This will be my 4th full season of bow hunting and i am still certainly learning that is for sure. As for how i got into hunting, i have always loved the outdoors, my parents live on a 120 acre piece of land with a 30 acre pond on it, so i grew up exploring my little piece of heaven. I was also fortunate that my father has a passion for big game fishing for billfish. That being said, i have been extremely fortunate to have fished most of the major ports of the world by the young age of 25. By 22 i had caught all 9 species of billfish in the world and was the 18th person to ever accomplish this as well as being the youngest to ever do it by atleast 23 years. Big game fishing is my main passion in life, but it takes a great deal of time. To kill time between trips, i took up hunting. Now i love hunting almost as much as i do big game fishing. No one in my family hunts, so i more or less taught myself through trial and error, reading up on it as well as learing through various people i have met over the last 4 years, as well as going on hunting trips. One thing i have learned through my years of fishing and hunting is the second you think you know everything about it, then your growth as a hunter/fisherman has ended and you have reached your potential. Try to learn something every time your out in the woods and make the most out of every situation. Also dont be afraid to try to go against the grain and try something out of the ordinary.

Doing almost every mistake in the book and then not repeating them!

Just like fishing you meet some great people who are willing to take you under their wing. I've had the chance to hunt with some great hunters over the past few years.

My dad taught me everything I know about whitetail hunting, and that is a lot. I honestly think he is one of the top whitetail hunters in the country...seriously. He can go anywhere new and be in big bucks in no time, it is really phenominal. Elk and mule deerhe introduced me too, but I went off on my own early and have been "doing it my way" ever since. Caribou I figured out on my own also, but dad was there too and of course he tagged out before I got my first one. I definitely would say that I would not be near the hunter I am today without my dad taking such an interest in me hunting when I was young. I hope he helps me teach my son (5 months old) because he stills knows a lot more than I do.

I had no chance being born to one of the greatest bowhunters of all time.
Jim Dougherty wanted all of his kids to go through the things that deer do that screw up your mind during the rut...LOL.We wouldn't have it any other way.I couldn't imagine being born to somebody who didn't hunt.We would have sure missed out on something that now screws us up from October - December!

Somone in my church brought me when I was like 9-10 . Without this guy I probably would never have been introduced tohunting. I am now 16 and have 4 seasons under my belt and I have learned alot from reading, watching, this forum, ect. Note: I onlyhave 2 deer to show for those 4 years but I guess that goes to show that it takes paitience and a willingness to learn. Anyway I would like to thank the man who got me into this obsession.

I am still learning...!!!

What you meant to say was "Justin taught me everything I know!"











(which is probably why we never kill any big bucks. )

Self taught mostly.It has only been in the last 11 or 12 years that my knowledge level has escalated.Between my passion for reading everything deer I can get my hands on and all the hours spent in the woods and having had the privelege to hunt with and learn from three exceptional hunters,two of which are my closest friends.They saw my fire and they have helped me along.The one gentleman is an absolutely fantastic teacher,his greatest joy is in figuring an animal out or figuring out how game is likely to use an area.The why behind the deer sign so to speak.YEs the sign is here but why,why is all the sign headed in a particular direction?The best aspect of all of this is the freindship and the shared enthusiasm.We are all as happy with one anothers success as we are our own.Like others have said you learn the most from the animals themselves.It is all about observation and application.

Nobody in my family hunted. It was my buddy Tom who introduced me to grouse hunting when I was 18. His Dad had sparked him on it a few years earlier, but from that point on it was pretty much just the two of us on our own.

A few years later, he talked me into trying deer hunting.

From there, we proceeded to try everything we ever heard about, and make almost every mistake one could make. I still remember when we discovered camoflauge!

It's been an 18 year process that continues today. But I can honestly say that it was my decision to start bowhunting back in '98 that turned me into what I would call a successful hunter.

"It is the wisest man who realizes that he knows nothing."

Boy does that seem so true, I have hunted now since I was of legal age 12. I will turn 32 this july so if my math is correct I have hunted now for 20 years not counting this comming fall. With each year I do realize how much I learned and how much I don't know yet and need to learn. But I guess thats good becasue if we did know it all then it wouldn't be much fun would it?