I grew up watching my dad and brother hunt together, I couldnt wait until I was 12, the age when my dad said I could hunt. My step-dad and mom also hunted, and they said Icould hunt if I could pass hunters safety course.....I did that at age 9, so on opening day at age 9, Ishot my first deer ever with my single shot 20g....a six point. It was the happiest day in my life, and I knew I would be hooked from then on.I got my first bow (a highcountry) that year, and it took me 3 years to arrow my first deer. My dad stopped hunting when I stated, because he was "too busy" so I could only hunt with my step-dad, and he taught me everything about deer I know. He always used to put me in the best spots that would produce the most deer. now that I am older, he lets me try to find those spots.....its alot harder then it loooks!
I too was taught not to shoot anything unless I was going to eat it, with the exceptions of them danged ground hogs in the back yard that tear the yard up and the muscrats that dig the holes under our bank in the pond......I am very thankfull for this, because it is just wrong to kill one of God's creatures for no reason at all!