My dad hunted ducks, just ducks. I hate duck!! So when I was 25 and had an oportunity to go deer hunting with a buddy I had to go. I went out and bought a surplus SMLE for $50 and sighted it in . I never shot at a deer with that rifle. It took me 5 years of deer hunting before I even saw a deer close enough to shoot at and then I missed. That was in a shotgun zone. Anyways, I pissed off alot of hunting "partners" before I started to get it right. It was my 10th season when I finnaly got a buck. I must be doing something right cause I now hunt in 3 different camps in 2 different zones over a 2 week/3 weekend hunt and shoot most the deer in those camps. Through watching and listening to other hunters, doing some reading, and just being out there I have taught myself to hunt deer. It wasn't always pretty but persistance paid off. I have hunted them with (carried) .303 brit, 12ga. slugs, ,270, .280, 6.5x55 (swede and Ruger),8x57, .45-70, .35 rem, 6.5-06, 6.5-284, .338-06, 6.5-257 roberts improved, and now this year it will be a .30-338WM. The most deer taken has been with that Ruger 6.5X55. They are all equally good deer killers provided the operator is too. Now that I own my own land I have introduced several new hunters to the sport. That guy who I first hunted with gave up after 3 seasons and I have now brought him back with a bagged doe. There have been 4 different 12 year olds in my camp. There have been a few women and girls too. The key to new hunters is a lot patience and a little direction. Oh yeah, when they make a mistake, DON"T YELL AT THEM!!!!

good topic!

my dad taught me to hunt, and it was only years later that i decided that jack o'connor must have taught my dad to hunt, because everything in o'connor's book was pretty much the same that i learned from dad (except the .270 part; dad always used a .30/06).

My father taught me. And guess what we hunted first. Ducks. I kinda liked it becuase it was a big production getting all of the decoys out there, and learning how to blow on the duck calls, and trying to figure out what all of the "leading the ducks" stuff was all about. Thinking back I feel sorry for my Dad for all of the shells he had to buy me.

I agree wholeheartedly about getting younger folks out to hunt with an adult. Too many don't have parents or friends to take them out so they don't learn safety, which is in my opinion paramount to the sport of hunting. How can one mistake a person for a bear at 25 yards, or how can one mistake a person for a turkey at 25 yards, let alone how can one mistake a person for a deer at any range.

Anymore, the older I get, the more and more I want to go hunting, and the less and less I want to shoot anything.

Blue

My dad taught me to hunt as well. He was a bird and duck hunter so that's where I got my start. When I turned 14 I got interested in deer hunting so he took me but he never had much passion for it. Jack O'Conner and fred Bear where my biggest influences early on for deer and big game. I kind of taught myself along the way. My son turned 12 last year which is now the legal age in Michigan. I started him duck hunting on a small pond my dad had taken me to 35 years ago and will do so with my daughter this year. I could feel my dad's presence with us and it was a very special experience.

Jeff

I suppose my dad & grandfather started me. Doves, Sagehen, ducks. I killed my first buck at 11 w/ my dad. But the man who taught me to hunt - was my uncle Bill.

He'd been a kid during the depression, not old enouch to work in the copper mines, his job was to provide the family w/ meat. He was almost like a modern Daniel Boone, especially at tracking and shooting. Decorated Master Sgt. in Europe '41-45.

I learned from him about wind currents in the montains, how to track game, how to still hunt, slow & quite, the importance of looking and listening as much as moving. He taught me the real "hunt."

My story is a little different. My uncle taught me to hunt. He was born in San Antonio and lived there as well as Corpus Christi. My Grandfather worked for the government doing surveys and brought his family along during his many forays into the wide open. My uncle was responsible for many chores around camp and one especially was to bring home meat to supplement the family meal. My mother told me he was very good at his job and would never waste ammunition when he could kill something with a rock or stick. Their meals often included, opposum, armadillo, rabbits, snake, various birds (and not just game birds) or deer when they got lucky. My uncle often laughed about catching turtles with a piece of string and colored cloth he dangled over the edge of the river bank. He was also very adept at fishing but preferred traps for fish because hunting, sneaking and creeping was what he did best.
I learned a great deal from him and actually was the one to take my father on his first hunting trip. He had grown up in The city outside of LA and about the most he ever had a chance to do was fish. Yes, at one time the rivers in S. CA. had fish. I guess some of them are showing fish again now thanks to a few people with forthought.
When I was about 15 I talked my dad into a trip to Utah for mulie. I had been a few times by then with my uncle but I really wanted my dad to see what it was like and why I was always taking off on the weekends and for a month in October.
He loved it and we hunted together as often as possible afterward because he really enjoyed getting away and sleeping under the stars. It is quite a thrill to think back on those times.
Frank

Although my father is quite liberal, doesn't like guns and doesn't hunt he indirectly taught me to hunt. When we moved to Montana when I was a kid he knew hunting was in my blood and bought me a Remington 581 22, which I still have almost 25 years later. He worked with a man that was a gun nut and had him bring me to the range. We're miles apart politically, but I give him credit for allowing me to learn to shoot.

The hunting part was taught by two good friends. One I met in junior high who taught me to hunt birds, the other a friend in college who taught me to hunt big game. God has blessed me with some good friends!

My Dad hunted ducks, and that's all. Nobody close to me hunted big game, until a brother returned form the Army with a "Deer" rifle, a Savage 30 30 bolt action. A "Deer" rifle had to hunt deer, so that's how we got started. With nobody to teach us, we learned trial and error. I believe I earned a PhD in this way, all of it in the subject of what NOT to do. But we were a bright bunch, and early decided to makes mistakes and learn and be humble at what we were taught, not arrogant and believing ourselves false "experts". One of the best days I had learning, rather than hunting, was the day my older brother and I jumped 3 does after sunrise. We got on their tracks and stayed there all day, jumping them several timee; 44 years have dimmed the exact number, but it was at least six times, maybe more. We did it, knowing that we could not take the does, that they were not legal game. Fresh snow on the ground made the day possible. When we had to quit, we realized that we were not very far from the truck. The does stayed in a prescribed area and ran us in circles. That was an eye opener and we learned. That's how I learned to hunt deer. I've also made it a point to get research papers and books on deer; not popular articles, but papers researched and written by biologists. I do the same with Elk and have the book, Elk of North America, by several authors. These books and papers have a wealth of biological data on deer and Elk, and I picked up a lot of knowledge there.

My Father got me started, plain and simple.

I've learned more by making mistakes, reading, and talking to "old timers" than from my Dad. He enjoys hunting but lacks the fire.
I'm still learning I hope. I think once you have reached the point of knowing it all you have a closed mind, miss things, and don't get the enjoyment out of things like you once did. For that reason I hope I am always willing to learn!

I taught myself at the age of 15. Dad didn't hunt and when I hooked up with my girlfriend (now wife)I used her dads .22 single shot and taught myself how to hunt rabbits.
Got my own rifle at 18 (.22mag) and the rest is history.

Oddball,

My Dad passed away before I was old enough to hunt so my Grandfather, Uncles, A Neighbor, and my older Brother all helped me learn the tricks to successful hunting. I remember as a child wishing that I could go with ny Grandfather and Uncles when Deer Season started.

Hawkeye 47

My cousin taught me how to roadhunt, trespass and poach.



My dog Sadie (on the left) taught me how to hunt. I followed her lead when I took up bowhunting which also gave me a new outlook on hunting. Sadie, however, helped me gain a new outlook on life.

I taught myself to hunt. My Dad had no wish to hunt, although he's probably the best shot I've ever seen with a .22 or shotgun. I only saw him miss once. He mostly shot coyotes or fur bearers to protect livestock.

I guess it's an old family tradition.My Dad taught me to hunt and my first trip was at two years old on a packstring into the Selway-Bitteroot.Of course I wasn't hunting them and Mommie was there to protect me.

Great topic.Jayco.

I taught myself to hunt.

We moved away form Dad's hunitng partners when I was 3, and I don't think he hunted after that.

He still had guns, so I would sneak them out of the house and shoot them when I could.

Mom wouldn't even let me have a pellet gun!! "You could put out an eye!"

She didnt' have the same aversion to bows and arrows, though. When I was 15 I killed my first deer with an old style broadhead...I guess you could say I poached it because I had no idea I even needed a tag or liscence.

We were on a month long wilderness trip, and 6 hungry teenagers ate that deer in 2 days!!

Since then, I've shot a few guns with Dad, and we've shared alot of game meat, but I killed it all!

Nice topic. My love of guns & hunting came from my father and his father. My happiest days were spent in the field with them hunting pheasant, dove, quail and whitetails. Both have been gone for over 20 years now, but the shooting sports are still my favorite pastime, probably because of the connnection with them.

Watching my Dad hunt back in the mid-50's piqued my curuosity. Some advertisements in a magazine called Boys Life got me going, fueled by a magazine called Fur-Fish-Game, then Jack O'Connor in Outdoor Life cast the die.

Well since I am stilllearning I have been taught by a friend who took me deer hunting two seasons ago. And I did my own hunt last season. Both on public land in CA and both failures to connect. in fact I didn't have much of a shot either year. Having said that last year was a real break through year and I learned a bunch in the field. I started late in life at 31. I figure I owe it to my son to learn and do as much as I can so when he is ready I can teach him. My main sources of learning to hunt have been boards like this, conversations with all hunters I run across(I have a pretty good filter system too), magazines, the occasional show on "Redneck T.V." The biggest teacher has been the wilderness itself. I hope that next season is a little more fruitful ofr filling the freezer, but success to me is the hunt not the kill, but I'd like to do that as well.