CONTEST!!!! "What got you into hunting?"

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My Dad took me hunting when I was young.  He died in a airplane accident when I was 13 years old.  Two of my brothers carried the torch well...I hunted, but it wasn't the same for me. 


As I became older, I started to yearn for how hunting took me to places a person would otherwise never go...ever...too brushy...too far with no destination (lake, mountain, etc.)...no regular visitor to the outdoor actually visits these places.  The challenge of archery hunting, the search for solitude, and the urge to visit these places again brought hunting back to me with a vengeance.


Thank you Dad.
 
A good friend, that I had done quite a bit of backpacking with, invited me year after year to join him and his dad on their annual general season rifle deer hunt. After a number of years of hearing how much fun they had I decided to join. Been hooked ever since.
 
What got me into hunting... This is a 2 part answer. I cam from a non-hunting family, my father had hunted small game during the depression to survive and to help feed his brothers and sisters, but he stopped hunting long ago. I was fascinated with animals I would see around me in North Carolina. From deer to rabbits and squirrels. The need to be around animals and get up close, for them not to know I was there, and to be able to just for a brief moment be part of their world. The second part came from my first trip to Montana, the mountains captured me and the vastness of land beyond what I had ever experienced. The idea that there was all THIS LAND, and it was owned by the public!!!! Now I live in Idaho, I feel the connection to the land and to the game. What got me into this life that I choose is the same thing that keeps me fighting to preserve it.... my cup runneth over when I hear an elk bugle, a grouse flap his wings in the early morning, or a lone wolf howl for his companions!! It is a spiritual experience for me and its not a want it is a NEED to be there and to participate in the circle of life.
 
Going up to our families deer camp got me hooked, haven't yet gone on an elk hunt but after listening to Cory's stories on multiple podcasts and slowly buying backcountry gear i am closer to that first elk experience.
 
Like several others that have responded, I'm the only one of my family that hunts big game. I moved to Colorado in 2006 and many of my neighbors and friends were hunters. Eventually, someone asked me to go on Antelope hunt and I was hooked. That first year (2015) I got my Antelope and a young 6x6 Bull Elk while on a solo hunt. That was quite an education. I quickly realized how much I didn't know and have made it a priority ever since to learn all I can. This will be my 3rd year hunting Elk and last year I added Whitetail deer to my list of game animals. We love wild game meat and I've got all my hunts planned out for this year.


I've since repaid the favor of being asked on my first hunt and took a new hunter out last year and will be taking out my new son-in-law this year. I can't imagine not being able to hunt now and only wish I took it up long before my 55th birthday :)
 
My dad got me into hunting and let me bring my single pump BB gun to chase elusive blacktails in Southern Oregon when I was 6. He was patient with me and wanted me to see just how amazing the forest, desert or lakes can be. To this day our family elk hunt is top priority. Time spent telling stories, telling jokes and laughing the hours away have made elk and deer camp some of the best memories of my life.

The tides have turned and we are going to take my 6 year old on his first opening weekend trip with dad, grandpa and uncle to start the next generation on the path. Helping him understand the importance of conservation, how the wind works and I'm sure a geology lesson with all of the rocks he is going to want me to pack out.

The love of family, the passion and preservation for the outdoors and the thrill of the hunt made all of my younger generation excited for the invite to go with the "older guys." But I still remember the red rain boots, loud rain jacket and daisy one pump that started the fire.
 
My Dad got myself and my siblings into hunting, however my sister and I got him into archery and eventually bowhunting.
 
I've always loved being outdoors as a kid I always hunted squirrels. I would say it was my father in law who gave me the opportunity to transition into large game.

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My did and grandpa got me into hunting.  I tagged along on a deer hunt when I was 2.5 years old, and I'm still hunting with them today. Some of my favorite memories are hunting with them.
 
My Dad was a big deer hunter, but he died before I turned 4.  As long as I can remember, though, I've been shooting some type of gun and then eventually a bow, too.  My Mom was great about letting me follow my own interests in hunting and not holding me back too much.  By the time I was 12, I was introduced to deer hunting with a shotgun and a bow by my mentor, Jan Peterson, who volunteered in the Big Brothers program.  I haven't looked back since then.  My 2 youngest boys, 7 and 8 years old, have been out on hunts with me the past 3 years and they love it.
 
I got into hunting because growing up that's what I saw my dad, uncle, and grandpa do. I was never so excited to get outdoors and be a part of the adventure. That was 30 something years ago

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My father and grandfather got me into hunting when I was young. We would hunt up at our cabin and grandpa would share all of his moose hunting stories. I then seriously got into hunting down in Kansas where I went to college and the addiction has not stopped since then.
 
My father and grandfather got me into hunting.  Started in the duck blind before i could hunt and then the weekly trip deer hunting with the family.
 
Growing up in Louisiana where hunting, fishing, and trapping are a way of life, you tend to just fall into what the family is doing. I give the credit to my father and grandfather for getting me into hunting. Now I've been in Montana for the past five years and this year I'm hoping to get my first elk.
 
I never grew up hunting, but in 1982, when I was in the Coast Guard, I was transferred from Key West Florida to Kodiak Alaska.  A friend asked me if I wanted to go deer hunting and the rest was history...  I've been an avid hunter ever since and had the fortune of living in Alaska for 14 years.  I now live in Kansas, but make regular trips back to Alaska.  I'm leaving next week for a float trip in the Brooks Range for moose and caribou. ;D
 
Been a family thing for me..  Been on a horse or in the cab of a truck heading out hunting in the fall since before I started crawling !  And now my boys can successfully say the same thing. 
 
My Dad had a passion for hunting and fishing, and because of him I do too.  We didn't always see eye to eye, but we had a great time together out in the woods or on the water. He was truly born and raised in the outdoors. Spending time with him hunting was truly memorable.
 
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