Trad Gang

It would be cool to hear how and when You all got started "HUNTING"

As for me ...!!! I think the day I was born. I started to hunt for food. But I didn't have a bow in my hand yet. The bow hunting really started in 1968. I got a Howard Hill longbow from Uncle Bernie. I shot a blackbird and was so proud. Two years later I took to deer hunting at age 15. Sure wish I still had that bow. Someone walked off with it. Ya ..I'm still hunting for them to. Been doing alot better on deer.

I started hunting when I still had to run to keep up with my Dad and Grandpa.  They started me off coon hunting.  Talk about trial by fire.  Then when they saw that I just loved it, I got to go about everywhere hunting with them.  So I guess about 3 years old.  I started my boys at about 3 years old also, my 5 yeard old just killed his first deer this past season.

Can you post his deer pics? Kids are the "FUTURE"  Tell him ..."THUMBS UP"  :)

I started deer hunting when I was 12.with a 40# kodiak mag 40 years ago.and I still have the bow.

One of my "best"   :o   childhood hunting memories....
For Christmas one year my brother and I both received new pump pellet guns.  He is only 11 months younger than I, and we grew up on a small lake where there were only 6 houses on the end of our road.  We were the only ones that lived here year round.  At the ripe age of 10 or so, we would stalk and hunt every day after school, and if it flew, walked, hopped, etc. it was fair game..... at one point, I had the bright idea to to visit one of the neighbors bird feeders, and the shooting was pretty good.  So for a month or so, we would refill their feeder, sit near the wood pile and take our share of red squirrels, a few birds, etc.  Our downfall was in the details, sitting not too far from the feeder was a large stump with a planter pot on it, the stump was hollow and soon became our burial cache.....  no telling how many critters ended up in the stump, we didn't have time to count.  Then one spring day, a knock on the door- mom answered, made some small talk, and called us up from the basement......  standing there with 2 bulging brown paper bags was our neighbor, and she wasn't exactly smiling.  I won't bother with the unfortunate set of events that followed, but I will say she had the best looking yard all summer, and not a single leaf was left in her yard in the fall- FOR THE NEXT 6-7 YEARS!!!!
I still smile to this day thinking about the look on her face when she picked up that planter pot.....  :scared:

i was about 11 got my first bow,shot a squirrel in the back yard.

I started inthe back yard with the BB gun and a few tweety birds.  As a kid, I was really into Indians, so I mad a bow from an old boot lace and a split sapling. My dad was really into small game hunting, and used to take me along all the time.  When I was 10, my dad retired and bought an old hunting cabin from a friend.  There were some old bowhunting magazines laying around, and that really got me into hunting with the bow.

I have to say I was like 8 or 9 and started with a Ben Pearson jet bow(red)fiberglass.I shot everything from frogs to my sisters Barbie dolls. And I'm happy to say my kids are following the tradition.   :campfire:    :archer:

I started when my mother finally said it was OK for my father to take me out into the great outdoors.  Just recently picked up archery though only about two years under my belt, but have been loving it so far!

I got my first gun when I was 5, first traps around the same time. I made several bows as a kid from a bent branch-took several birds with it. went rabbit hunting and squirrel hunting as a kid by my self and with a friend. My parents didnt hunt but they supported me and my brother in what we wanted to do. Didnt start on ducks and deer until the mid 90's.

Last October, at age 71

Started "hunting" as soon as I was big enough to keep up with my Dad. I was probably ~6 years old. Started bowhunting the fall after I graduated high school(1990). Started bowhunting with traditional gear 3 almost 3 years ago.

Raised on a farm in a log cabin house. Started hunting (tagging along) w/Pa as early as I can remember. Coons, rabbits, squirrel, quail, deer it didn't matter. Nothing I'd rather do. Began hunting w/LB at 12...46 years ago.

My dad bought me a BB gun when I was 10.  I started tagging along with him pheasant hunting that year.   Deer weren't overly common around here back then, but pheasants were thick.  Those were the days!

I always had an afinity for the bow.  I can remember cutting down saplings and tying some trot line string to each end.  Arrows were wood dowels I bought with candy money from our lumber yard.  I never killed anything but "time...in my bedroom" after bouncing an arrow off the neighbors dog.

QuoteOriginally posted by Dick in Seattle:
Last October, at age 71

Thanks Dick! I thought I was gonna be the oldest "new" hunter to reply till you saved the day (HAHA). My parents were not hunters so I never hunted as a kid. As soon as I moved out on my own I started gun hunting and at about age 24 got into bowhunting thanks to a buddy at work. It then took me about 10 years to cast off the training wheels and graduate to the trad world. I am here to stay now and could not see huting any other way.

Bisch

My grandfather had a Sawmill in Zaire, hunted Big game all over Southern Africa, my father and all his brothers where keen hunters especially the youngest son.
When my dad knew i was on my way, he went out and bought me a side by side 12g shotgun    :saywhat:   it stayed in the safe until i was old enough to use it.
I accompanied my dad and uncles on many hunts, shot pellet guns and small caliber rifles and rimfires from a young age, when i was 7 years old my father taught me how to drive by myself and said it was time to learn to shoot the shotgun, i did and i killed a Francolin (spur fowl)  with the very first shot i ever took, by complete fluke... i could hardly hold the gun up but i dont even remember the recoil. Latter on that year (7 years old) i killed my first ever plains game animal with the same shotgun, a Warthog, i still have that photo and hunting has been a HUGE part of my life since, more so than most people can understand.  

Life was good growing up on the Farm in South Africa i would not trade my upbringing for anything out there!!

1943. I had a BB gun and followed my grandfather almost every day . Got my first 22 at age 9 in 1948. (we lived out in the boonies )and we ate alot of rabbits,squirrels,groundhog, coon etc.

Used to go out by myself when I was 7 or 8.  Had a homemade slingshot.  Don't really remember exactly when, but I took red squirrels (don't try and eat them), ruffed grouse and snoeshoes.  Our ruffies were just a bit smarter than a 3 holed brick and you could shoot at their heads a few times before they flew.

1964,I was 10 years old,Dad got me a 22 single shot rifle,and started me rabbit hunting with him.Two years later he got me a 45# Bear Recurve.Killed my first white tail with it the next year.Been hunting or fishing ever since.  Thanks Dad,I miss you.

Tried in in High School, didnt take.  :archer:

Started hunting in my teens. When I graduated, I had to put it on hold do to costruction work and such. I finally got a job close to home about 6 years so been trying to hunt as much as I can. My 11 year old son loves to get in the woods so I try to take him when I go (hate to leave him at home) it's my job but I love it! Jason

I used to gun hunt when I was a kid. Had an attack of conscience because of my ability to tag 'em while far beyond their natural prey senses.
Got into trad archery a little over a year ago, shooting 3-d.
It's relaxing. It appealed to me mostly because for the instinctive aspect to work well I had to clear my mind of whatever might've been chewing away at it before I got to the range. Well, after bangin' away at those foam animals for awhile it seems my natural predatory instincts were awakened. I'm just been waiting to get consistent enough to get out there and get at 'em. I started hunting about a month ago, nothing yet but I've gotten close and it sure make my heart go to thumpin'.

I started with my dad before I had a lic myself he use to take me hunting I would watch. I remember him shooting his recurve and going to bow shops with him. He got me a indian recurve for christmas when I was real young had to lay down and put both feet on it and use both hands to shoot it 40lb drawl. I still have that bow one broadhead tip wooden arrow, arm guard, and wornout back quiver and that is the bow I used to teach myself how to shoot instinctively back in 2000. Thirty years ago when I started bowhunting I returned the favor and got him back into bowhunting he had quite for a long time. My best memories of hunting are always when it was with him. The day he hangs it all up is going to be a very sad day in my life he is getting closer to that day every year I just keep hoping just one more year, just one more year.  Widow

When i was a kid i used to go hunting with my uncle and cuz, i would not hunt at this time i was just a extra set of eyes. They hunted with guns and i just had no desire to use a gun to take an animal, had and have nothing aganist anyone who does but even at that young age it just wasn't for me. Then at age 19 or maybe it was 20 i saw one of those new bowhunting shows, and i thought now thats the way to do it. Saved up my pennies and got my first bow, ya it was a training bow (had wheels). From the first day i was looking at recurves but stuck with the wheels for about 12 years or so, the hole time wanting to try a recurve. I always seemed to have this need to get just a little closer so one day i was looking through my log book and realized i had never killed anything out past 25 yards or so. Once that sunk in i found a used recurve and have been loving it ever sence. There was about a 4 to 5 year break as one of my boys was a 4 sport athlete in high school and i could not miss out on that but as soon as he was done i was back at it. Im 53 now and get just as amped up as i did at 20 when i get in close...

Still to this day i have never hunted with a firearm and i still dont have anything aganist it just not for me.

Dad started me rabbit hunting with my own .410 when I was 7.

I started in 1968. We lived in town and a friend of mine got a crossman pellet gun. We would walk up and down the neighbor hood and shoot pigions off of roof tops.

the second I could throw rocks and sharpen sticks. video games couldn't hold a candle to going after things that were alive! some of us just have that strong instinct

Must have been about 12 before aquiring anything to hunt with, it was a Bear fiberglass bow, about 20 #. No mentor to teach me anything, and i'm still learning at age 47.
My grandson is shooting a longbow at age 2. He's got a real good start.

1967 BB gun and frog population in the local ponds dropped. Was gifted a longbow by my uncle (thanks uncle Ben) in 1973 and shot the heck out of it at straw bales. First bow hunt in 1980 and harvested a doe with that longbow, I can still replay every detail of that season. I have been hunting with a bow since. Later gifted the bow to my young cousin. Just got my nephew shooting a bow last year and maybe he will be a hunter someday.

I was born into a archery and hunting/fishing family.
I guess you could say my entire life i have been envolved,im 49yrs now.I deer hunted from age 12.I was 14 before i ever got my first buck.That was with a 45# Bear Grizley.A day i will never forget.Is been a awesome ride.Realy thankful i was given so many woderful memories.
Now im in the buisness,and can say it never gets old.Im truly a lucky man.

I started going hunting before I could walk, my dad would carry me on his back and have been hunting ever since.  Supposedly I guided my uncle elk hunting when I was 3 or 4.  He claims I did a great job and knew right where I was going.  I started shooting a bow probably at 8 or 9.  This is a neat post, some real good reading.

My Dad and Mom put me on the front lawn when I was 4 months old; and I didn't play with any of the toys around me- my dad figured out I was watching the ants; and other bugs.
I remember catching bees with a jar and lid; and the 'king of bees' came for revenge. My mom and dad did not believe me when I told the story of the 'king of bees'. It took a month before my mother realized the avenging angel was a ~hummingbird~.
( It told them it had a huge stinger ! )
I think though my first 'hunt' was after I saw a chipmunk fall from a tree. I told my mother about it; and she again doubted me. I was about 4.
I sat outside the house for a month or more- every day; waiting until another mishap. I was rewarded when a fox squirrel- fell to the ground with a tremendous 'PLOP'. It hit the ground and was knocked out.
I picked it up; and took it to my mother while she was in the kitchen.
I had proof; after all that waiting !
If the fire department in East Lansing Michigan has records that far back- I can prove my first hunt; as the squirrel woke up; and after a very long chase scene involving my mother and father- the fire department was called in to get the squirrel out of the chimney.    :D  
 I got a bow when I was 4 or 5; and my neighbors feared for any straight branch on their bushes.
 When the Beatles hit America - I was deadly with my slingshot. By the beginning of the 1960's' I was shooting a Ben Pearson and killing squirrels; and rabbits; and woodchucks.
 Took my first deer with a bow in 1978.
  :archer:

When I was born!!!

1955-.22 rifle
1958-first bow
1966-first deer hunt

Hap

Grew up in a suburb in a family that was not interestrd in anything outdoors.  Started fishing at 10.  In 1980 while in college took an archery course and started hunting.  Bought a used compound that I shot instinctive. Started hunting rabbits in a big orchard behind the dorm.  The next fall started walking a couple of miles from campus to look for deer in the woods.  Been hooked ever since, traded my "Traditional Compound' Two years ago.

My father had retired from pheasant hunting by time I was born.  I picked up rifle shooting from my neighbors who had started a company called Trijicon (optics).  Started bird hunting when I was around 19.  Sat in the woods with friends who deer hunted a few times.

My cousin talked me into a compound for deer hunting about 3 years ago.  I am in the process of making the switch to Traditional.  Got my first Trad bow for Christmas.  Have shot it a couple hundred times since, but haven't touched the compound since.

Started bow hunting for deer in 1967 with a Paul Bunyan fiberglass longbow, 40#.  Switched to a Bear kodiak hunter in 1970, 45#.  Hunted small game and shot many carp before hunting deer, but didn't get my 1st deer until 1978, with a proline compound.  Went back to a recurve the next year, and have hunted with recurve or longbow since.  Only used the compound for 1977, and 1978 seasons.

Started shooting bows when I was about 5 in the back yard.  Started going with my dad squirrel hunting when I was about 7.  My dad went bowhunting a few times when I was 8.  He fell out of bowhunting the same year, and when I turned 12 got him back into it, weve been hunting together ever since!

Tagged along with my older brothers when I was 4. Got a Sheridan pellet gun when I was 5 and took a few tree rats. First shotgun at 6 and was allowed to hunt alone at age 8. Started trapping at age 10. Started with wheels when I was 25 as it was about then that the deer herd in my area started to thrive. Switched to strictly trad bows in 1985, but began to tinker with recurves in 1982. Seldom hunt with firearms anymore. Still love my guns, but I am most content when I have a bow in my hand. Mike

started going with my Dad when I was 5-6 squirrel hunting/rabbit hunting, started hunting on my own when I was 11  for rabbits/squirrel, started trapping at 12 and didnt take up deer hunting until I was 25-26(seriously), had went a few times with friends before that..

With a single-shot pellet rifle in 1968. With a Ben Pearson recurve in 1972.

Winterhawk1960

Started with squirrels and rabbits in the early 1970s.  I was barely big enough to keep up but was always so happy to get to go.

My first deer season was probably 1978 with a 20 gage shotgun. My first bow tag was purchased in 1988.  

Thanks Dad for starting me so many years ago!

Thanks for your replies

I started going with my dad about age 5 or so. My brother and I would tag along until we started shooting. We had to share our first longbow and shot many rabits and squirrels with it. By age 8 or so we took the hunter safety course and began shooting shotguns and 22's. By age 11 I was pretty profecient with the bow and took that pig hunting while my dad went with a gun---I finally got him hooked on a bow when I was in my teens and killed my first deer. Together, my father,brother and I have not missed an archery season trip together in about 22yrs. I love the sport because of that. This year my son is 10 and he is taking his hunter safety course this summer when out of school. Hopefully the legacy will continue.

I was waiding brooks with a stick, string and a few worms at 8 years. I hunted small game at 13 with a 22. Deer at 16. trapped a few years after that. Hung up the guns for bow at 40. learning to shoot trad to hang up the wheels at 53. 10 kids in my family and I'm the only one that took to the woods. I had to learn the woods on my own for the most part. There is a couple young hunters that come to me for advice. One of which was in a non hunting family and had no one to help him get started. I hear from them every hunting season to compare notes and tell some stories.

keep'm comming Guys !!

QuoteOriginally posted by Dick in Seattle:
Last October, at age 71

I read the story of that hunt in the TBW newsletter. I was truly impressed. A big congrats to you on a successful hunt. :thumbsup:

It seems like two lifetimes ago!What a journey it has been.I wouldn't have ventured over the next Mountain ridge if it had'nt of been for the Stick and String!If boot soles could speek.

I started hunting this year. Squirrel hunting with Dad when I was younger but that was with a pellet gun.

Got my first bow when I was 8 (1956) - kept the chickens in our barn yard on red alert - also hunted rabbits and squirrels in our pasture and neighbor's property.  First archery deer permit purchased in 1966 - and haven't missed a season since.

As my memory serves (and it mya not too well) my first deer hunt was in 1957.  it was the first archery season in Texas.

rusty

Too young to remember (or is that too old to remember?).

All the men and most of the women in my family hunted, so it was inevitable. Started with a bb gun when I got strong enough to cock one. All the neighborhood kids hunted songbirds with our Daisys, and notched the stock for each kill. My hero had over 300 notches on his. Parents frowned on shooting mockingbirds (the state bird), but not much else. Bluejays, sparrows and cardinals were considered pests. Now I feed them.

Started bowhunting for deer in 1962, I think. Have roamed the woods and fields at every opportunity, with gun or bow, for the past 55 years or so.

My first hunt was in the early 50's.  Didn't take up the bow for hunting until 1965.

This is great hearing your stories !!! Thanks

I was 10yrs old and my dad had joined a hunting club in Pickens county.

One day at lunch when all the grown ups were napping i grabbed my Whitetail 2 compound and walked out behind the house to look down the power line.

As i eased up to the field i looked over to my right and there was a doe bedded down next to the paved road, i couldnt believe what i was seeing.

The deer was looking at me and chewing on something. She was only 8 steps away and i was shooting bare bow with 3 finger under.

She finally stood up and i shot over her back by inches.

Thats the day i became a hunter in my mind and i will never forget that day 32yrs ago.

My Dad bought me a little fibreglass bow after watching Errol Flynn in the movie Robin Hood back in the 60's. I was 8 or 9 yrs old. My friends and I used to hunt the railroad tracks not too far from home for rabbits, snakes and there was always a pheasant or two we'd see.

My first kill was at a running rabbit... we all let loose & missed by a mile...'cept my arrow skipped on the rail & nailed the bunny right in head! Man were we excited! We took that rabbit to our "Hideout" nearby, tried skinnin' & even cooking. Made a mess of that bunny...lol.

I first started hunting when I was seven and got a BB gun, which pretty much wouldn't kill anything besides a tweedy bird. One morning I'll never forget is when I snared my first snowshoe hare at 8 yrs old. I had my little snowshoes on and was coming up on my first set when I heard the scream of the hare. My heart instantly started pumping a mile a minute and I was so excited I ran all the way back home to show my father my "big catch"

I started hunting when I was 12 and I killed my first deer when I was 13. I am planning on hunting with my recurve for the first time next fall.

I haven't started hunting as of yet, but I've been rambling through the woods and mountains enjoying the beauty of God's wonderful creation for 45 years, started in 1965.

Bill

First squirrel/rabbit hunt in 1963 at 6 y/o, first deer hunt in 1969, first bow killed deer with a 1960 Bear Kodiak 1973 and I still hunt ocassionaly with that bow.

i need someone to post a pic for me, can't seem to get it done.  I have a real good pic that needs to be shown.

Can't help it guys, you just can't fix stupid...

I start hunting with my father 10 years old. In Norway, it is not allowed to hunt with bows. But in 2010 the Norwegian hunt and fishing association consider whether to allow bowhunt. Crossing fingers;)

Good luck MOEN !!!!! Hope You get it

I have to say that my hunting started with a BB Gun and I was darn good with that thing! When I first got it, I could not hit the broad side fo a barn. Tried to adjust the sighs, nothing as they were fixed. I had to learn how to aim low and left!! After that, I think I was as deadly, but not as good as DRR324! LOL!! Not to mention that was a great story and brought back alot of memeories! God did I shoot birds in the back yards and loved using mom's feeder, that is until the day I got caught! Dang my butt hurt for about 3 days after that!
Graduated to a 22 at Grandma's house/farm! Was alot better shot with the ole auto 22 and learned how to save money for shells! Grew up hunting deer with a 308 and took some nice bucks.  Made the decision to go bow only at 18 and never looked back!

My Uncles put me in a ground blind on their South Texas brush country huning land when I was in my mid teens. My Dad wasn't really a hunter (he went a few times with a gun and shot one deer and never went again)so my Uncles got me going.

Single shot .22-.250 was what I had in my hands and I could not believe it....I was hunting! I will spare you the details but a nice plump doe ended up riding home in the truck that day. I have been hooked ever since. Within a year or two I was bowhunting with a Bear Whitetail II compound bow and since then the bowhunting fire has burned strong!

I would encourage anyone to take any kid hunting that expresses an interest. You never know how it will turn out. Sometimes all it takes is for one of us to just take the time to help. My Uncles are older now but I think of them nearly every day and give thanks for having them in my life. Even as a snot nosed teenager they treated me like a man and had confidence in me when I didn't. I try to do the same when my kids or any of their friends are here. If they want to shoot bows I am always ready with one for them. If they want to hunt....lets GO!

Thanks for asking. Makes me smile to think of all the memories stored up over the years.

Started hunting at age 65 when I was introduced to a compound.  Ditched it  after 4 months when I tried my first stick bow.
Even if I never manange to get my trophy buck, I will gladly settle for the great moments of peace, and tranquility found in the woods, and the challenge of hand & eye coordination required to hit the mark.
For me it is the journey and the new passion I have found.

keep'm comming !

I grew up in MO.  With a hedge tree in the back yard.  My Mom made my first hunting bow out of that tree.  We took a straight branch, cut notches for the string, used a piece of white nylon and I was set.  It killed a lot better than any B-B gun my friends had.  Didn't know anything about tiller or growth rings.  I just shot it a lot.  I was the only one who could regularly kill, not just hit rabbits.  The arrows cost .25 at Ace.
MAP

wish they were that cheap now !!