Reprinted from my Land Ethics column in the International Hunter Education Assoc. Journal, Fall Issue, 2007
I’d been awake for hours, when dad leaned in to awake us. My twin brother and I were as excited as any boys would be anticipating their first-ever rifle hunt for deer. It was the opening day of the Pennsylvania deer season, and we exited the farm house into a foot of snow and cold.
Once settled on the mountain, separated by about 30-40 yards, with dad in the middle. It was dark as we awaited the legal shooting time (7:00 AM). We each had one shell in the gun. Why? Safety. If we shot a deer, got excited (as young boys are prone to do), we might forget to put the safety back on after a successful shot. With one shell there was no way an accident could occur after a shot was taken. It also taught us to be certain of our first shot ... there would be no second chance. Subsequently I killed three bucks my first three years, and all with one shot. In hindsight I think the one shell thing was a good idea. Of course dad had extra shells for us if they were needed later on, but for now we had to make the first shot count.
I heard several rifle shots from afar, but my watch showed it wasn’t legal shooting time and someone had violated the hunting laws. A few minutes later a dandy eight point buck snuck in from my left. Dad was to my right and never saw the deer, but the buck stopped right in front of me at twenty yards. Wow, a great buck right there on my first morning. But there was one problem; there was five minutes before legal shooting time. I threw the gun up, then hesitated. Dad never said, "do not shoot before 7:00 AM," but I knew that to do so would have ended my hunting for the next year. No squirrel or deer hunting for me.
There was much more happening in my mind as I look back on that morning. I’d been taught that the laws meant something and to ignore them, as a few others were doing, just wasn’t what a responsible hunter would do. In later years I’d realize that even at age twelve, from dad’s ethics lessons, I knew that to ignore hunting laws was demeaning to the sport.
I reluctantly, but smartly, lowered the gun as the big buck walked away. Twenty minutes later I shot a spike buck, my first buck ever, with dad standing right behind me. No, it wasn’t a big trophy, but it was my first buck and it was taken ethically and legally. That was 55 years ago and I remember ever minute as if it was yesterday.
In every army soldiers receive basic training in boot camp. To some, boot camp is a scary prospect, based on rumors and innuendo that are more fictional than factual. To others, the rigors of training result in a disciplined force of men and women whose characters have been honed to perfection. Perhaps this boot camp analogy is not totally different than a hunter education course. Isn’t the real mission of IHEA to create an army of seasoned veteran hunters of all ages who will continue the rites of passage to their children and grandchildren? That’s what IHEA is all about. A "hunting boot camp" is never to be feared, but seen as a place to learn the realities of the outdoors for the safety and pleasure of those who actively participate, as well as for the wildlife that remains a passive, but essential contestant.
Leisure time is very different for kids today. When I was young, we spent time walking in the woods, an activity that our ancestors did for a million years. That has changed. Today, people sit in front of television sets and computers. Over half of all Americans have access to the Internet. Kids spend hours playing video games. We eat fast food and packaged goods. We walk and shop in the malls of the world. We live in big cities.
We’ve seen huge changes in all aspects of life, so why would we expect hunting to be immune. Today’s young people want entertainment; they want to be entertained. Look at the hunting shows on television today. Yes, they have improved in some respects in the past year with more focus on getting kids into hunting; more shows that focus on parents hunting with their kids. But we also have more "competition" seen on shows, as they take on a bass fishing-for-money mentality.
Then there is hunting behind fences and over bait that gives the impression that entertainment is more important than reality. Some shows obviously lack fair chase, but will all viewers, all hunters, be able to discern the difference between what is fair chase and what isn’t? Indeed, the world is continually changing and this impacts us in many ways. The big question is how these changes will affect our relationship to the outdoors and our relationship to hunting.
Some students will come to the hunter education course with a lot of experience in the woods, following their dad or whomever, on walks, learning animal sign, learning to identify trees, learning to appreciate all things in nature. Others may come with some shooting experience, but little knowledge of the woods. Others may come and wonder why they are there.
Years ago almost all wildlife biologists got their start via hunting. Sure, safety was an important part of their "boot camp" and it was for me and my twin brother as well. But there were so many other things to discover and observe in the woods. Hunting was a time for learning about: deer scrapes; the different calls of the blue jay; the difference between poison oak and poison ivy; why ruffed grouse drum in the spring (and also a little bit in the fall gun season). I’d come home from each hunt with many more questions than answers, and the learning was fun.
In fact, learning about ecology and nature and wildlife was so much fun that when I was seventeen, I decided that I wanted to attend college and major in wildlife. It happened to me and to my twin brother. It happened to thousands of wildlife biologists.
It wasn’t the kill that developed our lives. No, it was a thirst to learn more about the wildlife we hunted. Aldo Leopold once said that the more you learn about something, the more you appreciate it. I believe that not only applies to wildlife, but to hunting in general. And that appreciation is greatly enhanced by focusing on respect for the animal, respect for nature, respect for the land where you hunt.
Kids today would love to walk in the woods with someone who could show and teach them about nature, if they knew it existed. There is something about a hike in the woods, getting some mud on your shoes, the smell of dead leaves in your nostrils, and a few briar scratches on your arms and legs, that stimulates brain cells. No question, it would be wonderful if we had the time, manpower, and money to make that experience a part of all hunter education "boot camps."
Since doing all of this is not possible, we must attempt to do our best to help young hunters pay attention to instructors regarding safety and weapon handling while, at the same time, hitting the books hard when it comes to the relationships between man, wildlife, and habitat. In other words, the hunt should be more important than the kill and to make it so requires instilling a strong sense of hunting ethics into every aspect of the course.
This is a huge challenge, but one that has never been more important. As I reminisce about that first day deer hunting many years ago, my brain is filled with images that have carried me all these years. One vivid memory occurred after we drug that spike buck off the mountain, and hung it in a tree outside the farm house. As we went in to eat lunch, I over heard my dad telling his brother that I’d passed up a big eight point because it wasn’t quite legal shooting time. Uncle Wilbur looked at me and winked. It was a confirmation that I’d definitely done the right thing.
