Who was your mentor (regarding guns, hunting, etc.) ?

[jessej]

Also had a little help from a feller named Don Geraci

 

[WildRose]

I'll start. My Dad.

My earliest recollection of being around guns, reloading, etc was sitting in Dad's lap blowing out primer residue after he scraped the pocket with a Grace screw driver ('63-'64). It is remarkably efficient.

He had a bedroom dedicated to his hunting goods, 3'x3' reloading table, five or six sets of dies, a C&H press and a powder scale. The cartridges were .22LR, .243, .270, 30-06, .38 Special, 44-40, 44 magnum. All were rifle cartridges except the .38 which was a S&W Combat Masterpiece, 4" barrel. The 22LR was a cut down Model 75 Target model with a sporter stock. The .243 was a Mexican Mauser (1910) with a Browning barrel and a Weatherby styled stock and a K4, .270 was a Husqvarna 1600/1640 with a custom stock, 21" Douglas barrel and a Leupold 3-9x42 attached by Weaver mounts, .30-06 was Model 70 FWT with a K3. Both of the 44's were rebarreled 94s with 18" Douglas barrels.

We shot weekly. Mostly 22LR which was used to conserve powder.

I'll post a little more later.

Homer Johnson from Elbert, Texas circa 1972.

The most natural athlete, hunter, shooter, and fisherman I've ever known.

He's halfway between my and my dad's age and was one of my dad's closest friends for life and remains as one of mine.

Even at his current age and physical issues he's still an inspiration because he will still get up and get after it ever day and probably still outshoot most of us on any given day.

 

[birddog 68]

I am in the other camp, unfortunately. No one taught me anything, and I have had to learn everything for myself through trial and error. Some lessons seem to have stuck better this way, but others I have completely missed.

Another self taught here. I learned lots about reloading from books (still learning) but hunting it's been mostly trial and error with mostly errors for the first years.

 

[backwoodsshooter]

the internet, me, myself and I

 

[PlumberEd]

My Dad encouraged me but he was not a hunter. My cousin (also my next door neighbor) and I started hunting together when we were 12 or 13. I also read a lot magazine articles and books and made a ton of mistakes.

 

[RedRabbit]

I am pretty much self-taught reading magazines and books back in the 80s and 90s. My dad did not hunt or fish.

 

[Critter Picker]

My dad took me out from age 5 to about 8 or 9. He passed away when I was 10.

My uncle took me squirrel, pheasant, and duck hunting after dad passed away. He was a reloader, and my inspiration.

I bought my first .22 with money from a paper route when I was 12 or 13. My mother had to tell the gun shop owner that it was OK for me to buy it. A friend and I would go to the Holiday gas station and wash windows (they were the first self service station in town) for the stamps they gave out. You got 1 page of stamps for each gallon of gas. For $.09 and 4 pages of stamps we could buy a 50 round box of .22 LR Federal HP ammo. After 68 we would have to get mom to buy them for us.

We would do our morning paper routs and ride our bikes out hunting every weekend. We still see each other occasionally, but we live 400 miles away from each other.

 

[WYOHTF]

I have a lot of respect for all the folks who have taught themselves or should i say had enough gumption to get out and get started on their own.

I didn't have it that way. Had a pellet gun way younger than I should have, Marlin .22 lr too. I was involved in the outdoors from an infant, it's just what we did.

Camping, outdoor cooking, smoking meats and fish, canning, reloading…. etc., all those things were just a part of life. I have my parents and grandparents to thank for all that.

Guns and reloading goes clearly to my dad and grandpa. They taught me a lot

 

[NW Hunter]

My Dad and my Uncle Nick taught me the basics as a little boy.
Dad was a Gunner's Mate 2 in the Coast Guard. He would run the big guns on his ship and was in charge of the depth charge runs. He taught me the importance of safety and how to fine tune my trigger control with my 30-30 Lever Action model 94. My darn brother has it!
They lit my fire with wild and wonderful stories around the campfire.
My hunting partner of 30 years just woke up from a coma after cancer surgery and a heart attack in the hospital. Mike is as tough as they come. He taught me not to take myself so seriously and to loosen up to have fun. Still hoping to get him out in the woods.

 

[cornshank]

I have a lot of respect for all the folks who have taught themselves or should i say had enough gumption to get out and get started on their own.

I didn't have it that way. Had a pellet gun way younger than I should have, Marlin .22 lr too. I was involved in the outdoors from an infant, it's just what we did.

Camping, outdoor cooking, smoking meats and fish, canning, reloading…. etc., all those things were just a part of life. I have my parents and grandparents to thank for all that.

Guns and reloading goes clearly to my dad and grandpa. They taught me a lot

 

[xsn10s]

I am in the other camp, unfortunately. No one taught me anything, and I have had to learn everything for myself through trial and error. Some lessons seem to have stuck better this way, but others I have completely missed.

I'm partly in this camp too. Dad wasn't into firearms so I was mostly self taught until I got training in my late teens. Then I went into the Army and got more training there. When I got out I went back and received more training from active and retired LE which will mostly remain nameless.

 

[coop2564]

My Uncle. I got my dad into hunting.