Hey guys,

I just got to thinking about hunting and beginners. I was just wondering how many guys on here learned everything about archery hunting by themselves, or, did you have people there helping you?

My father and grandfather both use to archery hunt, but, they stopped before I started so I pretty much learned everything by myself. My bestfriend was in the same situation. Nobody in his family archery hunted at all. So, we learned together. We took our experiences, the good and the bad, and used these to learn and grow as archery hunters. I won' t say that I never had any help from my dad or my grandfather, as they were there, and, I could ask them questions, but, most of the time, the answers were short and not in depth.

Now, I have seen people who have had no clue about hunting when they started. Nobody to help them. They were learning by themselves. I had one friend from school who was like this. Nobody in his family hunted, but, he wanted to archery hunt. He got a bow, treestand, camo, ect.. I invited him out to one of the areas that I hunt. We went to the landowners house and talked to him, and he said that it would be fine for my friend to hunt his property. Well, season started and he was out there hunting. One evening I got a call, he had just shot a doe and needed help tracking it. Well, I went out and the trail was bad, tiny drops of blood every once-in-awhile. Well, I helped him track that deer until I had to go home. He had two of his friends with him the next day looking for that deer. They never found it. A few days later, same thing happens, I helped him look for awhile, then we packed out to let the deer alone over-night, next morning him and his friends were there and nothing. Probablly a week after that, I get another call, this time he shot a buck and needed help. Well, I went out there to find the same type of trail. He kept saying that he " got a perfect shot" but, I knew that he didn' t put it through the boiler room. I just asked him " where did you hit" and he said " it hit him perfect, right in front of the front shoulder like I do with my gun" I had no clue that he didn' t know where to aim, I just kinda figured that if he was hunting, he would have known that. I explained to him why that is a bad shot, where to aim, and all that good stuff. Well, at the end of the season, he was finally able to harvest a doe. He waited on the right shot and he knew where to put the arrow.

I just wanted to see which category you fell into.



1. No help at all

2. No hands on help but some vocal help

3. Hands on help

I' m a #2.

My grandfather was an avid hunter. He would give me all types of advice but he always wanted me to jump into the woods and learn myself. I' d always share my experiences with him and he' d provide input. He was a gun hunter. I picked up bow hunting on my own. It was something I wanted to try after seeing it on TV.

Hey Buck Magnet...

I learned everything about shooting that old PSE lefty bow that I got off Ebay from all you guys on here! See my dad never bowhunted. He passed away last year, May 2002 at 80 yrs old. He hunted way back in the 50' s, 60' s, and then again around 1982-1983 or so, before finally hanging it up. Sadly, I never got the opportunity to hunt with him. Went fishing thousands of times, but never hunting.

I read so many posts from people and followed the advice from the guy in the bow shop, and just started out on my own.

Butch

#3

I had my Dad to teach me everything. However, I' ve spent the last couple years, trying to break some of that teaching. Not that it was bad teaching, but more of a one way to do things method. Trying to hunt bigger older bucks, just didn' t fly with his hunting style.

I am between 1 and 2.
Did 80% by my self, but had friends who archery hunted that i could ask questions and such of.

My dad taught be a ton about hunting. He had only shot one deer with a bow (and a lot with a gun), but I learned a lot about bowhunting and deer in general. So, my dad taught me the most about hunting.

Good post Jason.

My Mother got me into archery when I was 5 but she never thought I would actually use a bow and arrow to hunt with.

As far as help with hunting goes I done it all on my own. My father never hunted or fished and no relatives that hunted.

i would say that i am right in between a 1 and a 2 50 by myself and 50 from vocal help and infomation from the guys from the board thanx alot

learned rifle from dad. all about hands on.

archery i learned bymeslf and from this board. so i guess no hands on, but vocal help.

Good Post, Buck Magnet!

#3

My Grandfather taught me a lot about nature in general.

My Dad took me fishing, hunting, and shooting rifle, pistol, and archery.

I had a friend in college who was BIG into hunting and fishing. I learned a lot from him too.

My mentor and best friend for the first 22 years of my career taught me more about hunting, especially about ethics and small game hunting. Also taught me the value of hard work and persistence.