How did you become a hunter?

[twall13]

I saw something similar to this post on another forum and thought it might be interesting to see how everyone first got into hunting, and perhaps more specific to this forum, backpack hunting. Please share with us your story on how you came to enjoy hunting.

For me, and I suspect most of us here, I grew up hunting since I was little. I had a compound bow and a pellet gun before I was 8 years old and tagged along on many elk, deer, rabbit hunts etc. before I was ever able to actually have a hunting license to hunt for myself. I owe, in large part, my love of hunting to my father. I still enjoy hunting with him and my brothers more than anyone else and I'm grateful for that influence in my life. Hunting gives us the opportunity to connect and make memories that you just can't get elsewhere.

There were a few years as a teenager when my priorities changed and I hunted much less frequently but as an adult it has become what I live for. When I'm not hunting, I'm planning my next trip, preparing myself physically for it, scoping out gear I want/need etc. There is just something about getting away from the hustle and bustle of the world we live in and spending time in God's country hunting some of the most magnificent animals on the planet. My main focus has typically been elk and pheasant but I usually manage to find time for some waterfowl, turkeys and muleys as well.

My transition to backpack hunting is still underway as I used to think a horse was always the best way to get a downed animal out of the back country. While that is still a great way, I've discovered a love for the challenge of backpack hunting. It is not only much more physically demanding, but more mentally demanding as well. I like being able to know that I am capable of doing it and sometimes the pain is part of what makes lasting memories. Anyway, that's my long winded story on how I came to be the hunter I am today. What's your story??

 

[BroodBuster]

I was on strike doing the graveyard picket duty amongst the crack dealers and hookers. Shortly after being dropped off by the strike captain three guys pulled up in a van loaded down with dogs, shotguns and decoys. I had no idea that opening day of duck season was two days away. I was like WTF. I didn't have picket duty for another week and the rivers had all flooded so steelheading was not an option. So I get home and make a call to a buddy I knew who was a hunter and asked if I could borrow a shotgun and tag along. A few days later I'm sitting in a duck blind listening to roosters cackle all around us. I'm like, "You just sit here listening to roosters all day long?" The answer was a predictable "yep, ducks are easier."

After the strike ended we got a signing bonus and I bought a shotgun and my first Britanny. I still hunt that blind most opening days but I became an upland hunter after that first morning. Seeing what's over the next hill has always been more in my nature than sitting in a blind.

About a decade later the state moved opening day ducks to the same Saturday as deer and since my duck crew was going deer hunting instead of duck hunting I grabbed grandpa's old 30-30 and joined them. That was about a decade ago. After a few years of this I decided I wanted to hunt deer being deer s opposed to deer running for their lives from road to road. Just seemed like to much luck envolved in the gun hunt so I switched to archery. This also opened up the month of Oct for me to chase roosters.

One of my steelhead buddies was into archery hunting and they invited me to elk camp one year and I had a blast. His crew was some great people and are are now some of my best friends. I can't thank them enough for inviting me in to their camp!

I had always been a hiker so carrying my bow into the mountains was a natural and simple transition.

 

[Greg Beck]

I never hunted till I moved to Idaho. I always have loved hiking and backpacking in Colorado. I ran across this forum while doing some research for a hunt. I just started hunting on my own. Doing research and trial n error had been how I figured out a few things. I grew up fishing so the outdoors was nothing new.

 

[robby denning]

Would never have been a hunter if it weren't for my sweet daddy taking me.

 

[ofl0926]

Would never have been a hunter if it weren't for my sweet daddy taking me.

Same here. I owe to my pops and he is my hunting partner too

 

[Ryan Avery]

For the FREE meat

 

[aron]

For the FREE meat

Ha. I figured out $/lb for an antelope after a trip once and will never make that mistake again.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Raised in OC and my dad was a sailor, saw enough killing in WWII and so i did not hunt until I turned 49. Had accomplished most of my goals spearfishing and fishing so was looking for a new challenge...something healthier than drinking beer and smoking cigars between hookups. Did a rifle hunt and immediately switched to a bow...guns were too easy. Never looked back. Learning everything the hard way and lovin' it. Most challenging thing I have ever done. After 6 years I am just now comfortable in the backcountry, outsmarting the game well...I have a ways to go there. <g>

 

[Vids]

Dad took me small game and deer hunting in MN when I was a kid. The mountains called in my 20s, I moved to CO and never looked back.

 

[Ross]

Took hunters Ed in the mid 70 s in Cali....chased a few deer, then on to Ga to chase deer and wild pigs around ft Stewart...the pops then retired from the army in 80 moved to the nwest and never looked back..first elk adventure with pops said what is that horse moving through the woods....learned these elk are extremely fun to hunt and they do this thing called bugling...immersed myself in anything elk and it is now 35 yrs later...and still hooked deeply.

 

[twall13]

Took hunters Ed in the mid 70 s in Cali....chased a few deer, then on to Ga to chase deer and wild pigs around ft Stewart...the pops then retired from the army in 80 moved to the nwest and never looked back..first elk adventure with pops said what is that horse moving through the woods....learned these elk are extremely fun to hunt and they do this thing called bugling...immersed myself in anything elk and it is now 35 yrs later...and still hooked deeply.

That reminds me of the first time I heard a cow elk chirping at dusk while camping. I thought it was a dog... lol. They are definitely intriguing animals.

 

[Johnson27]

I was lucky. My grandparents owned a several large farms in SE Iowa (ag, river bottoms and timber) and I had an uncle that took me under his wing (GOD I MISS THOSE DAYS). He started me on squirrels (1 shot = 1 squirrel), moved to pheasants, and then deer. He also taught me how to trap and skin coons for a little money in the fall. By the time I was 14, I could process a deer by myself. I bow hunted deer hard until my kids came along and then when they got active in sports, I put my bow away. I didn't hunt for over 15 years, but damn I'm trying to make up for it now. I hope my hips and back hold out for several more years. LOL

 

[rodney482]

Just came natural.
Grew up in the country, had 100 acres of woods to play in.
Loved weapons, love the chase.

 

[Tony Trietch]

Dad was taking me out with him hunting and fishing when I was old enough to keep up. It has always been part of every day life to me.

 

[bigmoose]

My father started taking me and my brother elk hunting when we were around ten. He would pull us out of school every fall and we would hunt Montana or Idaho for two or three weeks. Many times, we would back pack or take horses into wilderness areas. I can't thank him enough for all the opportunities and adventures we had. I still plan my year around where I'll be hunting in the fall.

 

[Wasatchbuck]

A crossman airgun and grey squirrlels was what got me started. My father was not hunter but was great man in that he fostered my new found hobby by taking me to hunters ed and buying me my first guns. Got my first setter when I was 12 and trained him myself with help from my father. I absolutely loved bird hunting behind a dog. Waterfowl was a natural progression and by the time I was 16 I was guiding goose and duck hunters on the weekends for an outfit on Maryland's eastern shore. Didn't deer hunt until I was about 17 or so and I used to hunt a stand about 300 yards behind my folks house. Killed many a deer out of that stand. Marine Corps took me out west to Arizona and I absolutely loved the wide open spaces. After college I moved out to Utah and my main focus has been waterfowl since big game seasons are so short and waterfowl runs for 107 days out here. I love the chase of big game hunting but my heart will always be in a duck blind.

 

[hunting1]

My grandpa was a hunter and I always wanted to be with him. I followed him when I was big enough to keep up and all I wanted to do was what he did. I just never thought it would turn into the addiction it did.

And I like meat!

 

[airlocksniffer]

I started hunting whitetails, muleys, antelope and birds when I was 12 with my dad and brothers in North-Central MT. Every year we'd do our opening weekend hunt and that was about it. Never got skunked that I can remember. I spent 7 years up in rural AK in my 20's and hunted moose a little but never tagged out. Every fall I'd be calling my dad and brother constantly for a trip report. Moved back to MT in 2009 and started back up deer hunting in our old stomping grounds with the family. Started trying to hunt elk a couple of years later and started bowhunting(hiking) last year. Still haven't killed with my bow but I'm hooked. I still rifle hunt and am pretty happy that now my season is 12 weeks vs 6 weeks.

 

[Trr15]

I grew up in rural PA and started hunting rabbits, squirrels, white tails and turkeys with my dad when I was 12. Started bow hunting deer at around 19 and was addicted until I moved out west in my late 20s...now I'm completely hooked on chasing elk but I will admit, bowhunting eastern white tails still gets my blood pumping. I just don't get to do it as often anymore.

 

[2rocky]

I sure wasn't going to let Dad go without me...1978?