For many hunters, hunting is something of a tradition. Their fathers hunted. Their father’s father hunted and so on. Hunting was something that was passed down from one generation to another. For years this is how it went and a culture was built around family, the outdoors and hunting game. So how does someone, who has never hunted or has never had the support of family, get into hunting? This is a valid question.
Today it is quite possible you didn’t grow up doing it. It wasn’t passed down from generation to generation. There wasn’t a wise old sage that could impart knowledge or teach you the skills necessary. Cultural changes in family units have changed some of the dynamics of how traditions are passed down, if at all. Many hunters of the Silent and Boomer generations have aged or are aging out. Public land or cooperatives between state and private landowners are at risk and in some cases decline. Conservation has been funded largely by Federal Tax Revenue generated from the Pittman-Robertson Act and the sale of licenses, tags and even fines. In 2018, NPR produced a segment on how hunter decline threatens how the US pays for conservation.
There are many reasons why someone would want to hunt. Generationally, Millennials and Gen Z’s are more health-conscious and care a great deal about what they put in their bodies which makes natural organic sources of food more appealing. There is a lot of evidence to support these ideas as we have traded convenience for real caloric value.
For my generation, Gen X, technology began the disconnection from the great outdoors. Kids starting spending more time indoors. We were either watching television or with these new things like computers and personal video game consoles. We could travel the world solving crimes with games like Carmen Sandiego or make the journey from St Louis to Oregon on the Oregon Trail at school. At home Super Mario ruled the roost.
I personally didn’t come from a hunting family. At the age of 16, I was allowed to take Hunter’s Education but never allowed to go hunting with friends. In fact, our family didn’t even own a firearm. Years later, after being married, I retook Hunter Safety with my spouse because I needed to relearn a few things that my then 24-year-old brain had forgotten. Skills are perishable and handling firearms properly and safely requires constant vigilance.
Today, with its mobility, technology is being used to engage the great outdoors and lifestyle. Action cameras are in use or the rise of drones with digital capabilities. Phones are replacing standalone GPS systems and even entire applications are being written to support a hunting lifestyle such as OnX Hunt. Generationally, there is a growing groundswell of those wanting to reconnect to the natural world through technology not in spite of it.
No matter the reason, you have decided you want to hunt. The question is how do you go about learning to hunt if you didn’t grow up doing it? Your first inclination might be to pick your smartphone or tablet, Google it or go directly to YouTube. There are some good and some bad resources out there. I can tell you from experience that you might not learn valuable information. When I decided I wanted to hunt big game but didn’t know how I too went to digital media. Because of my dyslexia, I didn’t like to read that much. Since I am a visual learner, I chose compilation videos of hunting shows. I learned that to be a hunter you needed a strong southern accent, have an ability to whisper loudly, be excitable when a game animal came near, have a celebratory dance while holding your breathe and have high five coordination while tethered to a tree. After taking the game, you needed to breathe heavily into a lapel mic, sniff your nose a lot, still talk in a loud whisper and pretend to be surprised or elated you found your harvested animal. You also needed to learn key phrases and when to deploy them. Things like “Prime Time”, “Put the SmackDown”, “If it’s brown, it’s down”, “Smoked ‘em” or other various expressions. Now to my amazement, none of this made me a better hunter. It taught me nothing about how to find animal movements, where to set up or tactics. It did, however, give me unrealistic expectations and I ate a lot of tag soup.
My next venture was to break down and do the hard work. I had to read. I joined the North American Hunter’s Club, which is no longer in business. I was a member for a little over 2 years before letting it lapse. In those two years though, I learned a lot about deer management and picked up a few hunting tips. But my success at hunting was still limited to tag soup.
The last thing I turned to, which should have been the first, was to ask someone who hunted. For me, this was the last thing that I really wanted to do because I tend to be independent. When you do this, however, I caution you. Don’t expect a quick response upfront. Many hunters want to know that you are ethical and that you understand not only proper ethics but also, their ethics. They will also want to understand what type of hunter you are or want to be. Type refers to your ultimate motivation to hunt. If you do much research into this you will find a reference to different hunter types. For instance, if you are hunting for sustainment, you are typically categorized as a meat hunter. If your main goal is to harvest the biggest animal you can, you are typically categorized as a trophy hunter.
Other hunters want to know this because it will help them outline their rules for taking you out or not. If you are in the Eastern part of the US with limited public land, a fellow hunter and his friends may have been managing a property to increase the quality of habitat and animals. If you are a meat hunter, they may ask you to take only the females of a particular species, subject to local laws. If you are a trophy hunter, they may not ask you out at all. Or they may want you to contribute to the cost of habitat maintenance and cultivation while handing you a hefty list of requirements for antler size restrictions. If this happens, don’t get upset. Recognize they have made a significant investment among them to do exactly what you hope to do, to take that once in a lifetime big game animal. Instead of being hurt by their rules and requirements, be honored to be allowed in the group and volunteer even when you don’t feel like it. Everyone will see you want to contribute your fair share and are willing to pull your weight.
Now, if you happen to live in the western portion of the United States as I do now, you know there is a lot of public lands. The problem new a hunter faces out West is finding out where to go. When I moved to Idaho, I spent my first few seasons as unproductive as the first few in the East. The reason for it was that I couldn’t figure out how animals moved in and out of draws and ridges. Once again, it was a fellow hunter and his son that showed me the ropes and I found success with fork horn mule deer buck. The following year, the same two showed me how to hunt pronghorn. I had another friend show me how to bear hunt. Still, another yet showed me how to hunt elk. Since those hunts, I have been very blessed and successful.
It might sound awkward at first to reach out to someone you don’t know. Today there are organizations that will help mentor new hunters. A dear former colleague of mine, Ryan Bronson, works with Pass It On- Outdoor Mentors, Inc. There are organizations like Ryan’s and some states have outreach programs. I strongly recommend this approach because frankly without a mentor, I would not have been successful as I have been.
Hunters, even this one, are realizing that we need to usher new hunters in. This understanding means we as hunters are more willing to extend an invitation to those who are wanting to learn. So if you are looking to get into hunting, ask us.
- L. Yarbrough, Bucks & Beers
