re: How does one "start" hunting?

Right there with you. All the men in my family fished, but not one of them hunted. Oddly enough, that was in North Arkansas which is loaded with big deer.

The last 4 or 5 years, I started getting excited around the start of deer season because all the dudes I worked with hunted. Two years ago, I turned 40 and decided I was going to go deer hunting. I spent several months researching rifles and finally settled in a Weatherby .257. I bought me a decent scope and spent the rest of that year learning how to shoot my rifle well.

I have a buddy that has a farm that butts up to the Arkansas river. He told me I could hunt there and already had a nice covered ladder stand and nobody hunted out there. So at 41, I killed a deer on my first hunt. I had thrown out some acorns and sugar beets the day before and that morning a nice doe walked out broadside about 70 yards from the stand. I raised that rifle, but my hands were shaking like crazy. I lowered the rifle and took a few big breaths and then I aimed again and drilled her. It was a nice clean lung shot. She didn't run 20 yards before she laid down and bled out. My buddy come down with his ATV and helped me pick up my deer and then helped me clean it.

Such a great day and I only wish I had found hunting when I was a kid. I got some funny looks taking Hunter's Education with a bunch of kids, but it was well worth that little embarassment.