dad. I was fortunate enough to be born into it. Growing up the son of an outfitter I was probably spoiled with hunting but don't regret a minute of it. First deer at 6, long beard at 8, bear at 18, elk at 22. I've had the opportunity to hunt with and be influenced by a lot of great hunters along the way. Guided for 18 years until my son got involved in afterschool activities that I needed to be home more for. Current job gives me plenty of vacation to hunt myself and I get paid to take bigger clients hunting as well. Still make it a point to hunt with my dad every year somewhere.
CONTEST!!!! "What got you into hunting?"
- Thread starter DTP
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I was lucky enough to be born into a hunting family!
my step dad took me fishing and hunting from a very young age as my dad was not a hunter..... I remember sitting in the duck blind when I was 4 or 5 years old. I was given a red rider, then a pellet rifle then a .22 also at a young age from my grandfather. I was constantly walking the woods with a gun in hand.
my first deer was shot at age 12 with an old 1100 that I still have!
I have gotten my wife into hunting along with my three boys. she took her first solo turkey this spring. my youngest took his very first turkey this spring as well down in Kansas! my oldest boy was with me turkey hunting since he was 3 ;D
my wife is very appreciative of our hunting family!!!
my step dad took me fishing and hunting from a very young age as my dad was not a hunter..... I remember sitting in the duck blind when I was 4 or 5 years old. I was given a red rider, then a pellet rifle then a .22 also at a young age from my grandfather. I was constantly walking the woods with a gun in hand.
my first deer was shot at age 12 with an old 1100 that I still have!
I have gotten my wife into hunting along with my three boys. she took her first solo turkey this spring. my youngest took his very first turkey this spring as well down in Kansas! my oldest boy was with me turkey hunting since he was 3 ;D
my wife is very appreciative of our hunting family!!!
Well, my story seems to differ from most. My back story is born and raised in Seattle area and always loved the outdoors. Moved to Montana at 22. Once I moved I realized this magical time of year everyone and their families gather and shoot stories to one another andhave hunting camps and family traditions. I wanted to be apart of this as I started my own family. So I pushed myself into the challenges of hunting myself. No one in my family hunted before or was interested. So I took things into my own hands. Heck I've even gotten a couple family member involved and they love hunting season and the accompanying traditions.
Because of this fall tradition I started hearing more and more stories of the woods in fall and the magical things that one can come away with out of the hunting experience. So in a sense I took an interest, got the taste and haven't turned back. It is truly my life blood. I live the hunters lifestyle 24/7-365. Upon my first harvest I knew I was hooked. I live and breath the adventures, stories, friendships and experiences. I am blessed to be able to afford the time and privilege of hunting game. To boot I feel I live in one of the best states to do that as well.
Nothing compares to the crisp cool air on a fall morning as the sun comes up or trudging through snow in pursuit of my game. Everyday in the woods I learn something new and take home everything I can for the experience. I took my oldest daughter who is 6 out for her first set in a blind with me. She loves it and I can't wait to teach her more and spend more time with her. After last years trip with her all of the deeper meanings of what it means to be a hunter, dad, provider, teacher and friend came full circle in my mind. It's not
Necessarily what we bring home in terms of animals, it's everything else involved that encompasses the lifestyle. I am appreciative of the advice and criticisms I receive as it only makes me a better hunter because I flat out do not give up
Because of this fall tradition I started hearing more and more stories of the woods in fall and the magical things that one can come away with out of the hunting experience. So in a sense I took an interest, got the taste and haven't turned back. It is truly my life blood. I live the hunters lifestyle 24/7-365. Upon my first harvest I knew I was hooked. I live and breath the adventures, stories, friendships and experiences. I am blessed to be able to afford the time and privilege of hunting game. To boot I feel I live in one of the best states to do that as well.
Nothing compares to the crisp cool air on a fall morning as the sun comes up or trudging through snow in pursuit of my game. Everyday in the woods I learn something new and take home everything I can for the experience. I took my oldest daughter who is 6 out for her first set in a blind with me. She loves it and I can't wait to teach her more and spend more time with her. After last years trip with her all of the deeper meanings of what it means to be a hunter, dad, provider, teacher and friend came full circle in my mind. It's not
Necessarily what we bring home in terms of animals, it's everything else involved that encompasses the lifestyle. I am appreciative of the advice and criticisms I receive as it only makes me a better hunter because I flat out do not give up
My dad is totally at fault. He didn't hunt elk more that a couple of times I can remember growing up. He is a total coyote nut, so we spent lots of time out in the desert calling. I learned to love calling and tricking animals into coming to a call. I do remember him mentioning that next to his honey moon, calling in a bugling bull elk is about as much fun as this life has to offer. We would tease him about that all the time until, when I was 14 we went to scout for a rifle spike elk hunt in a limited entry unit in Utah. Right at sunrise we parked at an overlook, and as we got out of the truck the canyon lit up. Bulls were bugling and fighting throughout the canyon. That morning changed me. I have spent a huge majority of the next 25 years trying to get back to that morning!
Well one of my very first memories that I can recall was my dad bringing home a big bull moose from a hunt in Alaska. I remember seeing the big antlers and my dad showing me a picture and telling me exactly how he has done it. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. He got me a BB gun, then a recurve bow and I've been shooting things ever since.
AWHunt CDAID
New member
- Jan 9, 2013
- 172
i can remember a certain deer hunting trip out with my dad in southern Oregon, I was probably 6 years old. He had shot a small mule deer, not with a bow so hopefully that doesn't disqualify my, he let me track it and after that day i tried to go with him every trip. He made sure that my brother and myself had the skills to handle ourselves while in the outdoors.
colorado russ
New member
- Aug 10, 2017
- 1,083
4H! How's that for a different "mentor"? Didn't grow up hunting although went quail hunting with my Dad a few times when younger but that wasn't something that really interested him. I enjoyed it but more because I was spending time with him which was hard given how many hours he worked.
I did have a shotgun for 'shooting' when younger but never really 'hunted' until moving to CO back in 1992. A goodfriend from Missouri grew up hunting and fishing and we got to be good friends working for an IT contractor as software developers. He convinced me to get a bow so I looked long and hard to find one for my draw length - I remember putting on a 4" overdraw so wasn't lobbing 3/8" aluminum poles at the targets!
He told me he was a 4H shooting sports instructor in their county and was getting more and more interest so needed help. Sure! Odd in that I had no kids and wasn't part of that county but it was one of the better decisions in my life so far! Kids from 7 to 17 with Indian recurve bows up to Hoyt compounds all tricked out for competition. Hint: The kid with the Indian recurve had way more fun TRYING to hit the 20 yard bale than the kid who's pissed he missed the X.
Me and Darren ended up hunting together on the Flattops in NW CO several years and I learned more from him about this 'addiction/sport' than anyone! BUT, I had more satisfaction teaching those kids how to shoot a bow than most things! Guess I should volunteer more!
I did have a shotgun for 'shooting' when younger but never really 'hunted' until moving to CO back in 1992. A goodfriend from Missouri grew up hunting and fishing and we got to be good friends working for an IT contractor as software developers. He convinced me to get a bow so I looked long and hard to find one for my draw length - I remember putting on a 4" overdraw so wasn't lobbing 3/8" aluminum poles at the targets!
He told me he was a 4H shooting sports instructor in their county and was getting more and more interest so needed help. Sure! Odd in that I had no kids and wasn't part of that county but it was one of the better decisions in my life so far! Kids from 7 to 17 with Indian recurve bows up to Hoyt compounds all tricked out for competition. Hint: The kid with the Indian recurve had way more fun TRYING to hit the 20 yard bale than the kid who's pissed he missed the X.
Me and Darren ended up hunting together on the Flattops in NW CO several years and I learned more from him about this 'addiction/sport' than anyone! BUT, I had more satisfaction teaching those kids how to shoot a bow than most things! Guess I should volunteer more!
My step-dad is the one who got me started. I was 11 years old and he asked me just before deer season if i would like to go with him. Yes!
I didn't get anything the first year but i still remember most things about that 1st hunt. The deer we saw and where they were. Still hunt the same farm. The next spring we planted a sunflower patch and hunted doves in September. I can envision the first one I shot. It was just breaking daylight and a dove landed in the patch. Dad told me to walk towards it slowly. As i did it flew up and to the left, i shot and to my surprise it went down by a small tree on the edge.
My uncle is the one who got me into elk hunting. I will be heading to Wyoming in 12 days for my 4th elk hunt.
I didn't get anything the first year but i still remember most things about that 1st hunt. The deer we saw and where they were. Still hunt the same farm. The next spring we planted a sunflower patch and hunted doves in September. I can envision the first one I shot. It was just breaking daylight and a dove landed in the patch. Dad told me to walk towards it slowly. As i did it flew up and to the left, i shot and to my surprise it went down by a small tree on the edge.
My uncle is the one who got me into elk hunting. I will be heading to Wyoming in 12 days for my 4th elk hunt.
BrentLaBere
New member
- Jan 7, 2013
- 358
One experience in the field when I was younger got me hooked. I was able to sit in a field"pit" for waterfowl hunting with my father and uncle. No gun for me, just enough room through the burlap to watch the events. Laying down between them with my tarheels starter jacket and snow pants all wrapped up in a burlap bag I was able to watch as ducks and geese would dive out of the clouds. I started out as a waterfowl hunter and slowly evolved into other things. Ill always hold a passion for field hunting like that, just have other priorities as far as hunting goes these days.
David Gough
New member
- Aug 16, 2017
- 3
My friend took my on an eight mile backpack hunt into the Ruby mountains of Nevada five years ago. We didn't see one buck, but the experience changed my life forever.
Mom and Dad devorsed when I was 5, and I didn't get to see my Dad very much through the school year. So when I got to see him every other weekend, he was always going hunting so of course, I would tag along. Anything to spend some time with your Dad, you know. If I heard pick your feet up once I heard it a thousand times...lol. But I saw how happy it made him and he wasn't a man who smiled much.
To this day he's the man who started this mess, and now I've gone from Eastern whitetails to driving across the country with buddy's to chase what ever tags we can get... and I've taken my Dad hunting in the west 2 times and he wonders why he didn't do it earlier. I won't make that mistake... good luck this season and be safe.
To this day he's the man who started this mess, and now I've gone from Eastern whitetails to driving across the country with buddy's to chase what ever tags we can get... and I've taken my Dad hunting in the west 2 times and he wonders why he didn't do it earlier. I won't make that mistake... good luck this season and be safe.
colobowhntr
New member
- Aug 25, 2017
- 1
I grew up hunting birds with my dad. He thought it would be fun to try hunting Elk in the 70's. So he bought a rifle and took my brother and I out on the mountain. He convinced my brother and I to hike around the trees to the top of a ridge. When we got to the top we spread out and walked down the hill in the trees making as much noise as we wanted. My dad was waiting in the clearing at the bottom of the trees for anything to come running out. Surprisingly, we were pretty successful.
After a couple years of doing that, we eventually learned how to hunt with a bit more sophistication. When I turned 12, my dad bought me a .308 and I went hunting for the first time in the late season. We were walking through 3 feet of snow when we crested a ridge and came upon a large herd. I shot my first cow elk that year.
I hunted for another 7 years until I grew frustrated with the number of other hunters we were running into and the increasing number of wounded animals we found. I left rifle hunting for 8 years until a friend of mine wanted to try it. We harvested a bull by sheer luck and I got the fever again.
I decided to try archery to avoid the crowds. That was 8 years ago. The crowds have found archery hunting...
After a couple years of doing that, we eventually learned how to hunt with a bit more sophistication. When I turned 12, my dad bought me a .308 and I went hunting for the first time in the late season. We were walking through 3 feet of snow when we crested a ridge and came upon a large herd. I shot my first cow elk that year.
I hunted for another 7 years until I grew frustrated with the number of other hunters we were running into and the increasing number of wounded animals we found. I left rifle hunting for 8 years until a friend of mine wanted to try it. We harvested a bull by sheer luck and I got the fever again.
I decided to try archery to avoid the crowds. That was 8 years ago. The crowds have found archery hunting...
randalschultz36
New member
- Aug 25, 2017
- 3
Definitely family...Grew up whitetail hunting in Iowa. Now I'm hooked on western big game! Not enough days in the season anymore
Family, Family, Family!!! Like so many others, hunting was a family tradition. We had all ages and generations. Man, woman and child. Different family members hunted different critters so we were always well rounded when it came to the outdoors. After spending 6 years in the military and missing out on 6 hunting seasons; the drive to hunt was even stronger. That's when I picked up on elk hunting.
COLOelkman
New member
- Dec 28, 2012
- 138
Like many others, my Dad got me into hunting when i was very young. I used to tag along with a BB gun thinking I'd shoot a big buck but managed to only sting a few squirrels.
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I didn't start hunting until my 20s, I was an avid fisherman, growing up fishing with my dad, unfortunately dad was not into hunting,
Dad was a GI in WWII, he had enough of guns, but did let me learn to shoot a 22. I had an uncle who was a deputy sheriff and we got together for a visit while i was home on vacation one summer. He invited me out to his Deer lease in East TX and the hook was set. My first deer was a nice east TX 6 point. I tried to go every year after that.
Years later after having emergency surgeries for a small bowel obstruction I missed 4 or 5 seasons, and had to rethink hunting with a Gun since I have a permanent mediport in my right upper chest. I got back into hunting with a crossbow with which i took a nice 8 point two years ago. Now I'm hunting with a Compound. Training each day with the bow and physically to be able to make an Elk Hunt and a Pronghorn hunt in the future.
Hunting is Conservation and i am a Conservationist. Best of luck to all this season
Dad was a GI in WWII, he had enough of guns, but did let me learn to shoot a 22. I had an uncle who was a deputy sheriff and we got together for a visit while i was home on vacation one summer. He invited me out to his Deer lease in East TX and the hook was set. My first deer was a nice east TX 6 point. I tried to go every year after that.
Years later after having emergency surgeries for a small bowel obstruction I missed 4 or 5 seasons, and had to rethink hunting with a Gun since I have a permanent mediport in my right upper chest. I got back into hunting with a crossbow with which i took a nice 8 point two years ago. Now I'm hunting with a Compound. Training each day with the bow and physically to be able to make an Elk Hunt and a Pronghorn hunt in the future.
Hunting is Conservation and i am a Conservationist. Best of luck to all this season
Well in my case I always had a natural interest in hunting & my Dad, Grandfather & Uncles all went to the family deer camp. But my grandfather was my biggest influence & regular hunting partner, & now days I am fortunate to have an adult son who also shares my interest in hunting as my partner.
What got me into hunting was my dad at a very young age. Ever since I can remember we were going to the woods to camp, hunt, fish, hike, etc. I believe I hunted my first critter when I was like 5 and it was a jackrabbit. We grew up gun hunters for the most part, but there was a time for about 6 years while I was in Jr. High and High School that my dad hunted with a bow, and that was the initial spark to get me interested more in bow hunting. I have now been full time archery hunting for the past 18+ years and have taken my kids down the same roadway of hunting style.
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