I grew up in Miami, Florida - right in the middle of the city, working-class residential neighborhood. I think I must have had hunting in my blood, though, because I pestered my parents for a BB gun until they finally got me one when I was 8 years old. I immediately began hunting - shooting lizards and iguanas in our backyard. I probably shot hundreds, if not thousands of lizards by the time I was 14 and my family moved to Ohio. A good way for a kid to hone basic marksmanship skills on live creatures.

In Ohio I graduated to groundhogs & rabbits with a .22 or shotgun, then to deer. Started bowhunting when I was 28, and now pretty much exclusively use a bow or muzzleloader for deer and turkey.