Reflections of a Reborn Hunter

Written by Ian VanDerLinden

Getting into hunting can be a very daunting venture for those who have never been exposed to it before. The amount of knowledge that must be acquired in order to understand your environment takes more than just reading a book, watching a Youtube video, or listening to podcasts. If you want to cement that knowledge you need to get your boots in the forest and witness what you heard for yourself. Growing up as a kid who was constantly in the woods I have a wealth of knowledge and understanding that impresses me each time I sit and think on it, but at the same time I know there is so much more I need to learn. The desire to learn everything you can about the outdoors is what will separate life long hunters from those who will only try it a handful of times. This past fall at the age of 27 I fell back in love with the outdoors and my desire to learn everything I can about it was reignited. The following are my reflections on this past hunting seasons and what a new hunter needs to consider when beginning their journey.

Enthusiasm to try something new; keep it burning bright

One of the first thoughts to cross my mind that led me on this new journey was to try something new. I wanted to do something I had not done before. I found that way of thinking stuck with me this past fall leading me to not only fish the Salmon Run for the first time, but to also try waterfowl hunting for the first time, and hunt on public land. What came from those experiences is literally the mission, and meaning behind 585 Outdoors. I got the chance to experience the beauty that this state has to offer, and to me felt like catching up with an old friend. That level of enthusiasm is what will start a new hunter down the path, but  keeping that fire burning bright will be the biggest challenge. By pushing yourself to trying new things, you’ll have new experiences and a variety of activities to partake in. For me, I fully embrace the saying “variety is the spice of life” , I love having numerous facets of hunting and fishing that I do every season. It keeps me from getting burnt out and constantly offers me new experiences. I love being able to use duck season as a way to take a break from hunting deer, and vice versa. It also helps me broaden my skill sets and offers access to more varieties of food. Keep in mind that the more you do, the more you must learn. Generalist hunters are the best fed, but also take the longest to hone and perfect their skills. Be prepared to spend a lot of time training with various weapon systems and conducting research on multiple game species. Now you don’t have to become a biologist to be able to harvest and animal, but you should have a pretty solid understanding of animal anatomy, behaviors, and effective hunting strategies for each species. For those that like to learn, this should not be an issue.

Expectations: It ain’t what you see on tv

Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make when going to hunt is walking into the woods with expectations, especially high expectations. The reality of what you will experience in the woods is not the same as what you see on shows or anything you see in media. Most of your experiences (depending on what you hunt) will be filled with disproportionate action to boredom ratios, could be cold, and a lot of asking yourself why you’re even doing it. Hunting is a type two fun, meaning its fun that you may not necessarily be having in the moment, but will be fun to talk and reminisce about after the hunt is over. Don’t expect to walk into the woods your first season and shoot a monster buck or even shoot a doe. Set yourself to be pleasantly surprised rather than being disappointed. The learning curve as to what it takes to be a successful hunter is steep. The amount of knowledge one must possess is not unattainable within a short period of time, but it typically takes a few years to really develop. Being proficient in your weapon system is the first step any hunter, new or otherwise, should take to ensure that they can make a clean kill. Luck definitely plays a part in getting to the moment of truth, but luck should not be a part of the equation when making the shot. Any reborn or new hunter needs to control what they can control which is ultimately themselves within the hunt. You can control 99% of the shot, take ownership of your part in the experience.

Responsibility: Hold yourself accountable

This activity carries a lot of weight and power. Taking life is not a light hearted task. It’s tough, and it will get messy. Making the choice to take the life of something else should always be treated with the greatest amount of care and respect. What you do at the moment of truth must always be something you have trained for. Shooting a target once or twice is not enough. Shooting two or three arrows fairly close with two or three outliers is not enough. The animal deserves much more than that. You must hold your performance standards in regards to shooting to the highest degree of precision and consistency. Getting a bad shot on an animal is one of the worst experiences any hunter can have. Do bad shots occur as anomalies? Yes, but if you have only shot your bow or gun five times or less, you have work to do. As I write this I can speak from first hand experience that a lack of practice and understanding of your weapon will put you in a bad situation. This past fall I took a shot at a deer with my shotgun without having ever fired slug rounds through it while using a scope that had only been bore sighted. Luckily, I only gave the deer a haircut below the belly, but the thought of wounding an animal and not being able to find it made my heart sink. A worse scenario is making a bad shot, finding the animal, and it is watching you walk towards it, unable to move, and dying. It will look straight into your soul and you can’t help but hear it ask “Why? How could you do this?” Watching an animal suffer because of something you did is one of the worst experience anyone can endure.

This year I am holding myself to a higher standard. I have been flirting with danger and enough is enough. I want to do my part and be able to make a clean kill when the time comes. If an animal will die by my hand then it will die in the most humane way possible. End of story. Not to be all cliche but, “with great power comes great responsibility.” You may laugh, but that statement is very true. The power to end life is not for the faint of heart, and should never be taken lightly. As I said earlier, take ownership of your part of the experience.

Educate yourself: Listen to the experienced, and collect your own data

The other part of the knowledge is knowing your quarry, and not just knowing it based on the podcasts you listen to or articles you read. Get yourself into the places you hunt and observe the deer you will pursue. The one thing mainstream media sources doesn’t really advertise is that quarry species as a whole share core behaviors, but they will have their own nuances within their behavior depending on where you hunt. This is actually a kind of common sense concept that can be overlooked. Find locations and take a trip or two to scout out those areas and try to connect what you have heard or read to what you see. This summer I plan on doing a couple backcountry camping trips to some of the public lands that allow camping to just spend time out on those lands to locate all those core need areas and observe how the deer and turkeys behave there.

Attitude: Be patient and be persistent

You will make mistakes, you will get frustrated, and you will not always harvest an animal every time you go out. The key to developing as a hunter is to learn from the hard times and mistakes. Those are often the biggest lessons that once learned, will help you see more success from a harvest standpoint in the future. It’s natural to become less and less interested in an activity when it becomes frustrating or leaves you feeling defeated. For me, that’s what makes me love hunting even more is that it’s hard, it’s challenging, and it’ll test every fiber of your character. I have come to embrace that I need to practice shooting in order to see my skills improve, and that I will not be making 60 yard shots with perfect groupings my first time shooting with my bow. Those skills take time and I need to always keep my eyes on the prize every time I shoot. Set goals for yourself, be realistic about your journey to get there, be patient, and keep working at it.

Reflect: Time to process

Reflection has been a great tool for me to sit back after a season and reflect on what I learned not only about my prey, but also myself. An example would be this past spring turkey season I got a chance to seriously hunt for the first time in a number of years. I got to go through the process of scouting trying to find birds (or a bird) and do my best to get intel on where he is hanging out, what the hens are doing, and more importantly got to watch him during my scouting trips. I got to see him strut and hang with a group of four hens and noticed how he positioned himself, witnessed his head change colors and note the behaviors associated with each color change. Once I was able to get out during hunting hours I got to learn a little about the nuances of turkey calling. Looking back I realized that at times I called too much and too loud, especially when I happened to set up where hens had roosted the night before. The next lesson learned was decoys, and how to use them. I bought an Avian X half strut jake to go with a pair of hen decoys. I was only able to use it late in the season since the dominant gobbler did not seem to care for my pair of hen decoys. On the last day of the season I put it to the test and the only turkeys to be seen that day were two jakes. Looking back on it now I used the jake at the wrong time of the season due to the fact that it resembled a fairly dominant bird, thus preventing the jakes from taking a closer look at the spread. My calling was decent enough to get their attention but that jake decoy was too intimidating for them to commit. All of these lessons I learned will be put to the test next season for sure, but taking time to reflect on a previous season is a great way to analyze what you did right, what you did wrong, and store information on game you observed.

I also reflect on why I hunt. With anything you do in life you should always ask yourself why. The answer you give yourself will tell you what that activity means to you. Hunting has helped shaped me into the person I am today. The amount of patience and attitude towards life has been a direct result of hunting. The ability to sit outside in various weather conditions for hours just listening to the quiet and watching leaves move changes you. Being able to find peace and comfort in the silence of nature brings peace within yourself. That alone time gives you plenty of time with your own thoughts, and the ability to confront whatever has been troubling you. For me, the woods is my church, my place of worship and spiritual guidance.

It is not a simple endeavour

Hunting as a practice is simple, but why a person hunts is complicated. In this day and age hunting for most people is a choice. The reason why anyone chooses to hunt will not be a simple answer really on the surface. Steven Rinella once said that “hunting is complicated” in terms of trying to explain what he thinks about when he looks at a deer. I finally understand exactly what he means by this. To me hunting is way more than just acquiring meat, getting a chance to harvest an animal, or just witness nature. It’s an activity that shapes your soul, challenges your morals, tests your will, and gives you character.