I was born and raised in rural North Carolina and lucky enough to have been born into a family that loved the outdoors. My dad liked to small game hunt but always said he didn’t have the patience to hunt deer and turkey. I started tagging along with him into the woods when I was 7 or 8 and was shooting doves and squirrels by my 10th birthday.
Luckily, my dad was from a large family, so I was blessed with several uncles who were also avid hunters, including a few who were avid deer hunters. In part, I probably owe two of my uncles a great debt for introducing me to deer hunting and making my first few deer hunts pleasant experiences.
For my 13th Christmas, I was gifted a Marlin 336 (which I still have today and is actually in some pictures on this site), which I used two days after Christmas to harvest my first deer. Even though it was only a small doe, I was hooked.
Now, I do still hunt other species, but Whitetail deer are my favorite. I still hunt on the opening day of dove season, squirrel hunt a few times a year, and turkey hunt in the spring. However, my real hunting passion is hunting deer.
In high school, I took a job at a local feed store that was part feed store, part gun store, part hunting store, and part convenience store (I lived way out in the country). Although I started working in the feed store side, the owner eventually let me transition over to working in the gun/hunting part of the store.
During college, I continued working in the gun industry by working part-time at a local family-owned gun store. I enjoyed working in the gun and hunting stuff so much that after college, I found a full-time way to do that kind of work.
Fast forward 30 years, and I’m still actively working in the hunting and firearms industry. I prefer not to share exactly where I work as that particular company isn’t a fan of side hustles or 2nd jobs, and I need a few more years until I can retire to hunt full-time ????.
That being said, in addition to my own personal hunting experiences, my job has allowed me quite a bit of formal training in areas like:
- Tree stands, and tree stand safety.
- Deer feeders and food plots
- QDMA management
In addition, I’ve also managed a few deer hunting leases and some supplemental feeding programs.
Hopefully, you’ll find the information presented here helpful in some way.