A common misconception about Lee & Tiffany Lakosky is they were born into deer hunting royalty. This is simply not true.

Like many of the high-profile deer hunters who came before him, Lee Lakosky had to learn how to hunt deer on his own. That involved a lot of trial and error.

“I got interested in bowhunting when I was about 13, but it still took me a long time — seven long years to be exact — to get my first doe with a bow,” Lee said.

At that time, Lakosky spent his fall days chasing whitetails near his Minnesota home with his friend Paul Landberg.

“Paul and I would go out and knock on doors, and most landowners who deer hunted during gun season thought bowhunting was a novelty. They’d give you a strange look and say, ‘You’re going to try to shoot one witha bow and arrow? Yeah, go ahead.’ “

Three years after shooting his first doe, Lakosky notched his first archery buck, a yearling 6-pointer.

Tiffany’s path as a bowhunter started much more quickly. After dating Lee for a while, she decided to try her hand at archery, then bowhunting. It took Tiffany just one tree-stand vigil to taste success. While sitting with Lee on the afternoon of Sept. 24, 1999, she notched her first bow-kill, a yearling 6-pointer.

— For more on Lee & Tiffany’s hunting tactics, check out this special deal for Deer & Deer Hunting readers.