This as been discussed before, but in light of the thread in the general forum, I thought I would start this one. How was it for you growing up hunting? Who took you, social aspect, the kill, etc. I’ll start.

I grew up hunting in Pickens county in the early 90s. My dads best friend’s family owns about 300 acres here and we got to hunt it with the man who leased it as a condition of his lease. I started out going with Daddy when I was 7 or 8. We would leave our house in Birmingham between 3:00 and 3:30 on a Saturday morning and meet at our friend’s (the lessors) house at about 5:00. Everybody would socialize, watch the news for the weather forecast and decide what property and what stand they would hunt. I remember it being a convoy of trucks leaving, and then we would slowly peel off into the different properties to hunt. Back then we hunted in what would today be considered single man ladder stands. They were custom made by a welder that hunted with us and nailed into the tree. I sat on the top with my back to the tree and Daddy sat on the footrest part. He was the shooter for the first several years.

I remember it being colder back then, and I would often walk back to the truck by myself to warm up while Daddy stayed to hunt. Any legal buck was reason for celebration back then and I remember deer sightings being less frequent. Back then the property was big, open hardwoods. Acorns were everywhere and there was ag on surrounding properties. We rarely hunted food plots and if we did, it was really special and I remember thinking that deer sightings would be a lock.

After the morning hunt, we would sit on the tailgate and eat roasted peanuts. Then drive back into town to find everyone else. Late morning might find us hauling hay with our friend or helping him patch the roof on his barn. We would go back to their house for lunch and there was always a big spread. After lunch, I would usually play with any of the grandkids that were around, outside, while the adults all napped inside.

After naps, they would come out and discuss the evening hunt and we would once again load up to often go back to the same stand as that morning. I remember afternoon hunts being much slower. We would hunt until dark and then meet back at the trucks, say our goodbyes and head home. Saturday was the only day we hunted back then unless we came down for a few days after Christmas or Thanksgiving and stayed in someone’s camp house.

It seemed like back then, there was a much larger social component to the hunt.

I grew up on a farm in central Alabama I started hunting in the mid 80’s not a lot of deer but we had some big ones.Me and my brother would hunt together as kids with shotguns no tree stands we would just walk till we found sign and set down and hunt. Our old farm house was heated by a wood stove,I will always remember the walk back to the house after a cold mornings hunt being able to smell the smoke from a fire in that stove and the smell of bacon frying.

My father nor grandfather ever took me hunting. No uncles, cousins, etc. I loved watching hunting shows on tv and finally once I got in the Army I had a buddy take me to his place. Granted, I did go on a dove hunt every year after i graduated high school with a buddy of mine from high school. I was hooked but didn't have a clue what to look for, etc. I bumbled around the woods probably hurting everyone within 100 miles for 4 years till finally a co-worker who had hunted his whole life took me out and taught me a little. He showed me about scrapes and rubs and finding creek crossings and intersections. That was all the "handed-down knowledge" i ever got.

Since then I've talked to every old guy I could and tried to get their 1 thing as to not take up their time. I've also read many books and magazine articles to try to get better. I'm now 40 and still haven't killed a mature animal. Quite honestly the last few years the original luster of hunting has started wearing off. Now I enjoy getting the land ready more than hunting mostly because I have no faith I will ever kill one. That's fine if that's my plight in life but I still get a lot of enjoyment of the outdoors.

Same as FreeStateHunter myself, my dad isn't a hunter or really an outdoorsman of any kind, both grandfathers were passed before I was born. Dad ran a business, had 4 boys and any free time on the weekends was always spent coaching or hauling us around to play some kind of sport. I had to get exposed to fishing and hunting from my buddies and occasionally a family friend. The fishing part, once I could drive and had my own truck, I was out fishing any body of water around B'ham I could sneak onto. Paradise Lake, Lake Purdy, the apartments in Riverchase, Vestavia Lake, Star Lake, the pond at the old Ramada in Hoover I think it was, golf courses, the creeks around Rocky Ridge road...I imagine you get run off from most of those places nowadays if they even exist. The rare opportunity to get to go with a friend to hunt was always a treat or go to a friend's lakehouse on Logan Martin or somewhere different to fish.

It all kinda died off as I went to college and then the years after college - doing the things that most irresponsible people do during those years. Luckily when I decided to get out of Birmingham, the crew I fell in with down here in Pensacola were all into saltwater fishing and hunting. So it sparked it back up for me and haven't looked back since. After tagging along with various friends for a couple of years, I spent a few years in a lease around Magnolia, AL, then 4-5 years in Cuthbert, GA and now own my own place in Troy with a partner. The years in Magnolia and Cuthbert where there was just a couple of us in the leases were really where I learned the ins and outs of everything that has to happen just to be able to hunt, managing the property, etc. Now in Troy, I really enjoy all of that part of it more than the killing. We don't take ourselves too seriously. We mostly go sit in shooting houses on food plots - which I know a lot of you all say that we aren't real hunters and that's fine. I just like to go out and spend the afternoon watching the deer. We just know what works for us

I didn’t, My dad didn’t hunt at all. When my parents divorced I was 10, my uncle took me under his wing and started spending quality time with me. He took me on a few deer hunts on family land In Heflin and a dove hunt. We’d leave his house at 3am I’d sleep the whole way, he’d wake me up at the Heflin huddle house and we would eat breakfast then Go hunt. I don’t think that they were really hunting trips honestly, just spending time with me in a cow pasture with guns and goofing off eating spam Sammaches. Teaching gun safety and plinking, He had no clue at the time the fire he lit.

I bought my first bow at 22-23yo and goofed around with it a few years. bought my first gun at 25yo and began hunting with buddies, who also had divorced parents, no dads with us, just buddies hunting and learning the hard way how to do it. We had more fun and fellowship than I could ever explain. Killed my first deer a button buck on one of my buddies grandmothers land in verbena. You’d a thought it had been a wall hanger I was so excited and so were my buddies. That’s how it always was with us, cheering each other on and high fives for any success any of us had. Killed my first bow buck and doe on her land on the same afternoon after we planted her dozen azaleas. We killed some good deer there once we kinda figured out what to do. To this day the fun and fellowship is the part that soothes my soul and brings back those great feelings and memories. I have gotten most serious about it out of all 5 of us buddies and even been blessed with some success.
I found the pics a while back of the same day bow deer and they always make me smile.


We learned everything the hard way, no corn/shooting houses or as we used to call it “fat man hunting” we worked for it and learned how to “hunt” deer to kill em. It was not easy but has served me well

I started at 4 killing birds with my bb gun and going with my dad deer hunting. I loved everything about deer hunting, I'd skip a week of school every year till I got into high-school sports but I ended up not playing basketball after 9th grade because it interfered to much with deer.
My grandad always took me rabbit hunting when I was young also and I remember checking traps and killing critters with a homemade club at a very young age....
I would get so shook up at the sight of a deer I couldn't even stand up...ended up killing my 1st with a remington 1100 at 9 and 1st with a hoyt rebel bow at 12..I was 14 before I killed my 1st good mountable buck and it was on my dad's birthday in Marengo co and I'm still waiting on my 1st mountable buck with bow...I've let some decent ones go that would've been my best but was holding out for running buddies that were bigger

Due to physical limitations, my Dad couldn't hunt. My grand father owned 320 acres outside Plainview, Tx. When he had farm chores, he would give me his Sears bolt action .22 and a box of shells. I would sit in the hayloft shooting rats over paper plates smeared with peanut butter. I got a 5 cent bounty for each rat. So I learned at a early age about hunting over bait. Later on, he bought me a single shot .410. Opening morning of pheasant season he would drop me off at the end of his sorghum field and drive his 57 Chevy to the other end a mile away. I walked the stubble alone trying to flush pheasants. If I got to the end of the field and didn't have my two bird limit, we started the process over again. Fun times. I didn't go on my first deer hunt until my freshman year in college. Got invited to a friends ranch for a weekend hunt. After that, I hunted deer every year from age 18 to 60. I injured my back at 60 and cannot carry or walk the woods anymore like I used to. So now I just hunt catfish on the Tennessee River.

Hunting in my family was a way of life, not a hobby. I’ve been going as early as I have memories. I hunted squirrels, rabbits, ducks and doves with a Remington 870 20 ga as early as age 7. I killed my first deer with a .243 at age 9. Only thing my dad didn’t hunt and have knowledge of was turkeys. So at 14 I self taught and killed my first bird. After I got into it my dad followed. So my earliest hunting memories are all of the above with my dad as my mentor. I would get off the bus in the afternoons at 12 years old and hit the woods with a rifle deer hunting and nobody thought a thing of it.

My dad joined a rod and gun club. I think mainly because the dad of one of my friends did. We did a few dove hunts and went skeet shooting. When I was driving age, he joined a dog hunting club, again, because friends dad's did. The only difference, their dads went hunting, my dad didn't go except once or twice. He had professors that used to take me hunting with them, and I killed my first deer with one of them. Then I started hunting with friends my age. Most everything I have learned, I learned from trial and error. I have had a few good fellows over the years that have helped, and a few who didn't. I have had way to many "missed opportunities" on nice rack bucks. I don't know why. With archery, its usually a deflected arrow.

My dad probably hasn't gone hunting since I was 16. He doesn't really like guns (liberal) and there is really just a huge disconnect between me and him. I have a really trick AR15, that is a short barreled gun. It's engraved with the NFA trust I created. If I showed it to him, and told him I built it, all he would say is "Nobody needs one of those".

So really, unless someone else took me hunting, I probably only went a handful of times with my dad. And I think he only did it because He knows next to nothing about it, not to mention he isn't much of a woodsman. He missed out on some really good times with his son. So I take my sons hunting with me. And I try to teach them what I know, but they are a little slow on the walking quietly aspect of it. But each one of them killed a deer last year, so I would say we did ok.

Waking up about 4 a.m., eating a big breakfast, packing lunch in a bag, going out all day with my father -- ALL day -- returning after sunset, changing, eating a big meal, listening to the men tell stories, sleep, do it again the next day.

That was about 45 years ago. My interest in hunting has ebbed and flowed over the years. Some years it burns hotter, and others I don't give a flip.

Life was simpler then, though, and hunting damned sure was a lot more fun and far more easier than it is today with all the bullchit hoops we have to put up with and fees we have to pay to The Man.

I didn't hunt until I was I guess 23...which is part of my screen name. I watched shows about it all my life, but never had an opportunity to go. I finally just decided to do it, and started searching stuff on the internet. I found this crazy website and started asking questions. HHSyelper sold me my first gun, Beadlescomb took me squirrel hunting and taught me how to be a redneck, Clem told me not to listen to any of you, Roadkill helped me get a hunting rifle. Reno helped me get on a club.

Because of all that, I try to take or help get any student in my church the opportunity to go even if their parents don't do it.

I gave you the best advice you'll ever get.

I didn't until college, when a buddy in my hometown took me out when I was home for fall break from Auburn my freshman year. 3 weeks later I started sitting by myself (in a tomcat climber with no harness, cringe) and mid December I killed my first deer - a 120" 10 pt. I've had a lucky spoon up my a$$ for killing big animals ever since

I grew up hunting in North Baldwin County with all my family and friends. I don’t even remember the first time I went hunting since my Daddy would bring me out there at a very early age. Our family and friends dog hunted from the time I was very young till I was grown. I have some very vivid and great memories being out there hunting with all my family and friends of the family. There will never be be a time like that again when We used to be able to hunt where We wanted to and permits were free or very minimal cost for hunting the land. No gates anywhere just freedom to hunt thousands of acres and enjoy God’s creation.

I grew up hunting in North Baldwin County with all my family and friends. I don’t even remember the first time I went hunting since my Daddy would bring me out there at a very early age. Our family and friends dog hunted from the time I was very young till I was grown. I have some very vivid and great memories being out there hunting with all my family and friends of the family. There will never be be a time like that again when We used to be able to hunt where We wanted to and permits were free or very minimal cost for hunting the land. No gates anywhere just freedom to hunt thousands of acres and enjoy God’s creation.

Started when I was young, dad was a fisherman not a hunter. But He taught us boys how to shoot iron sights with a browning lever action 22 at walnuts in his yard. He’d drop us off to chase squirrel while he fished. We’d limit out and sit. After we brought in a few deer he knew we’d moved on to bigger game. Had family in a club and started with them at about 12. It was a dog club and nice one. Remember meeting up at the club before light to still hunt or wait till about 9 to see who had let a good’n slip by then it was off to the races. 4wheel drives and cb radio was just common everyone had em. Every weekend someone would have a whole deer, hog, or even a fatted calf in a pit that had been on since late Friday evening. Sometimes no one hunted in the evening they just sat around and socialized while us kids played or slipped off to get a chew of tobaccy. Sure has changed in a short time. Where I learned how to drive a 5speed, learned how to swim on the club during work days. It seems it was more about us and less about I back then…

Until I discovered girls, the only thing I knew was hunting. We worked all summer to have money for shells, decoys, and gas. My grandfather was a market hunter when he was young and then went to work as a guide at a big hunting camp. My uncle, dad, me and my younger brother all worked as guides at the same camp. My uncle lived and managed the camp for almost 30yrs. I guided there for 20+ years. I wasn’t worth a crap for much but I knew duck hunting. Today I’d rather take a whipping with a bull whip then go duck hunting. The kids and I pretty much just dove hunt and deer hunt now. I’ve been extremely lucky when it comes to deer hunting and killing good bucks. I’ve killed way more then my share. I just hope I never lose the luck.

I never had anybody teach me anything about deer hunting as a kid. I would get daddys 30-30 and head to the woods and stomp around looking for deer. Saw alot of white tails bounce over hills from the time i was 12 till i was 18. One finally jumped up and stood still. A little basket rack 6pt. Took me six years to get my first shot. Now we have food plots, treestands, feeders, shooting houses, 15x scopes. Ive told my son several times, he really is spoiled when it comes to deer hunting.

I started going with my dad when I was 4-5, didn’t kill my first deer until I was 11( missed a handful of em the previous year). Squirrel hunted most evening after school and daddy or one of his good friends took me deer hunting every chance they could until I was old enough to drive myself. His desire to go dropped off drastically once I could take myself, he used to turkey hunt a little and we went a handful of times when I was younger but can’t remember ever hearing one so I didn’t catch that bug till later in life and pretty much learned on my own. I plan on taking my kids whenever they wanna go just like he did for me and hopefully they enjoy it as much as I do but if they don’t that’s ok too

My dad started me out hunting very young. Don't remember not hunting. Dad raised and trained bird dogs. Weren't any deer 60 years ago. Just small game. Started bow hunting deer 46 years ago in Jackson County. Now we eat up with them. I'm OK with that.