Who got you started on "Out door" stuff.

[hunter63]

Didn't want to steal the "when" thread......but I do wonder, Why, and Who.

Seems to always be the "I wanna go live in the wilderness".....and make you wonder where this comes from.
Lots of fancies out there I think.

Location?....Rural, urban?
Lifestyle?.....Outdoors/...Inside pursuits?
Family?......father, brothers, grand fathers?
Friends?...or friends family?
Organizations.....Scouts, 4 H?
Military......training?
Or just a personnel desire....which I believe is the biggie here......My brother was brought up the same, but actually spent more time with MF, yet has no interest in the out doors at all......

Lots of single parent families it seems, and sadly the male figure may not be around.....saw quite a few at hunters safety course....and you know that they will have a tough time getting out to hunt.

I gonna say, and I realize that this will be skewed as who ever looks at this is already interested in the out doors/self reliance on way or the other.

Personnely I'm gonna say presonnel desire.......father/grandfather...for the inspiration.....even though that was limited....., and friends for support and experience.....organizations for bringing some discipline and planning into it.

[jhnnymwr75]

For me its personal desire, and I got myself into it with some influence from the all my camping trips with friends and family of coarse. But every chance I got to learn from someone there was a catch I wasn't willing to take part in.

[Sarge47]

This is a great question! I firmly believe that there is something inside us that will either embrace the outdoors or not want anything to do with it, depending on the person. I've known people who were put right in the middle of some of the most beautiful outdoors environment imaginable in Colorado...and totally hated it! I've known others that came out of the inner city of Chicago and found a deep love for the Pine woods of Wisconsin. Go figure. As soon as I hit the woods I realized that it was going to have to be a big part of my life...and the rest just followed along. I never really got out and went camping until I was in Job Corps in Wisconsin. That was the beginning of a great and eternal bonding! I'd been involved in outings in the past, but nothing like that! So I would have to credit a certain Vista Worker named "Bob" for getting me really started out. :detective:

[Winnie]

Twofold answer, I was raised in the country and spent my formative years with my Dad doing allsorts of outdoorsy stuff. Camping?, well that honour goes to Mrs Briggs, The Brownie Pack Brown Owl. I'd never been in a tent before Brownies. It was Fab!

[oldtrap59]

As for me I started my life in a small town in NE Iowa. My dad was one of those old boys that kept himself fed through the depression hunting, fishing and trapping most of the time. After he had found a regular job, fought a war, married my mom and had a son (me) he still had many of those same interests. I can still remember being tied to his belt loop when I was very young along the riverbank. So that's the way I grew up. Along the river and in the woods of NE Iowa hunting, fishing and trapping. Many times on extended trips for long weekends or when he had vacation we'd be out for a few days or maybe a week camping along with whatever the time of year called for. My interest thus started very early in life. Being from that time I also found the scouts to be very interesting. In my late teens I also entered the Army where I was shown how to survive 62 days of hell before being sent off to the real survivial school. I have to say though that if the desire wasn't there I would have become a couch tater years ago. I enjoy the outdoors. I enjoy the life that the wife and I lead. (country not off grid) I also enjoy seeing pix of my son and grandson on the lake or riverbank. Yes,the rope in the belt loop still works after 3 generations and Dad would be proud I think.

Oldtrap

[Rick]

Grew up in very small town America. Dad and I spent a lot of time outdoors tromping through the woods from the time I was 3 or 4. Hunted from about 9-10 on. Like Winter was a crawdad assassin. Was in cub scouts, boy scouts and explorers. I'm out there today because I want to be. When I get out of the vehicle and traipse off into the woods I think, "There's no place like home".

[randyt]

My earliest memory is my Dad teaching me how to set foot hold traps. From there it went to pocket knives and a old stevens favourite 22. The goal was the one match fire. How to use an axe and whittle. It was a rural location.

[pete lynch]

Hunting and fishing with my dad and later with the scouts.

[Sarge47]

Grew up in very small town America. Dad and I spent a lot of time outdoors tromping through the woods from the time I was 3 or 4. Hunted from about 9-10 on. Like Winter was a crawdad assassin. Was in cub scouts, boy scouts and explorers. I'm out there today because I want to be. When I get out of the vehicle and traipse off into the woods I think, "There's no place like home".

I remember the 1st time me and my dad were out in the woods. He had gotten lost looking for his pint of whiskey that had fallen out of his suit coat pocket and his tie kept catching on the branches and the brush. It was really embarrassing watching him trying to whistle for a cab. I kept trying to tell him that he wasn't in Chicago anymore but it was no good. :blush:

[gryffynklm]

I was born at an early age and grew up in the chicago suburbs. Grandpa had a cottage on a small lake and remember fishing, swimming and catching anything that moved. I would watch this little friends mostly frogs, toads and snakes for the weekend and then release them. My favorite shows were Grizzly Addams, Jeremiah Johnson and the like. I wanted to grow up to be a forest ranger or oceanographer. High school happened and more practical interests took over. I never forgot grandpa teaching me to fish and the draw wooded areas has always had on me. A week long white water canoe trip with a tarp and sleeping bag synched it. We packed in and packed out. Well I might not be Grizzly Adams but I do get to camp like him on the weekends I can. Thanks Granpa M, Chuck Frame and his brother for great canoe trips and Clyde for getting me under canvas again some 12 years ago. I now live in the mountains of WV and and love every chance to get out. The next time will never be soon enough.

[Rick]

I, too, was born at an early age. Dude, we're connected.

[hunter63]

I, too, was born at an early age. Dude, we're connected.

Now thats funny I don't care who you are.........Bhohahahaha

[gryffynklm]

Well i am adopted??? Rick...... Is that you? OMG!! it is you.

HEre is a picture of my dad's old car.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTkQsm3-wMcsVZfO4D7bkv6K6buWwbQx3UidMh-OAzUJMzoWsz_3mAVdnXU

[kyratshooter]

I was raised in the country. Way back in the sticks on a gravel road. Those were the days before AC. I was 5, my younger brother 3 and my youngest brother 1.

I still remember the sound of my Mom yelling, "GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!!!"

We were in the sticks, the outside was the woods, that was where I played. It was hot inside and my little brouthers whinned a lot, I was glad to be outside.

We got a TV and I met Robin Hood and Davy Crockett. I was a lost cause from that point. Oddly enough my over-protective parents allowed me to have a popcket knife at around 5-6. Early enough that I can not remember not having a knife in my pocket.

As I grew my grandads gave me the hunting and fishing lessons all country kids got back then. Shut up, walk slow, stay downwind and keep your eyes open, watch the cover. It still works. And there was that box of Field and Stream and Outdoor Life magazines by grandad's recliner. Would you believe I am still hunting for guns I read about back in the 1950s?

I started driving at 16, like 99% of America in the '60s. Most did that to cruise for chicks. First thing I did was go camping!

Back then you could buy a rifle if you could walk into the store with the money and carry the gun out by yourself. I had a rifle in the trunk of the car for 2 years before the GCA 1968 informed me I could not buy shells for it until I was 21.

I just never stopped going outside to play.

[Jimmyq]

Grew up with a dad that was always working so us boys in the neighborhood had to find our own fun. There was a woods area of about 20 acres near us and we were allowed to play there even though we were quite young. Didnt do any bushcrafting or much else other than run around, play hide and seek and catch tadpoles but after that I got to go to cub scouts for three years, LOVED IT. Everything else has been self learned. These days its books, interweb and trial and error. :)

[natertot]

Since I could remember, I enjolyed learning about wildlife. My dad would take me to state parks for picnics and hikes. That turned into fishing which turned into camping and then turned into hunting. Now I just try to improve the way already do things!

[Kamel]

I was raised by a single Texan mom, country music, creedence clearwater, fishing, camping with a camper, 2 step dancing. She loved fishing and camping, i actually dislike fishing unless with friends and its gunna sound girly, but i HATE touching worms and hate touching fish. So does my gf lol, so when I do spearfish, were just gunna have to tough it out lol. Anyway, i was in the cubscouts, didnt get far cause it wasnt organized and we didnt have alot of money for the trips. I was raised on welfare, food stamps, social security, so money was tight, i was raised to be cheap. But I got into the wilderness survival Because, I was gunna be homeless, and met a guy on these forums i went to in the same town as me and he was like 16 but KNEW alot. i bought a tent, firestarters, etc etc and I was gunna live in a abandoned shed a few miles away from my friends parents house he still stayed at. the grass was so overgrown you couldnt see it. and it had a hole cut in the tin roof for fires with a hole dug. so someone else prolly did the same. it had 3 rooms. I had twine, knives, flashlights, firestarter, axe, machete, trioxane, dryer lint. It didnt happen But ill tell you i was ready. Sorry for no paragraphs

[hunter63]

Seems a common theme is exposure to the outdoors at a young age, either with a older male or family...
Makes me wonder if some of the "wantta go surviving, newbies" had any experience with family or peers....or just a fancy trip?

Anyone, just break family tradition and just head off to do your thing.....instead of ...say, playing golf? (plug in some other activity that doesn't involve anything outside)

[wildWoman]

Nature got me started. I grew up in a big city and didn't have the slightest idea why anyone would want to go hiking or camping, since my impression of that was walking among dozens if not hundreds of people. The oly thing I knew was that I dind't like living in the city, there was nothing that really interested me there, and I've always liked animals and trees.
Can't remember if it was books or documentaries that did it, but the craving to go somewhere with lots of animals and trees grew the older I got. My first two trips as teenager, I stayed in hostels and did day hikes. Got hooked on hiking, bought my first set of camping equipment (crap, except for the foamie that I still use today) and blithely set off for a mulit-day off-trail hike in Kluane, SW Yukon. Very scary, though beautiful - I had enough compass skills and the route was very straightforward, but I just wasn't ready yet for hiking without a trail, with zero people but plenty of grizzlies around. So I spent one sleepless night and went back the next day.
And as an adult, I went to live in a number of small villages in the area that most appealed to me, until my bf and I moved out into the bush.

[grokh5499]

I guess it was family for me too, really loved camping as a kid. Now I enjoy going camping with my husband and kids when we can get our schedules to jive. And when we can't we pitch the tent in the back yard - and sometimes the living room!!!

[hunter63]

I guess it was family for me too, really loved camping as a kid. Now I enjoy going camping with my husband and kids when we can get our schedules to jive. And when we can't we pitch the tent in the back yard - and sometimes the living room!!!

LOL. Yeah..... Fort Dining Room Table......(quilt over making a kids "fort"....) forgot about that....Thanks!

[crashdive123]

Something else to keep in mind is that for many of us - while growing up - the only thing we had to play with was the outdoors!

[el-amigo]

Hey-ho!

Location?....riverbanks, camping, motor caravan
Lifestyle?.....outdoors, caravan
Family?......father, mother, grandfather
Friends?...no
Organizations.....no
Military......nono, just from my grandfather

[Sourdough]

I would say the magazine: Outdoor Life was the spark. Then books about hunting and life in Alaska. First home made bow & arrow age 8. First firearm .22LR at age 9 & single shot shotgun at age ten.

[intothenew]

I was raised, and still live, in a high mountain valley in a very small Appalachian community. As a child, I had scores of square miles of farms and woodland to roam. It was either our land or I knew the land owners, and they knew me.

My Father and Paternal Grandfather were both rather well versed outdoorsmen. But they were not first.

Both my Maternal and Paternal Grandmothers were close. Some of my earliest memories are with one of those two in a garden, flower and vegetable, or on short foraging adventures (they seemed like expeditions to me). But they were not first.

The day my Mother told me I had a dog was a biggie. I can still giggle thinking about that day, and the following miles that "Lady" and I wondered. But that was not the first.

In all of my memories, there is one day. That day is certainly a culmination of quite a few, but I remember it as one. I am setting on my Maternal Great Grandmothers lap, on her porch, in a rocking chair. She is rocking, stringing beans, and chattering on endlessly. She speaks of how well the garden is doing, how pretty that bird is, and how good that summer breeze feels among hundreds of other things. It was, and still is, an amazing view from that porch. I felt it that day, the earth. I didn't know it then, it took many years for that to hit me. She was so comfortable in that setting, outdoors, that I was too. That same comfort followed from my Parents and Grandparents.

I honestly don't know where this quote came from, but when I heard it, it took me back to that day. " How can you expect to know anything, if you cannot feel the earth? "

My family, my friends, and my neighbors are all basically earthen people. I am very fortunate to have been raised in such an environment.

[hunter63]

Right on brother...I hear ya....
I still think about the 'older folks talking late into the night on visits....we weren't required to get to bed...they just let us drop off, during the family/neighbor talk....about the Johnson "girl', and the Norton "Boy", the temp, a little inside joke here and there.....

[randyt]

I was raised on country sunshine <G>

[Faiaoga]

Both my parents came from small farms in Wisconsin (near La Crosse), so they had outdoors backgrounds. Growing up, though, I was an "army brat" and lived more of a suburban life. My father did encourage oudoor activities and taught us (me and two younger sisters) to swim, go hiking and to love nature. We went skiing when stationed in Europe, and we were able to visit the ancestral Norwegian village when I was about 10 years old.
I was encouraged to be involved in the outdoors through scouting and family trips. A little bit shy and a bookworm, I never was interested in team sports but became interested in science and natural history. My father encouraged an interest in marine biology by recounting his experience living in Majuro while in the Marine Corps during WWII and exploring the coral reefs there.

My father was probably the greatest influence. He was happy to see me get summer work in SE Alaska during summer vacations while in college, and he was interested in my science teaching in Samoa and elsewhere in the Pacific region. I did not grow up in the outdoors as he did, but I have been encouraged by his example.

The other major influence I have had was my time in a Samoan village while a Peace Corps volunteer. I was allowed to live with a Samoan family and to participate in the village life. While I did not grow up on a farm as my parents did, I learned self-reliance skills from them. I hope to maintain some of this knowledge and to pass what I can to my own son, who is half-Samoan. I think family influence and family examples are the main influences I have had.
Faiaoga ("schoolteacher" in Samoan)

[kyratshooter]

Seems a common theme is exposure to the outdoors at a young age, either with a older male or family...
Makes me wonder if some of the "wantta go surviving, newbies" had any experience with family or peers....or just a fancy trip?

Judging from the number of DA questions we get from 20-30 year olds, the answers to which they should have known when they were 10, I would say you hit your thumb with the hammer on this one Hunter!

It used to be that only the kids in large urban areas lacked the skills and knowledge of the outdoors. Now it is 50 years worth of suburban life in front of a TV, Xbox or Nintendo that has sucked the intelligence from the entire population.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I roamed the old growth woods in Germany at 4, never a problem. Next the deserts of NM from 6-11 or so...never a problem. Now I am raising an 9 yr. old girl and never let her out of my sight, but the entire 8 acres is almost fenced and that is changing.

[jfeatherjohn]

I really did have a "Norman Rockwell America" childhood.
Carried a pocket knife to school, went fishing on my own, wandered around the woods...
Yes, my Dad led the way, but I learned an awful lot just being there.

[1stimestar]

My husband and I kind of started off together when we were young. We both wanted to do outdoor stuff. It started with vacations to the big national parks like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Carlsbad etc. Then moved to the mountains of Colorado and we were set. From there we moved to Montana and had our first kid who was camping across country by 6 weeks old. Now that it's just the kids and I, I am determined to show them the beauty and peace the wilderness can provide to them. They "get" it, especially my daughter who just turned 11. She will often point out a pretty sky or say look at that hillside mom, how the gold is so pretty among the green. I'm pretty proud.

[ElevenBravo]

Mostly, my experience in the Army National Guard, I was a grunt for 16 years... Seams like when you HAVE to be in the woods, its not a lot of fun. Now that Im retired, I WANT to be in the woods. I can do what I want, and at my own pace. I enjoy hiking and camping a LOT more now that it's all on MY terms! HA HA!

Getting started in fishing, and hope to do some small game hunting soon too (rabbit & squirrel). My dad never did squat with me and I dont have a mentor, so Im gonna have to learn these things on my own.

We did a survival class at Ft.Benning as part of our AIT, first time I ever had rabbit, and its good!

That is all...

[Echo2]

Grew up in rural area.....not a lot of $$$$....the folks knew camping can be done on the cheap.

Always had fun as a kid....just kept doing it.....it became less cheap the older I got though....damn cool gear.

It's a long way from a falling apart canvas tent, a free coleman camp stove, and a cooler.

[Rick]

11B - Look for others in your area that are into the same type of activities you are. Just about every area has some type of group or club that is into hiking, backpacking, foraging, etc. You can also volunteer your time as an assistant scout leader. Good ways to learn and network!

[Old Professor]

My father and uncles got me started. My father grew up on a farm in westrern Pennsyvlania that my grand parents still owned and I had the run of that place. In addition, my mothers sister and her husband owned a large farm with a creek running through it in western Pennsyvlania. When we went to visit, I was out the car door before it stopped rolling and they didn't see me again until it was time to leave or until I got too hungry, which ever came first. I was trusted to carry a .22 rifle from the time I was 12 and gave the crows and groundhogs a tough time all summer. Fall was (and still is) my favorite season. We hunted rabbits , treerats, grouse, ringnecks and deer on both farms. I fished the creek and caught frogs to eat. I even tried my hand at trapping. I was a paid live rabbit trapper for the Pennsyvlania Game Commission. I don't think I could have had a much better childhood and it certainly set me on my adult lifes' course.

[ctdcb18b]

me and my dad did survival camping hunting and all kinds of stuff in the woods i was hooked young

[Jimmyq]

Seems a common theme is exposure to the outdoors at a young age, either with a older male or family...


Indeed, its why I take my 4 1/2 year old out camping whenever I can and I bring any niece or nephew that is interested with us. Nature is a place to be appreciated and is a resource to be learned.

[DOGMAN]

I grew up surrounded by hunters and fishermen. My Dad hunted (still hunts) about 70 days a year or so, ducks, geese, elk, phesants, deer, antelope anything and everything. We would spend Falls at our hunting camp, and then summers at our Lake camp and all I did was hunt, fish, ride ATV's, train dogs and canoe all of my youth. I remember being in 5th grade and allowed to go off riding a 4 wheeler by myself with a .22 on the gun rack and squirel hunt by myself or go off fishing with my friends. By the time I was 10 or 11 I would go camping by myself or with friends. I don't even remember ever being taught to shoot, cast, set up a tent or anything. It was literally just ingrained through being around it non-stop.
I guess I owe a lot to my father. I have learned a lot since then, but the basics- hunting/camping/fishing/trapping I learned from him. I don't say it often, but my Dad was/is a badass outdoorsman and I have felt like I was in his shadow for most of my life. I always felt like a sissy/wus/wimp compared to him until about the past few years...lol

[Mischief]

Straight Arrow cards got me started,then summers at family farms and Boy Scouts.

[Rick]

Grandpa had an outhouse that...oh, wait....he said...never mind.

[old2531]

my dads dad taught him to survive it was depression time by the time i came around dad didnt hunt anymore (car accident ) first time i went camping i was 6 months old dad took me my older brother and mom camping in yosemitie in the middle of winter in an old car with a small trailer (1952 )with eventualy 4 brothers and dad a suberbs guy we did a lot of camping and fishing by the time i got into my 20's dad didnt camp anymore ,so camped on own or drug my youngest brother along (hes only one that does still camp )but thats how i started 6 months old camping in snow and catching pneumonia

[birdman6660]

Grandpa had an outhouse that...oh, wait....he said...never mind.


we still have an outhouse .. and a composter as well for wintertime ... grew up on a homestead situation ...have always been near or in the bush .. couldn't do without it ...and won't .. some day it will be my salvation im certain ! ! !

[birdman6660]

Didn't want to steal the "when" thread......but I do wonder, Why, and Who.

Seems to always be the "I wanna go live in the wilderness".....and make you wonder where this comes from.
Lots of fancies out there I think.

Location?....Rural, urban?
Lifestyle?.....Outdoors/...Inside pursuits?
Family?......father, brothers, grand fathers?
Friends?...or friends family?
Organizations.....Scouts, 4 H?
Military......training?
Or just a personnel desire....which I believe is the biggie here......My brother was brought up the same, but actually spent more time with MF, yet has no interest in the out doors at all......

Lots of single parent families it seems, and sadly the male figure may not be around.....saw quite a few at hunters safety course....and you know that they will have a tough time getting out to hunt.

I gonna say, and I realize that this will be skewed as who ever looks at this is already interested in the out doors/self reliance on way or the other.

Personnely I'm gonna say presonnel desire.......father/grandfather...for the inspiration.....even though that was limited....., and friends for support and experience.....organizations for bringing some discipline and planning into it.



I have lived with the outdoors my entire life .. not always lived IN the outdoors areas but always nearby andf frequently in it ..
was always outside tending animals when young
dad took us fishing and canoeing very young .
did the cubs n scouts thing as well .. lol remembering the 3 mile walk to scouts in nearby village !
yes and 1.5 miles to school ( one room school 8 grades ! )
cutting firewood with a two handled saw and splitting with an axe once frozen
love it .. live it .. cos someday ther will be no other choice !

[endurance]

We moved to Colorado when I was 8. Compared to Buffalo it was the wild west in my folk's eyes. As kids I remember being outside all summer exploring, building forts, shooting BB guns, riding bikes and playing war. When I was 16 we moved to the city and for several years that became my new world, but the seed was planted by then; safety, solice and sanity was in those woods. To this day there is nowhere on earth I feel more comfortable than wandering through a ponderosa forest.

When I was 19 I was in trouble, trouble in college, struggling with family expectations, and just lost in the world. I took a leap. I loaded up my CRX and went for a road trip with my camping gear. I hiked the Grand Canyon (overnight trip with 55 pounds of gear I didn't need), I had amazing conversations with campground hosts and others along my way, and I found my first volunteer job with the forest service. There I found a 46 year old Vietnam vet who took me under his wing and started mentoring me in the outdoors. He taught me to shoot, how to stalk game, how to pack lighter and smarter, wildlife photography, and how to bail on a camping trip when Mr. Murphy visited just a little too often.

Without that guidance after I turned 19, in hindsite, I was Chris McLandess waiting to happen. I needed those reality checks, that final set of skills layered on what I'd learned as a kid. While I've learned a lot since then that has made me the outdoorsman I am today, that mentor steered me straight and true, giving me the fundimentals that have kept me alive and well in over 25 years of outdoors adventures.

That's where we all can help, not on a forum trying to appease the trolls, but as a guide to young coworkers and friends who need a mentor to steer them onto the right path when the desire is there to learn. We all know that what we know can't be found in a book and errors made with someone around are a heck of a lot more survivable than errors alone.

If not us, who? Bear Grylls? I shudder at the thought.

[hunter63]

Well said.....Thanks for that.

[scumbucket]

Every summer after the branding on the ranch was done, dad took us camping for a week where we hiked and fished til we pooped out. We also spent a week at family reunions camping in the forest. that was my start, and at 64 I'm still loving it, even tho dad is gone, I'm still at it. My sons are all into it also, and that keeps me going and loving it. The wilderness is fun to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there all the time in a primitive situation. I'm no expert, but I sure have fun, and I keep learning, either from others, or from doing it wrong the first time.

[2crows]

Until age 11 I spent a lot of time in the woods of AR, NC, SC. That was my playground. Then 5 years in Japan as a military Brat where I joined Scouts. I was very fortunate to have a Scoutmaster who taught survival to the Air Force pilots and we did a lot of hiking and camping in the mountains near the Kanto Plains.

[Nothus]

Straight Arrow cards got me started,then summers at family farms and Boy Scouts.

Are you talking about the cards that separated the buns in Nabisco Shredded Wheat? That was my early exposure too. That, back issues of Harding's Magazine, soon to become FFG, and Kephart's book..

[hunter63]

Are you talking about the cards that separated the buns in Nabisco Shredded Wheat? That was my early exposure too. That, back issues of Harding's Magazine, soon to become FFG, and Kephart's book..

LOL......Some where around here should be one of those cards for "Sargent Preston of the Yukon" that was a deed for 1 square of property in the Yukon.

Though about that for a long time, like a cabin on a pole......
Thanks for the memories.

The Boy Life Book of Projects, not sure if that was the name or not...... checked that book out for almost a year.....came out way back was also a "must read as a young man".

Maybe?;
http://www.amazon.com/The-American-Boys-Handy-Book/dp/1586670654

[ElevenBravo]

1986, Ft.Benning, Uncle Sam.

EB