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How did you all get started deer huntin?

6x6

6x6

PMA Member
After reading Slighs thread yesterday,I got to wondering how many of you were brought up deer hunting or got into it sometime later, and if that has anything to do with how you hunt now? Like Sligh mentioned,I also had to learn everything myself the hard way. I grew up on a farm in nebraska, in a family that raised and trained horses, but nobody hunted.We didnt even see deer on the farm untill around 1980.As a kid I started coonhunting on my mule, then pheasants.I guess what started it was when I was around 20, I was putting in switch grass and cedar trees for pheasants, but what I ended up with was deer. Bought a rifle tag, borrowed a rifle and got lucky on what I thought was the biggest 10 pt in nebraska. After that in 1983 I bought 80 acres,loaded with deer on the Platte River, for $500 per acre, making payments for 14 years. Bought a Golden Eagle bow and was hooked.Made alot of mistakes ,but eventually shot a big 10 with double drops. Around 1995 started leasing a farm to hunt deer and pheasants in Iowa and immediately saw the difference in the quality of the deer herd. In 1997 the Platte river land was selling for over $2500 per acre, so I sold the 80 and bought the 640 acre farm in Iowa I live on now. It took a long time and alot mistakes to get to where I am now, but at least my kids have had alot shorter learning curve. Now my top priority is to hunt with them first, and then worry about filling my tag. I have added some pictures of our deer from the last few years to my album for you guy to check out. How did the rest of you get to where you are now in your deer hunting? Sorry this went so long.
 
My whole family is avid deer hunters, so I started pretty early. I was 7 years old when I killed my first deer. Back then, Missouri didn't have a youth only season, so I hunted the same gun season as the rest of my family. I hunted with my grandpa everyday, and finally on the last day I shot a button buck with a ruger .223 mini 14. I was proud as I could be of that deer.

Still to this day, I don't know a better deer and turkey hunter than my dad. My grandpa has slowed down a bit, but always goe's out and kills a deer or 2 during rifle season. I still enjoy going back home and hunting with them, because the mentality is totaly different. My grandpa comes to the cabin with a big smile on his face, and will say "Got me a buck!!". When we go down to help him, it is usually a fork horn or a smaller racked deer, but it doesn't matter, he got his buck and he's as proud as that as any Iowa hunter would be of a 190 inch typical. And yes, we do have some pretty dang good deer back home as well, but my family and friends back hom are hunting to enjoy hunting and the family and friends around them.
 
My Dad started deer hunting when I was 6 and I tagged along with the hunting group sometimes to see the bucks. After awhile I started Rabbit hunting then I got into Deer hunting and the bug bit me really bad this last year :D
 
I can remember when dad started bowhunting, I was about 7. He started me hunting when I was 11. At that time neither him, my brother Russ (9), or I had a clue what we were doing! We learned a ton through time in the woods and watching the old "Whitetails Taking it to the Extreme" videos with Don Kisky and also watching Mark and Terry Drury... like them or not, those boys can deer hunt and we learned a bunch from them.

We mainly pheasant hunted growing up... I'm sure most can relate to this but that went out the window about 7~8 years ago and has been whitetails ever since with some turkeys in there to break up the "off season"

Neither grandpa's were hunters. Dad was introduced by a friend... thankfully!
 
I got started hunting rabbits, pheasants, and squirrels at around 7 or 8. I was not allowed to go deer hunting with dads group until I was 14. I shot my first deer that year and was hooked. I bought my first bow when I was 16 and learned most stuff on my own and a little bit from magazines, and hunting videos, that actually gave a little advice back then.
 
got my first shotgun when I was 8. Really didn't start deer hunting with shotgun till about 10. Had a neighbor friend get me started on bow hunting when I was 14 and to this day that is my favorite thing to do.
 
All I can say is I didn't get started soon enough. Hunted small game with my Dad as a kid, but when he moved away I didn't do much at all but did fish some. After college and married, I hunted birds with her side of the family and eventually started Shotgun hunting deer in my late 20's and started bow hunting in my early 30's. Feel pretty ripped off I didn't get into bow hunting at a much earlier age.

Dads....Take your kids hunting!!!! :)
 
You know how some kids find their dads old box of girly magazines; well I found my dad’s old box of outdoor magazines. That got me interested, and then the more I read the more my passion/interest grew. My dad had not hunted for years and then when I got the bug he started to take me hunting, mainly for small game and upland. When I was about 12 I wanted to bowhunt, I had no one to teach me, so like many others it has been a self taught ordeal, so my learning curve was long and slow. I shot my first deer with a bow at 13, it has consumed me ever since.

I was fortunate enough to buy 120 acres last year that will let me enjoy the sport in a totally different way, and be able to involve my wife and child in the sport I love. My pride and joy though is my little girl, and I’m not trying to wish the years away, but I can’t wait to take her on her first hunting trip.

I have to give my dad credit, he had lost interest in hunting, but because of my interest he made the time to take me hunting. And now because of my enthusiasm for deer hunting he has taken up deer hunting again.
 
I got started deer hunting by bird hunting with my dad and uncle. Then when I was 11, I got to go on my first deer hunt. Dad quickly shot the first doe that popped out and I was hooked past that point.

Not sure why he shot that doe when in years past he would wait for big bucks?? :D
 
I think it started for me, living in the city (YES, I was a CITY BOY with no family that hunted) BUT being OBSESSED with outdoors and animals. I went out every day in summer catching turtles, frogs, snakes, etc. My house was turned into a zoo by the time I was 7 years old. I grew up having every animal known to man and being outdoors ALL THE TIME (for many years, when I grew up I wanted to be a Herpetologist (reptiles))! I then got into shooting bow & arrow at church camp. I was good. I bought a $35 bow and shot at a hay-bale. Then I got into squirrel hunting with my BB or pellet gun, got more serious and got permission to squirrel hunt at 12 or 13. Fast-forward to 14 years old- some folks said "you have a place to squirrel hunt (and I did see deer there) and you have bow, why don't you try deer hunting???". So, I went out and spent $200 on a Darton bow and accessories, got some CHEAP camo and had my Mom drop me off at my squirrel hunting spot. I was a ridiculous fool out there, just walking around. After 2 months, I started to get the hang of it and realized I needed to sit tight and wait. Shot a 10 point buck sitting in a little secluded spot- off the ground. I was an idiot BUT I sure learned VERY QUICK after that. So many good memories and so much fun. I got my bros into it 2 years later and we all learned together. Still learning to this day! Great times!

**Since I was 10 years old, I knew I wanted to own land. All the places I went to for hunting, catching frogs, squirrel hunting, snakes/turtles, etc - all got developed and some sold. My family even had PRIME land until I was 12 years old and it was ALL SOLD!!! Wanted land even before then. I complained to my family and they ALL said "why don't you go buy your own land???". I said "because I'm only 12 years old and I don't have any money". They all said, "well, work hard and someday you can buy your own land". Well, that was the point that gave me direction that never changed.
 
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I came from a family with no hunting and fishing basckground. I was ate up with it and subscribed to Field & Stream with my paper route money when I was 12. My dad hooked me up with some guys in our church who took me fishing a few times. My folks would not let me own a gun, but there was a guy in our church who sold Bear bows out of his garage. This was 1973 and there were no compounds, only recurves. I talked them into letting me buy a bow and life would never be the same. Bought one of the first compounds in 1976 out of the Herter's catalog. This was before Cabela's Catalogs. The passion burns as strong today as it did 35 years ago.
 
My dad got me obsessed at a very young age chasing squirrels, rabbits and pheasants. I still remember my first bowhunt with him like it was yesterday. I was 6 or 7 years old and it was a foggy day during the rut. We sat up next to some brush by a giant old oak tree. I remember he was rattling when a buck approached from below a hill. He was freaking out with excitement. He had me curl up in a ball and told me not to move. I was laying there shaking like a leaf. I kept peeking down the hill but I never did see the deer. Even though I didn't see it I was pumped. He later shot the buck during shotgun season.

My first gun hunt happened when I was 9 years old. I shot at 2 different deer at a rather far distance but no connection. When I was 10 I started bowhunting. Shot my first doe on October 10th 1993 after a 15 minute stare down with a 40 inch 6pt. I have that bucks rack burned into my brain. I never shook so much in my life. The buck ran away, then the doe came in. Been hooked ever since.
 
When I was 12 I wanted a bow so bad I would sleep with the cabelas catalog but I came from a non hunting family and my mom wouldnt let us boys have a weapon of any type. When I started high school all my friends would pheasant hunt on weekends so i finally told my mom i was going to buy a gun it was just weather or not she would purchase it for me or i found a homeless guy on the street to buy it for me. She caved thankfully. A good friends grandpas younger friend(if that makes any sence) hooked me up with a hunters safty course(his name is pete) so i was off and running. My friends and i pheasant hunted together for a few years till pete took me shotgun hunting when i was 18. Pete ended up marrying my mom and now my brothers, and my mom all hunt. For me things changed when i was 20 and went back to my dream of buying a bow. Now pete is a good hunter but doesnt really know as much about bowhunting, so since ive been hooked on bowhunting it has been the school of hard knocks for me ever since. I have been lucky enough along the way to meet and get to know a few old timers that have been bowhunting since before noahs arc landed and they have helped tramendously with my journy! Great thread 6x6!
 
This is a great thread, I've enjoyed the responses so far.

I grew up in a hunting/non hunting family. I lived where my dad grew up, he never hunted nor did his dad. My mom had grown up in a hunting family but they were 100 miles away. My older brother and I plunked away on small game, pigeons, gophers, whatever we could shoot with our .22's. We learned gun handling and spent time shooting when we visited mom's family. We graduated to upland and waterfowl, all self taught and looking back, poorly executed. We managed to get out and do some bird hunting with mom's family as teens. I remember being so jealous of my brother when he got to hunt pronghorn antelope with mom's dad, her brother and her sister's husband. I never got that chance as health issues led grandpa to quit hunting a few yrs later and winters decimated the pronghorns and the season was removed all through my teens.

Anyways, at the time I somehow had become infatuated with whitetails and I remember my one uncle giving me a skull plate with a 5x5 rack on it, it was my greatest treasure. I bought my first whitetail licence at 15, borrowed a 7x57 mauser from a neighbor and it began. My dad's dad in our hometown took me out a couple times, being a non hunter he knew nothing but at least provided the wheels, a grandpa's love. It was pure road hunting which I now hate but it was start, we never saw much anyways. The day after I got my driver's license I drove out to a community pasture, parked and began walking. I came upon a gargantuan buck, put the mauser in a fork in a tree and pow, my whitetail buck days began. I managed to load him into the truck myself, get stuck once or twice and drag the 100" 10 pt into town. The rest is history.

I was hooked and began further educating myself on the animal, tactics to hunt it, preferred habitats etc. Our province is big and diverse and has some areas better suited to quality whitetails. I knew as an adult that I would try and find work in one them. I did. I have over the years been extremely lucky to gain access to some tremendous land and become great friends with some terrific people and landowners in a place my kids now call home. I've been able to spend my work and home days right amidst the very animals that I persue year round and consider myself very lucky for that b/c they're still as cool as they were when uncle Gerald gave me that skull cap. I like to think my kids will know a bit more than I did when they start out, I hope I can offer them something in those regards. That said, I wouldn't change anything about how I came to be where I am as a whitetail hunter. It's been quite a transformation and a great ride full of memories. This will be my 20th yr, I hope the next 20 are as good.

Great thread 6x6, I hope to read more, sorry for the novel.
 
Well this should be a rather short story. My parents were non hunters where as my uncles on my mom's side were hunters. I went through hunters safety young and bought a 870 express mag and every thanksgiving we spent at the farm(my grandparents house) the men would hunt pheasants well as I got older I took a step away from hunting. Two seasons ago I was in DM for my two weeks guard training. I had been contemplating purchasing a bow for a little while so I arrived at craigslist and bought a bow from a guy an older reflex I had the bow about a month and then bought a hoyt powerhawk from my local dealer in the november timeframe still knowing nothing i bought a summit stand and went and sat in a tree not seeing any deer. Fast forwarding a year and I still had yet to see many deer while out I enlisted the help of my cousin he helped me alot and put me front of a few deer I missed but then brought home my first deer opening day of shotgun season 2010. I am now hooked and cant wait for the season to start.
 
We had leased property from the Corp on the Mississippi in Buffalo Co., Wisconsin of all places. Thus, I've always had the fishing bug and was operating a 14ft. jon at a very early age by myself below the lock and dam in pool 5. This is really what got me curious about the outdoors, in general.

Dad got started deer hunting by my Grandpa and uncle (mom's side). They owned and farmed a ton of prime ground in NE Iowa (Clayton Co.). Most of this land was sold by the time I had any idea about anything. Now it's all owned/leased by folks with lots of money and deer hunting on their mind. Ugh.... Anyways, I remember being at home when my Dad was off at deer camp, which was in Jefferson. I'd wait by the phone in the evenings for "the call" hoping to hear he got the big one. Finally, after he'd got out of the big party hunts he took me out a few times in consecutive years and I froze my sack off but was hooked. I took hunter safety at 11 and went out youth hunting with no success so ended up tagging along for shotgun season with Dad and his friend. We were sitting along the S. Skunk and saw nothing that morning but while walking out I'll never forget spotting the group of deer running all-out, right for us. Long story short, I absolutely smoked the lead doe at about 20 yards. Blew out her heart and left front leg clean off and then proceded to miss my next 4 shots terrible. My mouth was all bloody because Dad's 12ga. Mossberg (nicknamed bullthrower) hit me in the mouth every time and Dad had to wade the Skunk because my deer somehow made it about 200 yards and crossed the river. Haha!! That was icing on the cake.

Then, my freshman year in college I met some NW Iowa boys that were big into bowhunting. They convinced me to get my dad's old bow and start hunting with them... on my land. Would have thought they were just using me but they've turned into great friends and have allowed me to tag along on many a fishing trip to S.D. chasing Salmon and Walleyes. 7 years later I'm still in college and have some nice deer under my belt. At least I've accomplished something haha. Learning more all the time and still love every up and down that goes along with it!
 
Well my dads step dad (was like a father to him) was a big time deer hunter, and gun collector, and hunted a lot of the same areas where we hunt today. He would take my dad and my uncle squirrel and rabbit hunting, fishing, and mushroom hunting. I can remember going to his house when i was around 15 and it looked like cabelas from all the deer heads, a lot of them were from way back. Well he has since passed away, and I'm grateful for him getting my dad and my uncle started in hunting and fishing, because they are the ones that taught me how to deer hunt.

My dad didn't deer hunt for a good 15 years, and started back up when i was 12, the first 2 years i just went with him and my uncle during the shotgun season (they are strictly gun hunters), and sat alongside my dad sleeping and freezing my butt off. When i turned 14 i took hunters saftey couse and shot a little 6 pointer and have been hooked ever since (am 23 now). I always felt like i wanted to be in the woods more than just the 2nd season for shotgun, so 4 years ago I bought a muzzleloader, and last year was my first bow season. So all in all i have to thank my dad and his brother for getting me started.
 
I started hunting with friends when I was in JR. High, mainly small game and pheasants. Got away from it during High School while concentrating on sports as our town was a pretty serious sports community at the time. After college my father-in-law got me introduced to deer hunting. First year out I just went along and took my 35 mm camera. After a couple guns seasons he was starting to battle health issues and could no longer bow hunt. I bought the archery gear from my father-in-law at his suggestion. One rut was all it took to get me addicted. That was 1995 and my first bowkill was the day after Thanksgiving of that year (on public ground). Been chasing them every year since. :D
 
Started on the farm with a BB gun, dad would pay us for pigeons (so I guess I was a paid professional) graduated to a 410 for rabbits, squirrels, etc. got my Mossberg 500 when I was 15 and went on my first deer hunt in 1965 (buck only tag). Chased mostly pheasants for a number of years (back when we had pheasants) now it's mostly deer and turkeys, and a trip or two to a hunting preserve.
 
Ah, the memories

I grew up in Eastern Oregon. I was hunting with a BB gun from the age of 7 (I usually got more doves off the power lines than my dad could hit on the wing with a shotgun). Started hunting with a shotgun at 12 for pheasants, chukar, quail and huns. When I was a freshman in high school, I hunted every day after school (better than playing football).

Started hunting mule deer when I was 12, but didn't get my first buck until I was 14. I shot a lot of deer after that and I started to get what I call a more "sophisticated" appreciation of hunting. My dad and uncle were shocked when I didn't shoot the first buck I saw; I was already waiting for a shooter.

College pretty much ended my hunting days and marriage further impaired my ability to stalk game with a gun. Fast forward about 18 years.

My middle son wanted to go deer hunting. Hell Yes! We'd lived in Iowa for seven years and I needed to learn whitetail hunting. I had hunted whitetails with a camera for several years and that helped a lot.

That first year with a shotgun, my son shot a small buck. I shot a (slightly) larger buck (accident, he had his head in the bushes on the last day and I needed venison). Switched to a muzzleloader the second year and passed several bucks, but got my doe venison.

Last Valentine's Day, I asked my wife for a bow. Shooting that was a BLAST! Got my wife one a short time later; she likes it too (but won't kill anything).

Hunting this fall was wonderful. This story is already too long, so no details here, but I do love hunting.

ArcheryIA44
 
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