My dad was a hunter and started taking me out at around 7 years old. It was mostly bird hunting where I only carried the birds for him and my bigger brother. He gave me a youth model 20 Ga. to shoot in 5th grade and that kicked off my dove, duck, squirrel, and rabbit hunting. 30-30 lever action in 6th grade and Rem 700 .270 in 7th grade started me on deer hunting but then my family spent three years in Germany where my hunting was put on hold. I hit the jackpot in 1980 when my dad was shipped to command in Alaska where (starting with my senior year in HS) I spent 16 years happily hunting and fishing in AK. Moved to Wisconsin in 1996 where I picked up bowhunting and have been hooked ever since. Now I' m trying to back track all my gun hunting trophies with bowhunting trophies.

The majority of my relatives and my wife' s relatives are hunters.