Schooling
As a boy Daniel received very little schooling and the schooling he did have was very short lived. Daniel's teacher had a habit for drinking and punishing his pupils with a cane. While out squirrel hunting Boone found his teacher's drinking bottle and decided to play a prank on the educator, perhaps revenge for an earlier beating. Daniel infused the liquor with a herbal mixture. Later between heaves and spasms that the instructor was afflicted with he noticed Daniel giggling and realizing this was the culprit he attempted to beat the unruly youth. Daniel being a headstrong boy and not wanting to be struck knocked the sick teacher to the ground. After this episode Daniel did not return to school. It is believed that Daniel learned how to read and write through his brother Samuel's wife Sarah Day.
A Childhood Friend
Daniel's father Squire was a blacksmith and gunsmith by trade and had an apprentice named Henry Miller who was two or three years older than Daniel. They soon got into a fistfight and when they had resolved their conflict they became fast friends. The two boys often went hunting or fishing together and played many pranks on the Boone family. Because of Daniel's family's Quaker belief the Boone children were not allowed to go to parties or dances. But Henry and Daniel knew about a party in a neighboring town and decided to take Squire's horse and go. So the night of the party the two boys sneaked out of the house and rode to the party. After the party the boys rode home but when they got to Squire's cow pasture one of the boys had an idea. The plan went like this, with both of them sitting on the horse's back they would make it jump one of the sleeping cows. The plan may have been the result of some hard cider that they might have sampled during the party but the two friends tried it anyway. The plan failed; right as Squire's horse jumped the cow woke up and began to rise. Henry and Daniel were thrown from the saddle shaken but unhurt, but the horse had broken its neck and died. The two boys sneaked back to the barn and replaced the horse's tack. Squire could never figure out how a healthy horse could let itself out of the barn and break its neck in a open pasture.
Life on the farm.
Daniel's father Squire had several occupations. Squire was a weaver, a blacksmith, a gunsmith, he had a herd of cattle, he ran a gristmill, and farmed his land. This last activity is what Squire mainly did and was one of Daniel's least favorite pastimes as well. Daniel did not enjoy the long sometimes boring hours that farming required. He would much rather be in the forest. Boone relished the spare hours when he could be in the woods. He would even brave a summer rain storm for the chance to go hunting.
The marksman
Daniel received his first gun at the age of 12 and learned to hunt from Native Americans and local settlers. On a hunt one day with some friends Boone and his companions came across a wild panther which charged the group. Daniel's friends scattered and fled but Daniel stood his ground. He leveled his rifle and shot the aggressor in the heart before it could harm anyone. Boone probably saved the day with his accuracy and valor because it is unlikely that one of Boone's friends would have been able to perform a shot like that. Stories were told about the expert marksman and throughout his life Daniel consistently proved it. After long hunts Daniel would have more fur and meat then his family would need so he would travel to Salisbury to trade. There, Boone might participate in shooting competitions where he might have demonstrated trick shots like holding his rifle with one hand and hitting the target.