To make a very long story short. I remember getting up at 3 am after a long night of no sleep anticipating bagging that big buck to make dad proud,i was 12 and it was very cold, daylight seemed to take forever, and everything that moved looked like a deer in my eyes dad was silently yelling to "stay still, be quiet youll never see any deer like that" he'd say and i thought hunting was the worst thing ever i was sooo bored. we never did see anything that day, And now, we talk about those days and laugh a little and i thank dad for introducing me to the hunting world.

I don't remember my first trip because I was 2 weeks old dad wraped me in a blanket and took me deer hunting with him he said I never cryed or made a sound , yes he did shoot one a 4 pt .I havent looked back sinse ! took my first rabbit at 4 first deer at 5 and worked 26 yrs as a full time guide ! It has been a running joke between my dad and I about how all I have done in my life is hunt! And I would just tell him it's your fault you old fart!LOL I lost him 2yr's ago I miss him so much. I am thankfull that he loved me so much that he wrapped me up and took me with him!!

My dad took me the first time and sat me down at the base of a tree near a swamp edge and told me to sit quietly and listen. Well, you know a boy's attention span is only so long. So, after a while I got up to go find dad. He just looked at me, smiled and shook his head.

Only years later did I get the larger lesson: he wanted me to just sit and listen and be part of my surroundings taking in all of the environment with my sense, but especially my ears. To this day it is one of the finest lessons of my life; too often we run our mouths instead of listening. For that reason I just love to sit in the woods as quietly as I can and listen. For that reason alone the woods absolutely come alive when an animal comes through. Talk about magic when a beautiful whitetail deer comes near you and doesn't know you are there! For some reason or other the Maine deer woods in November have a particular quality about them where sound sounds different if you know what I mean! At time the acoustics are just different. Not sure how else to say it but I thank my dad for sharing this with me. Whether he's with me or not this lesson means I always have a hunting partner.

I began hunting at a pretty young age like most of my generation. All was essentially from home. The first experience that could be termed a "hunting trip" though was at the age of twelve and the invitation of a neighbor who graciously took me along with he and a buddy to go turkey hunting (fall season) about fifty miles from home. Once we arrived at the destination I was sent off on my own. Had sense enough to stick to a hollow so I could find my way back to the station wagon. Actually saw my first wild turkey and even shot at him. The gobbler looked as big as an ostrich to me and I later realized the shot with my 20ga. bolt action Mossberg was probably around eighty yards across the hollow. Scared the poor bird but that's about all.
I finally got back to the car just before dark to find a very worried neighbor. They never expected me to actually spend the whole afternoon hunting! On the way home we stopped in another town where my neighbor told me he and the buddy were helping someone move a refrigerator and I should just wait in the car till they got back... They did finally return about an hour later and we went on home.

Several days later I found out I was invited because that was the only way his wife would let him go away with the buddy. Several years later I learned the house where the refrigerator was moved was one of ill-repute!

All the same it was a memorable experience for a young boy. Too bad they didn't let me help with that refrigerator...

To young to remember like many others here. Dad was dragging me into the field at a very young age.
My first time with a gun in my hand was New Plymouth Idaho. Dad and his buddy Dale Smith took me hunting pheasants on Dales farm. Had my brand new just bought at Osco Winchester 37 single shot 12 in my hands. Got my first bird that day and the rest is as they say history. I was twelve then, but had been shooting trap and skeet sence I was 10.
MM

Great stories, I wish i would've been introduced to hunting at the age you guys were. But i guess being the first child my parents were a little apprehensive about letting me a have a firearm at that age. I cant wait till my daughters are old enough to start shooting. Its going to be great.

One of the frist actual trips I can remember was camping with my dad and brothers for grouse about 30 miles from home I wasn't old enough to hunt, But staying in the tent, camp fires ect was fun.

My first hunts were with dad. Ohio 1957.

Artesia, New Mexico in 1951. I sat in the backseat between my dad and his friend and caught hot hulls as they shot jackrabbits out both windows with their 22s. Doesn't get any better than that.

We stopped in a sudden downpour and watched a coral snake that had been flushed out of his hole.

Some great stories here for sure. My father took me in on my first hunting trip when I was 5 years old. We went up to a friend of the family's farm after squirrels. Right off the bat dad spotted one up in the tree tops, but it ran around to the other side of the tree. Dad sent me walking around to the other side tree to get the squirrel to come back around for a shot. Sure enough it did. I cant remember how many more squirrels he shot, if any, that day but I carried that dead squirrel around by his tail the rest of the morning thinking my dad was the greatest hunter ever.