When did you start and where and with whom

[Europe]

We once again were having an interesting conversation with some older gentlemen and thought I would bring the discussion to the forum

How old were you when you first started hunting--even if it was just rabbits or birds

Where were you hunting when you first started

Who taught you

What was your first gun, a BB gun, a 22, a 410 or

fast forward to your first big game animal. where, with whom, what animal, what firearm

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

I was around 8, my dad took me out to public hunting land in Iowa, just outside Baxter, and we went pheasant, rabbit, and squirrel hunting. I was basically, his bird dog, without knowing it LOL. Then after a few hunts under my belt, my dad let me borrow his old single shot .410, and he with his Ithaca SKB 12 ga SXS. My dad taught me about hunting, and he eventually bought me a H&R Topper in 12 ga as well.
A few years down the road, and several critters under our belt, we decided that we would go deer hunting. Me and my dad graduated to blackpowder rifles, since that and shotgun were the only legal options to hunt firearms during deer season in Iowa.
Jump ahead a few years, I had already joined the Air Force, I had my .300 Win Mag, and hunting in the mountains of Wyoming with my buddy, and got my first deer, a fork horn mule deer.

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[salmonchaser]

I was six, with my Dad. Packing around a little rolling block Stevens in .22. I popped grouse, Ducks, ptarmigan and rabbits. I also put a couple in a moose and a caribou. I wanted to make sure dad got them down with his 06.
Areas between Fairbanks and The Yukon, circa 1960.
Shot my first deer a 4x5 and first elk at 12. I packed a sporterized 03A3.
Northeast Oregon 1966.


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[bdbrown66]

There's a lot of double entendre that can happen with a thread title like that.

But if we're talking about hunting, I started about age 6 (1972-ish) hunting groundhogs with my uncle and rabbits with my grandfather. Started deer hunting with my dad at 10. This was all in eastern Ohio where I grew up. Lots of good memories of time well spent.

My first gun was a little single-shot 20ga, followed by a single-shot Stevens .22.

Killed my first deer at about age 15 or 16, and a whole lot of them since then.

 

[hunternyny]

None hunted in our family and therefore it was not until I was in college before I was exposed to the hunting world and firearms. My wife's family did hunt and once we started dating, I was hunting and have been ever since. We try to travel west each year to hunt as we both enjoy hunting and the mountains in the western united states. Unfortunately I was 20 before taking my first deer, using my future father in laws 30-06.

 

[Elkman]

My dad was my coach and mentor in the woods. First rfle was a Remington 512, 22, bolt gun, which I still have. It came into the family in the middle 50's. My first center fire was a used 721 Remington for which my dad paid $65. It was in 30:06 caliber and the rifle which shot my first deer and elk. The deer a large mule deer buck was killed in 1959 or 60 near Lapine Oregon. My first elk was in 1961 and was killed with the same rifle on Old Cold Springs Ridge in NE Oregon. I hunted with that rifle for both deer and elk for several years. It had 13 elk to its credit when I retired it, after my Military service in 1969. I still have it and has been upgraded to a 35 Whelen, with a Chet Brown stock, upgraded trigger and Leupold scope.

 

[truck driver]

Boy that was a long time ago.
Actually I bought my first BB gun at the age of 5 and paid a whole $5 for it with my fathers permission.
He had let me walk along while him and my brothers hunted rabbit and pheasant and after I got the BB gun he would let me carry it so I felt like I was one of the guys. At 5 I was a pretty sizeable lad and could keep up with them as long as they were hunting.
A cousin gave me my first rifle, a little Remington 510 .22 single shot and after a few lessons by my father and older brother I was allowed to roam freely to hunt gray squirrels and ground hogs. I also played heck with chipmunks in a friends woods and honed my shooting skills on the little buggers. My father bought my grandfathers old single shot 12ga from the estate and I took claim to it at around 10yrs old and learned to shoot everything that moved or flew with it. At 14 I received a used Marlin 30-30 for my birthday but wanted a used pre 64 M70 .308 that I wanted to buy but dad always prevailed and I got a 30-30 instead. After I left home and got married I got my first 30-06 which I still have and killed my first deer with it a eastern 8 point buck. I sold the 30-30 and gave the single shot 12ga to my nephew. The little .22 is still in my safe and my grandson is learning to shoot with it so is the 30-06 only now it's a 257 Roberts. I have bought a few and sold a few guns along the way but have kept the ones that have memories. Dad primarily got me started but it was up to me to hone my skills and was lucky enough to live in a time where I could roam freely and hunt where I wanted too with out any trouble since I new all the farmers and did odd jobs for them.
The neighbors called me that little Indian boy who never left home with out his rifle or a gun in his hands which started with a Daisy BB gun and guess what I still have that also.

 

[6mm Remington]

I started going hunting and fishing about when I was old enough to pester my father so much that he could no longer say no. I was fishing as soon as I was about old enough to hold a fishing pole and have some control over it. I would say 3 years of age. I remember checking traps with my father at the age of 5. I was shooting a .22 by then and would shoot jackrabbits and cottontails for bait. I had my own trapline for muskrats and raccoons when I was 9 or 10. My dad got me started shooting but it was my father, grandparents, and great aunt and uncle who go me into fishing.

My first firearm was a DAISY BB gun that I got when I was about 10 years old. I also got a .22 single shot rifle about then. My first big-game rifle was a Remington Model 600 when I was 12 years of age which is how old you were required to be in Montana to hunt big-game.

From about 5 years on, my father and his friends used me as their pusher and would let me out at the bottom of a drainage and would circle around to the top. My job was to walk up the cooley zig-zagging as I went to push mule deer out to them. It worked and I loved every minute of it. My father was unable to keep me at home as I wanted to go so badly!

My first big-game animal was an antelope. I shot two antelope on the run at about 75 yards with a 6mm Remington. One shot and both dropped! The sun, moon, and galaxie were all aligned that day! I was hunting with my dad and his friend on my grandfather's ranch in Roy Montana. My grandfather was along with us of course. He was the Hunter's Safety Instructor who I took the class from and from whom I got my certificate!!

 

[Africa Huntress]

my mum and dad taught me

my first rifles were a 22 Hornet/20 Gauge combo, a 6.5 x 55, and a 7 x 57 ( all used by previous members of my family before I got them )

At approx 6, ( dont remember specifically ) I was allowed to hunt stupid stuff like --Steenbok, Bushbuck, Blesbok, Jackal in Africa and Grouse, and Roe Deer in Sweden. Worked my way up to a 300 H & H which allowed me to hunt lion at 12. The 300 H & H was also a hand me down from my grandfather, mum and then me and I still have it and use it. Actually I still have and use the 6. x 55 and 7 x 57 and use them as well. I am sure the combo is still at home, but I no longer use it.

Not positive what bdbrown66 meant in the beginning of his post but if it what i think he meant, I am still looking/hunting. The problem is nobody wants a wife that is traveling on business for twenty days each month and hunting the other ten HAHA

Best Regards

Jamila

ps Really enjoyed reading all your stories. thank you April for asking and thanks to all the fine gentlemen here who shared their stories

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

my mum and dad taught me

my first rifles were a 22 Hornet/20 Gauge combo, a 6.5 x 55, and a 7 x 57 ( all used by previous members of my family before I got them )

At approx 6, ( dont remember specifically ) I was allowed to hunt stupid stuff like --Steenbok, Bushbuck, Blesbok, Jackal in Africa and Grouse, and Roe Deer in Sweden. Worked my way up to a 300 H & H which allowed me to hunt lion at 12. The 300 H & H was also a hand me down from my grandfather, mum and then me and I still have it and use it. Actually I still have and use the 6. x 55 and 7 x 57 and use them as well. I am sure the combo is still at home, but I no longer use it.

Not positive what bdbrown66 meant in the beginning of his post but if it what i think he meant, I am still looking/hunting. The problem is nobody wants a wife that is traveling on business for twenty days each month and hunting the other ten HAHA

Best Regards

Jamila

ps Really enjoyed reading all your stories. thank you April for asking and thanks to all the fine gentlemen here who shared their stories

If we were married, wouldn't bother me in the least bit. I'd be there right along side of you hunting as well. Se la vie!

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[Blkram]

Grandpa bought us kids a single shot .410 w/ exposed hammer (Cooey) so that we could learn to hunt snowshoe hares and ruffed grouse on the family farm, outside Chetwynd BC when I was 11 and the following year brought home a used Winchester 69A 22LR for the same purposes. But it was Grandma that took me hunting; Grandpa taught to shoot and care for/clean the firearms.

I was with my native grandfather and used his Marlin 336 in 30-30 when I harvested my first big game animal; a whitetail doe. This was out in the Del Rio area northwest of Chetwynd by our family trapline when I was 15. My mother, aunt and a cousin were with us. My grandfather cleaned, skinned, quartered and hung that deer in 15 minutes with his pocketknife!

 

[c. schutte]

We started out (my brother and I) before I was 4 years old tagging along with my Grandfather. He had property so we were always there hunting, fishing and other things related to a cattle ranch. Maybe 6 years old when we started accompanying them on any serious hunting with both my dad and grandfather. First deer at 8 years old. Both my brother and I had 22 gauge Benjamin air rifles. Also had a .22 about that same time.

Between my dad and grandfather there was a decent gun collection so as we aged we started using deer rifles. Of them all my favorite was a Mannlicher-Schoenauer in .270 win that the old man brought back from Germany after he was stationed there. Over the years that rifle alone has taken down a ton of deer and a few stories along the way. For deer it is still my favorite and always will be. Not just because of the cartridge, it's a Mannlicher-Schoenauer and was my Dad's favorite. That and it will put a bullet right where you want it at a long ways out there. :>)

There are now other rifles I use just as much and also have stories or the beginnings of stories behind them. As far as I am concerned it is those stories that are important for they represent all the time spent out doors and the memories that accumulate over time. Heck, I even think it a crime to never use a rifle to it's potential. Yeah, maybe I'm a little nutty but what a shame to never take an elk rifle elk hunting or stretch a long distance cartridge at least once?

 

[bdbrown66]

Not positive what bdbrown66 meant in the beginning of his post but if it what i think he meant, I am still looking/hunting. The problem is nobody wants a wife that is traveling on business for twenty days each month and hunting the other ten HAHA

Best Regards

Jamila

I was just being a little ornery, Jamila. When people start talking about their "first time, where, and with whom" it usually has a very different connotation, if you get my drift.

Having said that, your schedule sounds perfectly agreeable to me. A bit rough during the child-rearing years, but after that...why not? I am happily married, but if I were not I would be "game." I'm sure there are other like-minded gentlemen who are unattached and looking for a prize catch. Now go find one.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Guy Miner]

Tall fellow on the left taught me to hunt. This photo was taken about six years ago when he was only 84 years old. He's 90 now, still enjoys pheasant hunting, varmint shooting and fly fishing...

I started following him around outdoors early on, and remember hunting trips with Dad & Grandpa when I was only 5 years old. Duck hunting mostly in those days.

We're planning a varmint-shooting expedition for next spring! His .22-250, my .204, and a few good .22's. He still has, and uses, the .22 Marlin 39m he taught me with, all those years ago.

Really glad Dad is still around, and that we're able to enjoy some time together.

The other fellow, Dad's buddy, I met when I was 10 years old, and dang, he's still pheasant hunting too!

Guy

 

[sask boy]

I started trapping & snaring gophers with my cousin when I was 6 years old. We would take the gopher tails into the RM office and get a penny for each tail. We would then take the bodies to Humphrie's Mink ranch & would receive up to 10 cents per gopher :wink:.
At 8 I purchased a 22 single shot (Cooey) & shot gopher as well as trap them. That winter I took my 22 wrapped in a blanket got on the city. Bus & travelled to west city limits of Regina right next to famous RCMP training depot & shot jack rabbits bringing them back on the bus. My best friend Mike's dad showed us how to skin them & we ate the rabbits & sold the fur.
At 9 I went deer hunting & it was with Mike along with family including his grandma she would make us all a big lunch that always included canned chicken homemade buns and for desert we hand cookies & chocolate cake.
The coffee was in a sealer wrapped in newspapers to keep warm. Never shot my own deer until I was 12 with a 336 Marlin 30-30.
Mike's dad Colin always made room for me & was our mentor for most of my younger years :wink:.
Colin shot a model 100 with 2 clips sodder together he was the best shot I ever saw :shock:. We had
3 deer zones back then & one day we pushed a large bush about 1/2 way through we heard 7 shots at the far end of the bush :shock: got to the end & Colin had piled up 7 Whitetail deer . We field dressed them & loaded them into a 60 Ford station wagon Mike & I sat on top of them in the back for our drive home.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[hunter24605]

I was 8 and went with my dad, uncle, brothers and cousins squirrel hunting in Wv Dad had a camper on a small plot of land that joined the national forest....Back then squirrel opening was a bigger deal than it is now and we would leave on Friday before season opened on Saturday and hunt until the following Friday..Back then fall turkey, squirrel, grouse and pheasant all came in at the same time, but we always called it goin' squirrel huntin'....

 

[Bruce Mc]

I started hunting when I was 8 years old. My dad started hunting the year before on hunting leases that the company he worked for had for entertaining customers. I started with a Remington Nylon 12 .22 that my uncle gave me. I killed a lot of rabbits, squirrels, and other targets of opportunity. The next year I started hunting dove and quail with a H & R .410 single shot. I didn't start hunting deer for another couple of years. My dad wasn't a deer hunter so what I learned I picked up from the other men around the hunting camps. I killed my first deer with a .30-30 in 1969. I was 12 years old and still remember the moment like it was yesterday. My dad never became a deer hunter but he sure loved to hunt dove and quail and he was a very good shot with his Remington 1100 12 gauge.

 

[Polaris]

Started hunting before I started shooting. My father and uncles would take me with in the truck on fair-weather pheasant hunts around age 4. My "job" was to water the dogs, keep them from eating the birds in the back of the pickup, and keep them entertained while we drove to the next field to hunt bouncing around on rutted farm roads riding in the back of the truck. I was also to keep a sharp eye out for any birds running or flying into cover as we drove. My reward was always a couple of ice-cold RC colas from the country gas station. These experiences cultivated an undying love for the hunt at a very young age. I loved to pick up the multi-colored hulls when they bailed out to fire at a "runner" spotted while driving and marveled at the beautiful roosters, wearing the tail feathers proudly in my ball cap to school the next Monday.

Wasn't long until I was carrying the BB gun along, encouraged to sling single BBs at flying roosters and take out the occasional menacing field mouse!

This was all in West-Central Minnesota before industrialized agriculture destroyed all the fencerows and small wetlands and the pheasant hunting went with it.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

I don't know when but I know it was in my blood at a very young age. My uncle was in his master's classes to become a school psychologist and had to test little kids so I was his test subject.

At 3-4 years old, he asked me, " How many seasons are there?"
I replied, "Four."
He then followed up, "Can you name them?"
I said, "Two hunting and two fishing." (I meant summer and winter fishing and spring and fall hunting)

From there the rest is history. I live for hunting and fishing. It is all I think and talk about.

 

[DeerTracker]

I believe I was 2 or 3 when my Dad first took me hunting. He carried me on my shoulders out to the duck blind at our family's duck lease down in SW Louisiana.

My Dad and PawPaw have taught me everything I know about hunting. I can't bear to think about the day that they won't be around to hunt with.

My first gun was a Marlin 15Y that I still have in my gun safe for my daughter. Dad bought it for me for my 6th birthday. Had bb guns prior to that.

My first big game animal was a 6x7 mule deer buck that I shot an hour into my first opening morning outside of Choteau, MT. I was with my Dad and one of his friends. I made a 350 yard shot with a Remington 700 ADL 270 Win with a 130gr Partition. Blew my Dad's buddy away. He thought I wounded it until it dropped after hobbling a couple steps. I'll never forget that day.