I grew up in Crenshaw county. My dad left when I was 4 so my uncles were always taking me hunting. I killed my first squirrel when I was 6 in 1964 and was hunting by myself before I was 10. We didn't have deer until around 64 and one of my uncles would ride the dirt roads on the weekend looking for tracks. Most of my early hunting was pulling vines for squirrels or stomping through the briers to flush out some rabbits for my uncles and their friends. Quail hunting was big back then and there was always someone to tag along with even when I wasn't hunting. They wouldn't let us kids deer hunt running dogs. When I was 10 or 11 one of my uncle gave in and carried me on a hunt. I had a double barreled 12 ga and he put me on top of a wide open hill with a 20 mph wind at about 40° and I stayed there for what felt like hours and we didn't have any cold weather clothing. I didn't ask to go deer hunting again for a few years. I own that property now and I can tell you there was no chance of me seeing a deer that day and I'm sure that why my uncle put me there. When I see threads about kids killing deer at 6-7 years old I always think back to when I was a kid and remember that. I encourage people to take kids hunting but sometime I do worry that the kids are to young to learn anything from killing a deer at such a young age. Back in the 60-70s we could hunt anywhere we wanted so we never had to ask, we would just stop next to a bridge and start hunting. The good ol days.