If it weren't for ______, I never would have started hunting

[rickjordan]

If it wasn't for my Dad, I never would have started hunting- He was always there to take me hunting even when he worked 11pm to 7am and had got no sleep the night before. If I'm 1/3 the Dad he was to me growing up, my kids will be fine.

[Talon]

GUNPOWDER :)

Peace
Talon:cool:

[fabsroman]

Yep, it was my dad, and it continues to be my dad. I do most of my hunting with my dad, and I still love it, as does he. Of course, we have more equipment now and better hunting skills, but it is just as fun as it was 30 years ago when he had to hold the gun for me to pull the trigger.

[gd357]

Well, I'd have to place that title on my grandfather. he took us to the hunter's safety course, and took us hunting for deer, rabbits, etc. He was within sight when I shot my first whitetail, and that was a moment I'll never forget, and treasure because he was there to experience it with me. truth be told, I doubt I would have done much else, but he definitely fueled my interest and passion in hunting and the outdoors.

gd

[popplecop]

My Father, bought me my first 22 when I was 8 years old. Still have it. He was an excellent teacher. The major lesson he taught after the skills and safe gun handling was: Hunting is like eating your favorite meal. Sometimes you don't have room for desert after your favorite meal, yet killing an animal or bird is like having desert if you have room. You don't have to kill something to have a great hunt.

[Duffy]

My dad got me interested in fishing, and it was my uncle who got me involved in hunting. But I want to be the dad who gets his kids involved in both in such a way that thirty years from now they would be able to answer this forum in a way similar to rick, fabs, and popple.

[Jonesy]

my primal blood lust...

[deerhuntingirl]

my husband

[Dan Morris]

I would have to say an uncle.I shot paper and clays, uncle got me into hunting!
Dan

[M.T. Pockets]

I had it in me from birth. My dad had quit hunting, but came out of retirement for a few years when I turned 12 til I could drive and take myself hunting at 16.

[fishdoggydog]

I am remembering it the same as MT, exept my Dad never hunted, but walked along with me the first time when I was 12, after that he just kind of let me do it on my own. There was a 4H leader and Hunter Safety instructor to give me some help, but it was out of magazines for the most part, for me learning to hunt.

[Critch]

My brother Buddy and my brother-in-law Henry. My Dad had some influence, but it was mostly them.

[shooterjon]

It was my dad! Bought me my 1st 22 and followed up with a shotgun,started me deer hunting in New York with that same shotgun,and I lost count of how many Pheasant and cotton tails that old Ithaca Feather Weight took not to mention Crows & ducks,The 22 was a Squirrel Killing Machine and a great gun to plink with.Followed up later with a Sako 22-250 for Wood Chuck.
I have rounded the corner in my hunting career many years later with a 17 HMR and a bunch of guns all the way up to 30-338.So now living in Idaho my moto is if it fly's it dies if it crawls its shot and if its in season and it's in between walking and crawling it wont be safe very long!
Thanks to my dad!:D

[larryours]

My dad, I just hope I can do the same for my granddaughter, bought her lifetime hunting and fishing license the other day for her 2nd birthday, Sept 2006;) :D

[fabsroman]

Last night, my dad asked me when we were going to get our hunting licenses and if I was ready for September first. When I told him that goose season comes in August first, he replied with "Well then, we had better get our licenses tomorrow." I stopped by on the way home from a client and he asked if we were going to get our licenses. I had to break the news that I had no intention of hunting geese in August and killing 15 per person per day because I didn't want to spend the entire day cleaning birds in the heat. He ended up agreeing. So, we agreed that September first would be our first day of hunting, and we would limit it to doves. We would then deal with the early teal season and early duck season and get geared up for the goose season in November, when it is actually like goose hunting instead of goose slaughtering. Just doesn't seem too sporting to me to go out and shoot birds that are barely two or three months old.

However, I loved my dad's enthusiasm. I think this might be the first time in my lifetime that my dad is more enthusiastic about hunting than I am.

[8X56MS]

over 250 years of family history? We been hunting up in the VA mountains for 'bout that long now.

[Wolvie]

DAD,My friends,..and EX-In-Laws,..but Dad was the starter of it all,..and I miss him so much.
I lost him this past December ,..and it was one of the most worst days of my life,...He was a step dad,..but he was all I knew as a father,..and I called him DAD,..and I loved him and still do,..It was his ethics of hunting i adopted into my hunting and his way of stalking and shooting I also adopted and I am very thankful for that because when I go hunting anf fishing ,he is there,..he is within me for ever !!

I LOVE YOU ,..and thank you for the life Training

Thanks for making Wolvie cry ,...(its all good though) !!

Later ALL
SAFE HUNTIN~

Wolvie

[kriss]

my dad was an avid fisher of trout so he's not really into hunting. Got interested when my cousin showed me the picture of his first tom, our neighbor also took home one great Rio that grabbed my attention.

[rickjordan]

Wolvie- very touching- I don't know what I'll do when he does pass away- hopefully, I will have a long time to come to grips with it before it happens. My Dad is my best friend and I can't even imagine not having him around.

[skeeter@ccia.com]

been 26 yrs since I lost my dad, my best friend and not a day goes past I don't say I wish he could be with me now doing this or I wish he could see this.....fabs, you best get off your duff and get those license and take dad out in august....because the limit is high, no need to get more than maybe 1 or 2 birds each...spend as much of that quality time you can NOW...believe me I already know that put off day for september might just not happen....my case, we spent a good day fishing and after that we fixed the plumbing in the kitchen....I came home and had to turn right back around..

born to be outdoors...thanks dad....
make a memory for someone...take them outdoors

[fabsroman]

Don't worry skeeter, my dad is my best friend too and I talk to him every day. Helped him put in a granite counter top today at a job. My two brothers also helped. This weekend, we will be working on our boat and my wife's car together. If we get the boat up and running, I am sure that both he and I would prefer to be on the water come August 1 instead of in a hot blind or field trying to kill a goose or two while making sure my other best friend, my dog, doesn't over heat. Nope, no regrets here.

When I started working at the last firm I was at, one of the partners sat down and gave me a speech about how I wasn't getting his work done. My reply was simple, the other partners had given me a ton of work too, that I only had a certain amount of time to spend on this Earth with my parents and siblings, the exact amount of which was unknown, and the firm wasn't paying me enough to give all that up. Not much was said after that, but that partner left the firm shortly thereafter to go to a different firm. Me, I stayed another year and a half before I got fed up with the BS and the long hours they wanted from me. Spent almost that entire summer with my dad fishing.

[GoodOlBoy]

Those pesky census people!

"Paw say I supposed to shoot men what got papers. Last week I nicked the census man!"

"Now thats a good boy."

. . . . . .

GoodOlBoy

[Valigator]

Now this comin from a girl just walk with me...there was nothin more manly in this world than my bothers and my father....but I guess they expected as a woman I would marry and go my own way...and I did, but the men I always were attracted to were the men like my brothers and my father....quite frankly the man I am with now, taught me how to hunt, taught me what my equipment was suppose to be, and who and what the woman I am today...I have to give this guy alot of credit...he taught me NO FEAR...of anything...and in this neck of the woods that means something....he also taught me dont play in the sandbox if I couldn't carry my own weight....I guess if I had to give credence to one person that gave me the insides of hunting...it would be my guy....

[Rapier]

My mother became a single parent when I was 2 years of age, so the hunting and fishing instruction was left to my grandfather. I grew up on lake Okeechobee in Florida, we lived two miles from the nearest neighbor, got indoor plumbing when I was 13 and AC current when I was 18.
Ed

[TreeDoc]

Interesting thread.....provides for some real reflection.

I'd have to say my brother, Pat. Though we don't necessarily see eye to eye these days, I'll give credit where credit is due. My Dad wasn't the hunter type but when I was just a little guy I remember my older brother's interest in Dove hunting. My Dad didn't really promote it but he never turned him from it. I remember my brother who is 7 years my elder, received a High Standard 20 gauge for Christmas one year when he was in High School. He used to Dove hunt with his friends and they took me along one year when I was 12. The first and only bird I shot that day wasn't a dove however, it was a small owl. It's kind of funny now that I think about it some 32 years later but I remember I felt pretty bad at the time. I was just too excited to shoot a dove and this is what came flying by. I guess I didn't have much guidance then. That's changed a lot.

Anyway, later on in years my brother got heavily involved in Duck hunting and I was exposed to that a few times as well. I didn't do much of any hunting for a few years later but got myself into guns in general. When I went away to college after my Navy service time, I ended up in a place that had a fair amount of hunting and fishing going on. I started quail hunting a lot, then Deer/Pig, and then got absolutely stupid over Duck hunting. I'm still stupid over Ducks and now when I'm not doing that, I'm fishing for Tuna, Rockfish, or Bass. I decided this year that Deer hunting is pretty much a thing of the past for me. I drilled a nice big buck in Colorado last November but after 7 or 8 years of up and down mountains and all the money I have spent in pursuit, it's just a little too late.