Traditions: Mentoring a New Hunter

When most of us think about a new hunter, we think about a little boy. He is about eight or nine years old, and he is trying so very hard to be manly. His little chest is stuck out, and he is, clumsily, trying to ape your movements through the woods, while you teach him how to spot his target, and how to move. The hardest thing of all for him is being quiet and sitting still when he is supposed to; all boys have ants in their pants. The proudest moment of his young life is when he makes his first kill. He manages not to show his squeamishness too much as you teach him to dress his animal. In our family, a boy’s first kill was usually a squirrel or rabbit. These are easiest to train a young hunter to hunt and take. Of course, when you get home, Mom is waiting, and he is so full of himself he stinks of pride. Mom always makes sure she makes a big deal about his having provided the meat for supper that night. He gets the best piece of squirrel, and extra gravy. He spends all evening bragging about his kill, and how he wasn’t scared of the innards as you helped him skin that squirrel. It is a magical time for a boy, or a girl, either one.

There are grown men who do not know this joy and experience. The closest they have ever come to holding a shotgun or rifle is at the arcade or on a video game. They are ignorant of the laws of Nature, and ignorant of our traditions as hunters. You probably work with someone like this. They may be younger than you, or older, or the same age. They might even josh you a little bit for your eagerness for deer season to finally come. Have you ever tried to explain to them why you hunt? The feeling of being there, waiting, in a stand or not, of making that kill is incomparable to anything else we know. Making that kill and knowing the freezer will be filled again because you were the prepared and patient one who made that perfect shot is exhilarating. It is a rush that no fast car, no woman, no horse can give you. Can you really let your co-worker and maybe your friend live his whole life, without ever having the chance to go hunting? You can? Wow. That’s cold.

Take the time to befriend this person, and invite them on a hunt, just to observe. Tell them what you are doing and why, just as you would that eight or nine year old boy. They won’t be able to resist the thrill. They’ll ask to come back. The number one rule of sales is to get the merchandise in the potential buyer’s hands. Once they hold it, feel it, see it up close and personal, you almost have the sale cinched. It’s the same way with recruiting new hunters. Once they go out in the woods with an experienced hunter, and see what really goes on, they almost have to rise to the challenge. They will gain a new perspective and a desire to become hunters themselves. That little boy lives in every man. You still feel just as proud when you bring meat home for the table as you did when you killed that first animal. You’ve just learned to deal with it in a quieter, more manly way.

If you don’t know someone at work you can invite on a hunt, get involved in your local Hunter Education program. Teach young ones gun safety, hunting rules and regulations. Throw those clay pigeons for them when the class is about to end. In most states, young hunters must prove they know how to handle and shoot a shotgun and or rifle before they get their orange card that allows them to get their first hunting license. What a proud time, to know you helped launch the (hopefully) successful hunting careers of a room full of new hunters. And that every kill they make forevermore is because of your willingness to share your knowledge.

As hunters, we carry a long and storied past, full of traditions and rituals. Mankind has hunted since the dawn of time, and as long as game are managed properly, and we continue to bring our traditions forward, we will continue to hunt. However, we cannot continue if we don’t swell our ranks, and raise our rosters. Hollywood does not glamorize what we do. Personally, I’m rather glad. Though a RealTree minidress and black leggings might be interesting to see on the red carpet, I can’t quite see Paris Hilton or Beyonce sitting on a treestand in November.

We have to recruit young hunters. We have to spread the word, and show as many people as we can that hunting isn’t just about the kill. It’s about the freedom and the challenge of scouting, stalking and taking your prey. The pride and satisfaction of knowing exactly where the meat you give to your family comes from, and just what it has been eating. You can use the waste- intestines, bones you don’t use for soup, etc- for compost. It helps grow huge tomatoes. Give your children a history lesson, and brain-tan the hide. Every animal comes with enough brains to tan its own hide, and brain-tanned leather is the softest and most durable. It is even machine washable. After you tan the hide, make a pair of moccasins or something else useful. All women love shoes. Even me, and I only wear them because society forces me to wear shoes. Your wife will love you for it. There are many ways you can begin to introduce hunting to someone. Be creative. Whatever you do, recruit, recruit, recruit and train, train, train! We need new hunters to keep moving forward with our traditions, and the best way to do that is take someone hunting. If you don’t have a son, take your daughter. Take your nephew. Hell, take your brother in law hunting. (No, you can’t leave him there.)

Take someone hunting, and when they fall in love with it, help them pick the right gear, show them how to use it properly, and take them hunting. Teach them to shoot, teach them proper safety rules and hunting regulations. You will save lives. So many times, people who are untrained take a gun out into the woods, and something terrible happens because of their ignorance. Now they are not only going to jail, but someone else might not go home. If they had been properly trained and educated by a hunter, they would both still be hunting.

Remember your first hunt? Remember your first kill? Give that joy and excitement to someone else. Keep hunting alive. Show someone who is ignorant of hunting how we conserve game and fish. Teach them that hunting is not the sport of some of the idle rich and most of the rural poor. That hunters are intelligent, free-thinking men and women, rich, poor, young or old. Teach them that the media hype they hear about the evils of guns and hunting is a crock.

The liberal media are helping in the conspiracy to take away our rights to hunt, fish, preserve game, and even to defend our homes. The only way to combat the irrational fear they have worked so hard to create is through education. Educate someone about hunting. Pass along all you can about hunting and its proper practice. Take someone hunting. Anyone- from nine to ninety- if you can convince them to go , take them. Educate them, and help them become the best hunter they can. Someone did this for you; pass it on with pride.

As I write this, school is about to begin for another year. Squirrel season will come, then deer, then turkey, then rabbit, and so on. The cycle will continue, as it has for generations. My own little boy is going on nine years old. This will be his first season. My mind cannot help but turn to thoughts of my brother’s first hunt, and our mother cooking up that first squirrel. It tasted pretty good then, even if we did have to spit out the occasional piece of buckshot. Since then, he has taken many more squirrel, and plenty of deer, but none of this would have happened had our father not taken him out and taught him to hunt. Hunting skills are a natural part of any good provider’s education. A man should be able and willing to provide for his children and family for as long as he possibly can. Life will happen, whether we wish for it or not, and a man has to have the necessary skills.

Take someone hunting this season, and watch the results. They’ll be glad you did, and so will you. Don’t let them waste their whole lives not knowing the joy hunting brings. It would be cruel and inhumane.