Predominantly self taught , plus I take every opportunity that comes my way to learn from others to fill in the gaps . I came from a family with only a couple of hunters(uncles) , none have shared much and don't seem to grasp the concept of mentoring . It took me six years to get my first deer .

I am 100% self taught. My father doesn't hunt but loves venison. My brothers would never consider it.I am the only one in my ENTIRE (relatives included) that hunts.

OJT by sneaking to the woods at age 8 with a 22. Some from my brother and the rest was trial and error long before all the TV "Experts" told me how.[8D]

My father..... Still the "luckiest" hunter I've ever known...... Just seems to have a nack for picking the EXACT tree to be in!

Great replies guys...

Mostly my dad. But this forum has also helped me alot.

I learned the majority of what I know from Huntingnet.com. Without this site I would hardly know a thing about hunting. I do not know much, I have not even seen a deer while hunting my stands, but I know enough to have a good time.

I have always wanted to hunt, but never had the opportunity. One day my father called and told me he bought twenty acres of land.I was nervous, but I knew what I wanted to do. I built up the courage to ask ifI could possibly hunt on it.No one in my family hunts, so it was a question thatseemed far-fetched. To my suprisehe said yes. I have never been so excited in my life.I immediately logged on the internet and searched for hunting sites, which is whereI found huntingnet.com.

I am not fortunate enough to be supplied with money, so I had to work for what I wanted. I did some research and finally started an online Ebay business selling bird cages.I saved up enough money to buy a bow and that is where it all began.

I practiced with my PSE Fire-Flight 33 for four hours each day. I saved up enough money to buy a stand and started practicing. Hunting season finally rolled along andI went. I was determined to get a deer opening day, but I realized it was much harder than I thought.

I spent countless hours on huntingnet.com asking what went wrong. I realized that deer hunting was almost an art, requiring one to scout months ahead. I have not seen a deer while hunting the past two seasons in my area, but I have been blessed with a hunting trip in north Mississippi in which I saw my first deer.

As you can see, I am not a very fortunate hunter. I do not have any guides to help me scout for areas to hunt. I spend most of my time online researching what to do.

With the help of you guys, I have learned to hunt.

Hang in there zak123, your best years are yet to come but it sounds by your post your full of the spirit of the hunt and are already having a great time....keep it up and I look forward to reading of your first deer....be sure to have a camera along because I want to see it regardless of antlers or gender. YOU ROCK!.

Like alot of guys here, I was introduced by my father, but also my mother. I shot my first deer sitting on a stand with my mom. I like to say I was born in July, and my mom toted me to the blind in November... hehe... maybe it wasn't that quick, but there's a picture somewhere of my mom changing my diaper in a blind. My dad tought me how to hunt. Where to look, what to look for. He tought me patients in the field, and respect for our quarry, and the land we treaded. We would go out as a family, and hunt as a family. My mom was a rifle hunter, and killed many bucks that would make us all weak kneed.

Bowhunting, she left to me and my dad, but my mom would sit in a box blind nearby when I started bowhunting at 10(legal age to hunt alone is 12 in Texas). Even as she was battling the cancer that claimed her 2 yrs later, she refused to stay home, and wanted to go with my dad and I. The next year she was truely too sick to go, but insisted that Dad and I go. She passed away in October, 1999, my senior year of HS.

Since I graduated, paying rent and gettin by have replaced hunting, fishing, and recreation. (I've been Hunting twice, fishing once, and sold my bow to put supper on the table when I was out of a job)But now that I'm married, and my wife and I are looking to start our own family, I look back on those years spent outdoors with my mom and dad, and hope Rachel and I can do that for our children.

My dad and I havn't talked much since high-school. Me being the prodigal son and all. I've been making a concerted effort to make sure we go fishing and hunting as often as possible, even though we live 5 hours apart, and he works crazy hours.

Sorry for the longo-tello guys... didn't mean for it to be that much.

I think I speak for most folks here when I say that hunting is more than a sport. More than killing... its relationships... Hunting is a spectacular experience to begin with, but it's the time afield with parents, children, friends, and neighbors, in God's outdoors, participating in nature... that's what defines hunting memories...

Zak ,Davoh excelent stories!!You guys wrote excelent post's,Zak I'll bet if you plant something in yourehunting area that deer like you will have them everywhere.