I'm looking into possibly getting involved in a lease with a friend of mine. There's hogs on that thar land, too! He was initially looking at it for bow-hunting deer, but then we heard about the hogs... 
So anyways. My 10 year-old has been asking about going hunting for a couple of years, as well.
I haven't hunted as an adult for anything except some dove. Went out a few times with friends as a teen, never saw anything, we were stupid kids, what do you expect?
So... I basically know nothing "hands' on" about hunting. Like... I've watched some TV shows. I like guns. I think I'd like hunting. Deer, turkey, definitely pig. But the times I've eaten venison, I didn't particularly care for it, too gamey, no matter the style (jerky, sausage, flank steak, maybe chili was ok). Not sure if I'll feel the same way about wild swine. But I need to learn what to do, not just the shooting portion, I think that's probably pretty self-explanatory. But what about after the kill? I don't have 4-wheelers and all that crap. How do you drag a 200-300 pound hog back to the truck? Or a few of them if you get really lucky? I assume if you field-dress them, it brings the weight down a bit, but, it ain't gonna make it easy. I don't have a pickup, either. Am I going to basically HAVE to get a pickup and a 4-wheeler to be able to do much of this kind of thing? I don't mind buying a beater pick'em'up, but I don't really have anywhere to keep it. <sigh> We're about out of places to park at my house. lol Same problem with a 4-wheeler. Until I'm able to buy a place out in the country, anyways.... <another sigh>
So... I assume most of ya'll were lucky enough to have family or friends who taught you these things growing up? My dad got unwillingly disappeared (literally - forever) when I was very young, my step-dad was disabled (no legs) and the family wasn't into guns or hunting. So I tried to get in with some friends who did it, but my parents didn't want me doing it, and I had to sneak, which meant... well, it wasn't very often or very successful. So here I am, an adult, wanting to learn and then pass it down to my own kid.
I honestly feel pretty damn ashamed, growing up here and always wanting to be able to do this stuff and never having a chance. My son wants to learn, and he thinks because I am into guns and because I'm "The Dad" that I should know all about this stuff... but I've never had anywhere to hunt, really, so I've never learned all the associated skills.
Wow... sorry, didn't mean to get into all that. I'm just nervous, don't want to screw things up, don't want to be unsafe, don't want to disappoint my kid... it's almost like a right of passage in OK, I think, that I never got to do.
So anyways. My 10 year-old has been asking about going hunting for a couple of years, as well.
I haven't hunted as an adult for anything except some dove. Went out a few times with friends as a teen, never saw anything, we were stupid kids, what do you expect?
So... I basically know nothing "hands' on" about hunting. Like... I've watched some TV shows. I like guns. I think I'd like hunting. Deer, turkey, definitely pig. But the times I've eaten venison, I didn't particularly care for it, too gamey, no matter the style (jerky, sausage, flank steak, maybe chili was ok). Not sure if I'll feel the same way about wild swine. But I need to learn what to do, not just the shooting portion, I think that's probably pretty self-explanatory. But what about after the kill? I don't have 4-wheelers and all that crap. How do you drag a 200-300 pound hog back to the truck? Or a few of them if you get really lucky? I assume if you field-dress them, it brings the weight down a bit, but, it ain't gonna make it easy. I don't have a pickup, either. Am I going to basically HAVE to get a pickup and a 4-wheeler to be able to do much of this kind of thing? I don't mind buying a beater pick'em'up, but I don't really have anywhere to keep it. <sigh> We're about out of places to park at my house. lol Same problem with a 4-wheeler. Until I'm able to buy a place out in the country, anyways.... <another sigh>
So... I assume most of ya'll were lucky enough to have family or friends who taught you these things growing up? My dad got unwillingly disappeared (literally - forever) when I was very young, my step-dad was disabled (no legs) and the family wasn't into guns or hunting. So I tried to get in with some friends who did it, but my parents didn't want me doing it, and I had to sneak, which meant... well, it wasn't very often or very successful. So here I am, an adult, wanting to learn and then pass it down to my own kid.
I honestly feel pretty damn ashamed, growing up here and always wanting to be able to do this stuff and never having a chance. My son wants to learn, and he thinks because I am into guns and because I'm "The Dad" that I should know all about this stuff... but I've never had anywhere to hunt, really, so I've never learned all the associated skills.
Wow... sorry, didn't mean to get into all that. I'm just nervous, don't want to screw things up, don't want to be unsafe, don't want to disappoint my kid... it's almost like a right of passage in OK, I think, that I never got to do.
You'd both get to see and do a lot of the things you're asking about first hand, and hands on. 
