How long have you been hunting?

Been hunting for 35+ years.
Started on possums with traps.
Still remember carting a cage trap way up the back at Nanas then going back the next day to see what I had, Yeah got a possum..... now what....no gun, all I had was a bit of string & a knife....got it sorted :D
Caught heaps of possums when I was 11-12, even kept some alive in Nanas averies so I could get 1st grade skins, earnt heaps & bought a ten speed with all the fruit for $269 :cool:
Still remember shooting my first Hare at 14 with my Uncles 22, can remember exactly where, hard case after all these years.
Same with my first Deer at about 18-19.

Still remember going with Dad after Hares, bloody hard keeping up with 6'3" when you are wee

Theres one Dad, "no it's a bit of wood".......Nek Minit "Hey Dad the bit of wood is running away" :D

Dad got shot when he was about 19 so I wasn't really encouraged to go hunting much.:oh noes:

bowt a year and a hlf or a bit longer!:cool:and i enjoy learning new shit as much as taking an animal.

Geez just over 50years now starting with a Diana air rifle all those yrs ago.rabbits opposums, deer,pigs and birds,life in the Wairarapa was good for a yung guy,then into collecting,pistol shooting.now mostly just black powder and rim fire. Still burns me, nothing like a nice firearm of any type or calibre in your hands. The good thing about getting old is you can afford better gear and more of it

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Originally Posted by Maca49

Still burns me, nothing like a nice firearm of any type or calibre in your hands. The good thing about getting old is you can afford better gear and more of it

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+1 :thumbsup:

Born 1961 CHCh was helping neighbor down the Rd 1972 shooting rabbits by the heaps for two years till he found chickeybabes and deserted me. He sold skins I shot while he drove highly naughty now but you could drive all night then and struggle to see another car . Cust West Ereyton Swannanoa we haunted the old west coast road and owned it 13 Yrs ago move to Waikato met great people got retrained have not stopped since Ducks Deer Pests it just doesn't stop and now we get asked to come do pest control a couple times a year pigeons and peacocks and rabbits and Turkys and possums . You just keep learning and enjoying Highlight helping mates young fella get two deer recently....

I'm very envious with you guys that were brought up with firearms of some description.

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Originally Posted by gadgetman

I'm very envious with you guys that were brought up with firearms of some description.

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I wasn't GM step dad had no interest in me but lucky to have great mates That's what makes things happen!!

Yup shooting rats at the Orewa Dump with a 22 air rifle at midnite on the way north surfing in the early 70's

I dont really know how long I've been hunting but at a guess I'd say all my life, 50 yrs so far.
I was born into a hunting family and we lived on a back country sheep station which bordered the Mohaka so hunting access was right on the back door step.
My father was a mad keen pig hunter and deer stalker and so was most of my realitives and all those who lived in our area.
I got my first rilfe when I was 8.
A stephens single shot .22.
This was confiscated the next day when mum caught us shooting pegs off the clothes line.. while the clothes were still attached.
Dad was also on the Rabbit Board as a part time worker for over 20yrs so as a kid we did lots of night shooting.
I hope to be able to hunt for the rest of my life too.

Im 32, been hunting on and off over the last 10 years. Not lots, night shoot for rabbits, wallabies, hares and possums. Only started on deer etc 4 years ago, with a 3 year break while on my OE. So all up jack shit. We take hunting pretty low key. More about hanging with the boys for the weekend. Bit of 4wd, 'tramping with guns' sort of hunting. Seen a hind once :pacman:

i went rabbit shooting like many of the forum members as a young fella, not exactly sure when i shot my first rabbit, shot my first goat at aged 10 and first fallow deer at age 13. I got my firearms licence as close to my 16th birthday as i could and shot a deer that evening. I've held my firearms licence for 20 years now, and i've moved back down to Tapanui where my hunting obsession started. I should be able to get back into a bit of bush stalking on the blue mountains as i seem to have turned into a bush edge stalker as i was living in the north island for the last 17 years.

Life is good when hunting is this close.

Have had the bug since I was 10, started out with a 25lb recurve bow and half a dozen wooden arrows. Knocked over a few rabbits with it too then when I was about11 I discovered my brother using dads .22 and I was hooked. Shot my first deer (a Sika 4 pointer) when I was 13 with some help from one of dads mates (ex culler). have been hunting every chance I get since. Had a break for a few years when I was 23 due to a serious m/bike accident. So have been hunting for about 25 years or so now. Going camping with the kids in a few days, and gonna try sneak out for a hunt with my brother, would have gone earlier, but my finger had a run in with large kitchen knife a few days before christmas, and I ended up with 4 stitches which kinda put a damper on the whole thing.

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My hunting / fishing journey started prior to 71, my grandfather used to take me out duckshooting and fly fishing. I have great memories riding around in his old Mayfair knocking over a brace of ducks or watching him land a trout. The smell of his wood smoker. My own father has never been interested in the hunting / fishing side of life so the seed was planted by my grandfather

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Originally Posted by Alpinehunter0

would have gone earlier, but my finger had a run in with large kitchen knife a few days before christmas, and I ended up with 4 stitches which kinda put a damper on the whole thing.

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Bloody dangerous things Kitchen Knives. Especially when they are blunt.

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Originally Posted by Rushy

Bloody dangerous things Kitchen Knives. Especially when they are blunt.

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only just sharpened it rushy the only thing that stopped it coming right off was when it hit bone