Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Mentors--hunting and shooting

I reckon it almost always begin with our dad. My dad took me gopher hunting from about age 7 onward, and we had great times sitting in pastures shooting hundreds of gophers. I enjoyed doing this with him for a period of about seven years. My dad didn't hunt game, nor did he hunt predators--and therefore, it was necessary to find an additional mentor who specialized in those endeavors...

I met that person in later 1971. I was introduced to him by a relative who worked for the railroad, and I had heard so many stories about this guy's extraordinary shooting skills, and his ability to hunt wary fox and coyote. For two months I heard these accounts--growing more and more interested in his skillsets every day. The idea of a guy effortlessly hitting fox on the run--even at 300 yards out--was too much. What kind of guy could do that, and what type of rig did he do that with?

The first time my relative and I bagged a fox, we took it over to his home to show it off. It was New Years morning of 1972. A typical January day--very cold. Bill was out laying in his truck--in a bad way, suffering the effects of a New Years Eve party they had at his house, and trying to sleep it off. He'd spent the night in his pickup. When he saw the fox it got his attention, and he was excited for us. We had a great visit, and he welcomed us into the world of predator hunting.

Would imagine there might be a few Campfire members out there that would recognize this fellow--Bill B. Just before he retired, I asked him to bring his rifle to work, and on that day I went down to where he worked and took several pictures of him--and his rifle--the famed Remingtom Model 700 .22-250, with a Balsix B&L scope on deck. The rig is now on it's third barrel, and though Bill can afford any rig--this one is his constant companion, coming out of the rack for every hunt.





Like any young teen, I would go by his place to see him whenever I could. He always took the time to encourage me, and always had an interesting story to tell--usually about a fox or coyote that he had tagged earlier in the day, or during the weekend. There was almost always a few predators laying in his truck--usually bagged early that morning--and often, some nice skinned foxes hanging in the entryway. Seeing that, my imagination would at once go riot, and the desire to hunt those critters became an obsession. I read everything I could get my hands on, and dreamed of having an accurate varmint rifle specifically to swat those crafty canines. Hours were spent studying rifles, scopes, mounts, bullets, handloading, etc. While the teachers would lecture, I would look at the catalogs hidden under my school work, fascinated by the world of hunting and shooting. I wrote in for every catalog I could get, pouring over all the wares. Dreaming. One teacher caught on--he was a hunter too--and subsequently, we had many great visits about hunting whitetails. But back to Bill.

One cold, windy night, I walked the 2 or 3 miles to his house--carrying my Remington Model 700 .270--something a young teen could do back then--and no one gave it a thought, or a care. He was just finishing up dinner, and I asked him if he could help me sight in my rifle. "You bet!" he said. We took his truck and drove it a ways out back, and he lined the headlights up on a gravel pile 50 yards distant. Bill placed a target out there and in a few shots had my rig zeroed--effortlessly. Then, he gave me a careful coaching--talking me through every shot, and I was making the hits. It was almost as if his words would guide the shot to the target. I felt 10 feet tall, and was ready for whitetail. To cap the evening off, he told me some exciting stories about some of the bucks he had shot with his famed .22-250, and I was hopelessly hooked.

I got ready to leave, as it was a school night. It would be a cold walk home in the dark, but the excitement of the moment was too much, and I would not have cared if it was 5 miles. "Hey Jer, I'll give you a lift home--it's cold, and it's getting late." What a collection of memories from those days beginning about 44 years ago. Powerful magic.

Perhaps some of you might have a photo, or a story about your hunting or shooting mentor that you might be inclined to share...

I saw this thread, read it and immediately thought of LCDR Chuck Laipply. He was retired from the USN and was my JROTC instructor all through high school.

He's the one that promoted me to Company Commander and I can't tell you how many hours spent shooting with him in our rifle time. We competed in Postal Matches, and matches in SW Florida.

The best competition was always between us. He really taught me how to shoot well, offhand/knelling and prone. All with open sights.

For some reason I hadn't thought about him since retiring/getting married so this thread reminded me to look him up and I wish I hadn't.

My life was better and hour ago thinking that he was still alive and living a good life somewhere out there. I wish that was the case. Damn it.

Cool story Hi Vel. Love the Rem 700 BDL 22-250 he is holding.

I never had one, as no-one hunted or had guns in my family.

Animals were my mentors as I had access to killing thousands of them. Being inexperienced, I expected animals to fall over dead when I shot them, so when the didn't for any reason, I stepped up to a bigger caliber until I got to the .460 Weatherby.

Along the way I learned to average out the results which told a more accurate story on how cartridges, bullets and velocity differences performed.

Great story Jerry.

In my case, it was an uncle that really helped me out. He mounted and bore sighted my first big game rifle (a Rem 700 270) that I bought with summer wages when I was 14. He later mounted several more scopes for me. As much as the scope mounting, it was really fun to go to his house and show off the new rifle and talk hunting and guns.

He came over one winter day to help me set up a box of stuff marked "RCBS" so I could stuff my own bullets.

Even though I was only a teenager at the time, he treated and talked to me like a fellow adult. For a kid, that means a lot. We had quite a few memorable days chasing whitetail deer. What always amazed me was even though he had killed plenty of animals over the years he was always very excited when either one of us killed a deer. Whether it was a nice buck or a doe, he appreciated the animal just the same.

My mentor was my dad, but he couldn't keep up with my burgeoning shooting interests after about age 14. Luckily I fell in with a guy who took the job of asst. scoutmaster in our troop who was a true rifle loony. He got me set up with my first .22 target rifle, a M52A Speed Lock we got for a song, with a Lyman 48 on it, and like Steelhead, got me involved in postal matches and then the HS rifle team. (I actually took the gun back and forth to school on the school bus.) His attention to my "technical needs" coupled with my dad's attention to my "hunting" needs got me through my teenage years even with the major distractions of girls, cars, and beer.

Kenny is in his mid-70's now and still in good shape and still shooting a bit. I stop in and see him every couple months when I'm in town, for a couple beers and reminiscing about the good old days. Sometimes we even go out back and shoot .410s at pigeons and starlings while his wife cooks supper and staves off the semi-angry phone calls from the neighbors...

Hi Vel -

My Dad started me with a BB gun shooting birds in the yard. From that it progressed to squirrel hunting and he bought me a J C Higgins bolt action 410. We got into quail hunting and I was beating him with that 410 and he was using a W- M 50 12 ga.

Somewhere (?) @ age 9 Dad borrowed a sporterized 303 British from a family friend. He stood it up by the door to go deer hunting the next AM. That rifle was the best looking gun I had ever seen. THAT alone built a fire in me for CF rifles.

From the time I left home at age 17 there was no one else to mentor me. I wiggled and squirmed my way into Deer hunting and into varmint shooting all on my own.

By the time I was 24 yo, I was doing the mentoring to friends, Rifles, handguns, varmints, & deer hunting.

In 1981 I acquired my first 'chronograph', an Oehler 33. I only know personally ONE friend who got a chrono AFTER I moved from his community.

I have shown the graph box and screen board (bracket/whatever) to many hunting friends over the years and NOT ONE of them knew what it was.

My first mentor was my Dad. I can remember getting a BB gun for Christmas when I was 4 and my Mom raising Cain that I was too young.

Dad grew up on a homestead in Idaho's Lemhi Valley. Hunting and shooting were a part of everyday life and he enjoyed it with his brothers. He served in the Marine Corp, first as an Assistant DI and later as an officer in WWII and later in Korea.

At 4 years of age I can remember him teaching me the safe shooting methods and going with him to his deer lease. In those days, the county commissioners set the limits and the state set the start date - Nov. 15.

I shot my first deer with a 30 carbine with my Dad right by my side. My Dad, and later his brothers, taught me much about the outdoors both here in Texas and in the mountains of Idaho. But I was hooked from the time I got my first BB gun.

As the third verse of the Marine Hymn states, 'Should the Army and Navy Ever look on Heaven's scenes, they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines'. My Dad is one of those guarding the streets.

I am now able to 'Pay it Forward' to a young man that I consider my Grandson. I started teaching him firearms safety when he was only 3. I started him shooting with a little 22 that same year, right before he turned 4 (in January).
That fall his Dad took him out on stand and let him shoot his first deer. He was SO excited he had to call me from the stand. When I got there, he ran to me and gave me a HUGE hug and started telling me all about his hunt.

He's now 5 and I've given him one of my rifles to hunt with. His Dad has told him it's 'big enough to shoot an Axis with' so he's more than ready to go.

If you are NOT paying it forward in some shape, form or fashion, you are NOT doing your part to extend our heritage OR support the 2nd Amendment. The youngsters of today, the neighbors you introduce to the shooting sports and hunting, THEY are the future. Do your part and Pay it Forward!

My dad planted the seed for having a passion of hunting. He started me on dove, quail and rabbit as a kid but he had never hunted big game.

A friend of mine and his dad got me interested in deer hunting but there was a catch. Deer season coincided with the busiest time of the year for my dad and his career. He was a wholesale liquor distributor and Christmas was when he worked weekends keeping liquor stores inventory up.

Therefore, Dad never had time for me during the November/December timeframe. I become friends with a farmer a mile down the road from Mom and Dad's who had a 500 acre dairy farm. Dad would take me to the farm at daybreak and drop me off at the dairy barn and I would hunt until lunch when Mom would come pick me up. I always told Dad someone would be with me hunting but many days I was on my own. The dairy farmer would hunt with me some and showed me how to field dress and process game. I think of him a lot these days and am always grateful for him taking the time in showing me the ropes as well as my Dad introducing me to the sport.

What I wouldn't give to go back to a simpler time when there were no cell phones, laptops and hunting was almost out my back door.

My uncle Mike. He took me rabbit hunting when I was so young he carried me on his shoulders most of the day. I couldn't wait for him to come home from Vietnam so we could go hunting. When he got home he brought me a handmade pair of kid sized jump boots he got over there. He started me on an old BB gun and over the years we have hunted all over the Western US and been together for many adventures. He taught me woods craft, tracking, skinning, camp cooking and hunting ethics. We spend nearly every weekend together from September 1st to the end of February tying to kill something.

Perry

reading through these stories has been really great--and they make the very best material to read--and reflect on.

it is these early experiences that shape us into what we'll be...



Scott: mentors sure have a powerful effect on us. when i learned in 1992 that one of my other mentors had passed, i went into the "boar's nest" about 11pm, and sat on the floor in the dark, reliving many of the memories--as a type of salute to him--concerning many of the things he taught me.


gerrygoat: thank you for those good words. that rifle would be a great thing to own, and as a teenager, for me it was a thing of magic. he was the guy who started me on fixed 6X scopes, and i bought my first one in 1974.


Aussiegunwriter: my good friend Savage and i were discussing some of the great hunters. he surprised me when he said, "the greatest hunters are those we know nothing about, such as the natives in many specific lands."


Lonny: thank you for the good words. a .270 at age 14, from a summer's work? that sounds very familiar! when i read the part about the box marked RCBS, it gave me a real boost, as i remember buying my stuff from a guy who wanted to move up to a rock chucker press--so he sold me everything he had--for $42.00


gnoahhh: our experiences sounded really similar, as both our dad's were only able to whet our appetite--and at age 14 the engines are revving, and much more was called for. i too, used to ride a bus--a greyhound--as a teenager, to meet friends in another town a 140 miles distant, and the rifle was right there on the seat beside me. what days those were.


jwall: the mention of the 303 british grabbed my attention, as my uncle had one too. he used to hunt and trap out on the farm back in the 1930's. that rig had a lot of wear. after a mentor gets us going, we really are on our own, as it's a journey--filled with hills and valleys--but few of us would part with a single one of them. a steep learning curve...


Bbear: a great read, and the .30 carbine on the deer is truly utilitarian--and all it takes to light the spark. i can picture that scene in my mind's eye. when you mentioned "paying it forward", i realized that since my son is long gone--living across the country--and since i retired from construction and am no longer around younger guys trying to make their way--i've really been lax in that area, and need to get back in the saddle again. a good reminder for all of us...


devnull: those early times with our fathers are magic. unfortunately, they are often too busy trying to make a living to feed us, and because of that, cannot take things to a higher level. that's where the mentors come in--and they might be the people we least expect at first sight. what you said about the cell phones, etc., is something i feel the same way about.


PWN: you were fortunate to have an uncle like that, and to come home from there and grab the reins--in order to mentor you--is very fine medicine. my brother had a friend--Myron E., just back from viet nam. once back, we still shared a few hunts together--they were good times indeed.



here is another photo of Bill with his favorite rifle;

Hi Vel,
Thanks for the response. I look at my son and hope that he has the passion and fire in wanting to love the outdoors like I did and still do. At almost 11 years old, he seems to have a take it or leave it approach. If he shows a true interest as he gets older, you can bet I'll be scheduling some hunts with him. To me, it's all about keeping the sport alive and introducing newcomers to the sport. It's our heritage and I refuse to think we have "progressed" beyond the desire to hunt.

My dad and my grandfather were always my mentors in shooting. My dad taught me to use a tight sling to hold the rifle steady and also different shooting positions. He bought me my first big game hunting rifle when I was 12 years old. It was an 11 pound heavy target barreled sporterized m1917 chambered in the good ol 30-06. My grandfather started me off on my left side since he figured I was left eye dominant and naturally left handed before I was 5 years old. Never hunted with my dad, as he was mainly a target shooter. Never hunted with my grandfather, so my hunting mentor has to be my boss. We've hunted together for 10 years now. He's a hell of an elk hunter and has taught me a lot. Mainly how to get those critters even in a 3% hunters success unit

Granddad was my primary mentor in teaching me how to shoot, much more so than my father. His name was Howard Rogers.

When I moved to Colorado my state Farm agent took me under his wing for my first couple of big game hunts, both for elk. His name was Roger Howard.

Aside from some common sense safety suggestions from my family, I had nobody to mentor me. I had to learn what I know the hard way, involving a lot of failures.
I have made a point of passing along the things I have learned to as many young guys as possible because I know how difficult it is to learn without help.
Those of you who had someone were fortunate and thankfully you are aware of the great gift you were given.

Coyote Hunter -

Howard Rogers-------Roger Howard



Funny how some things turn out!

I guess I'm opposite of most on here when it comes to big game hunting. My father did introduce me to small game hunting when I was young, but he didn't kill his first deer until he was in his 60s - with one of my rifles! I didn't kill my first deer until I was 36.

Most of my mentoring came from NMSSHOOTER on here. Our families have known each other all our lives. I remember when he was born - and I was already driving. He got me into reloading several years ago, and has been my main hunting partner since. He also taught me how to dress and process my own game. We've both learned a lot about long range hunting and shooting from this site, and I hope to be able to pass on what I've learned to some younger hunters some day.

Jerry, here's one you might not have seen of Bill and I out after some lake trout on Ft. Peck a few years back...

Consider myself lucky to call him one of the best friends I've ever had.

Back in the day, Bill taught me how execute running shots on fox and coyotes...when it came to that, he was in a class all alone. Some of the shots I saw him make back then are still crystal clear in my minds eye, and I'm still amazed. We made a hunt together 30 or so years ago in The Northwest Territories for Dall Sheep. After a grueling all afternoon stalk on a bunch of eight rams, we finally got within range. As we were laying there picking out the two best rams, the wind changed, and the rams spooked, taking off full bore across the talus. Bill had his ram picked out, and made a perfect broadside running shot at about 200 yards. A moment later, I connected on my ram with him just about to disappear over the ridge forever, with a running shot as well....those lessons taught of yesteryear sure came together then...and I thanked him, over, and over. So did the guide who was completely dumbfounded at what he just saw.



A pair of hard earned rams...

So Very Nice !

Wonderful Story !!

My dad allowed me to get a 22 and 20ga shotgun as my interest in guns and hunting grew in me at an early age, mostly from reading magazines and Jack O'Conner.
My dad had me fishing (his favorite outdoor pastime) since before I could walk.
So my interest spurred his a bit and we spent many hours shooting my 22 together and hunting squirrels, rabbits and pheasants.
As it turned out he was always the better fisherman and I the better shot.
I still have the only gun he ever bought for himself... a Rem 870 plain barrel mod choke. I remembered how much he complained about spending $90 dollars for a shotgun!!
That 870 accounted for countless small game, and I still use it as a remembrance of the good times in the field we had together.
All my shooting and reloading skills were self taught by doing lots of reading and my main mentor as far as an author would be Ken Waters...I always wished I could have met him or talked to him, I was always impressed by the loading saavy and various guns cartridges that he would write about.