Celebrate the Experience. Getting a bird is just part of the fun. Explain the details that make for great hunting, from safety to the importance of habitat to how a bird dog works in the field for a more complete experience for a young uplander. Simonson Photo.
By Nick Simonson
While the upcoming North Dakota youth pheasant weekend on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 provides an ideal opportunity to get new hunters into the field, experienced sportsmen and women can make any approaching hunt a chance to share their knowledge and get someone new into the uplands. What follows are some tips to help in that process and make things a bit easier with some good preparation and reminders for in-the-field opportunities to cement a positive experience.
Plan Ahead. If you haven’t already, make connections with landowners to help facilitate the use of pheasant-holding habitat on private acres. If hunting public land, identify public parcels and those public-access acres that will serve as both primary places for the mentored hunt and as back-ups in case another party is already there when you arrive. Remember to explain field etiquette to the mentored hunter, noting that if someone is already hunting any part of a public space, it’s best to move on and leave that area to the first group and not interfere with their hunt.
Prepare the Hunter. Talk with the hunter in the days leading up to the hunt and keep an eye on the weather conditions, letting him or her know where you will meet, travel plans and hunting ideas for the upcoming outing. Explain the concept of dressing in layers and adjusting to a warming day and the requirement of good footwear and a solid hunting vest to hold shells, gear and hopefully birds. Make sure that visibility in the field is stressed and having both a vest or jacket in blaze orange along with a cap makes you more easily seen by others on the landscape and in your immediate party.
Take Photos. As a hunter, it’s often hard to catch a moment in the field beyond memory. As a mentor without a firearm in tow, the process is a little less challenging, but the instant of an exciting flush or a dog on point can still override everything else. Don’t forget to bring a camera or utilize a quality cell phone lens to capture those exciting occurrences in the field and have that shutter ready to snap and capture those “firsts” for a young hunter.
Celebrate the Harvest. Recap the day over the tailgate with a young hunter, explaining how to clean a bird and pointing out the various points of its biology and anatomy. From the hollow bones that give the creature its lift with each wingbeat, to the crop that stores its daily meals, to the gizzard that grinds its food with the bits of rock and grit it collects from a gravel road, the biology of a rooster pheasant tells a lot about where it lives and, more importantly for the young hunter, where to find more of them on his or her next hunt! Talk about preserving and storing the meat in a clean manner from the field to the fridge and give some cooking advice on how to get the most out of it at the dinner table.
Don’t Push Things. In harsh conditions such as rain, early season snow or extreme cold, it’s best to keep hunts short or reschedule them. The same goes for hotter days as well. Some young hunters may not be in as good of shape as you are, or simply not as tall, so be aware of their physical condition and the fact they likely can’t take on some of the longer or more challenging walks, and adjust the trip accordingly. Bring lots of water and snacks and take ample breaks, whether it’s between walks or just a moment or two to pause and take the experience in, answering any questions that might arise.
Focus on Safety and Identification. From age 11 to 101, all hunters should have a safe experience at the forefront of their mind each time they set out into the field. Explain the importance of being aware of the shot, what lies in front of and around it, and where members of your hunting party are and where other people, structures and equipment might be on the landscape. Also stress that a shot not taken due to confusion, inability to identify a bird, something feeling “not quite right” or simply because the safety was left on are some of the best shots in the outdoors. There will be plenty of other opportunities and many other hunts to make up for it. Stress safety; think twice – shoot once!
With these tips in mind any upland hunter worth his or her salt can become a mentor, be it during a special season like the upcoming ND youth pheasant weekend or any Sunday afternoon hunt throughout the autumn. Keep things safe, fun, and focused on the new hunter, and you’re bound to create a sportsman or woman who can help carry on the tradition well into the future.
Simonson is the lead writer and editor for Dakota Edge Outdoors and has been mentoring young uplanders since the first ND youth pheasant weekend was held almost 20 years ago.