I was given a shotgun the day I was born, that is how much my dad was into hunting back in 1960.   I grew up having him teach me to shoot and ultimately tagged along on many a hunting trip going after squirrels, rabbits and pheasant.   By the time I was 14 or 15 I was going out with friends fishing or hunting, sometimes both in a day.  My parents would drop us off in the woods with loaded shotguns and come back to pick us up hours later, it is amazing no one ever got hurt.  I did my last hunt as a teen home from college break, some college friends wanted to go bird hunting so I went along and bagged a pheasant which was possibly the first thing I ever shot on my own.

I stopped hunting shortly after that trip and didn’t do it for decades.  I kept fishing most of my adult life but it was almost all catch and release trout fishing.  I even gave up fishing for part of the time but ended up back into it since I just loved it so much.  When I got sick and needed to eat meat I got back into hunting which was a bit of a challenge as an adult even having grown up doing it.  Now there are aspiring adult-onset hunters or fishers out there and they face a big challenge getting into the sport.  Having done it I hope I can offer a bit of advice.

Read, Watch and Listen

You can’t learn everything from reading and watching but you can surprisingly learn a lot.  I got back into hunting from reading the hunting chapter of The Paleo Manifesto and after reading that devoured several basic books on hunting.   Here are a few I would highly recommend:

• Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast by Hank Shaw.  I’m a huge fan of Shaw and this is the book that got me that way.  A great intro into hunting, fishing and foraging with info on how to get started and some recipes to help you enjoy what you get.   Once you are hooked you’ll own all of Shaw’s cookbooks and become a regular visitor to his Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook website.
• The Beginner’s Guide to Hunting Deer for Food by Jackson Lander.  Another good intro book though pretty focused on whitetail hunting.  Still, a good overview of choosing a weapon, hunting and butchering.
• Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering and Cooking Wild Game Volume 1 & Volume 2 by Steven Rinella.   Great beginner books that cover everything about big game (volume 1) and small game (volume 2) hunting.   A good into into gear, hunting techniques, an overview of all game species in North America, processing and finally some recipes to try.

I also watched a few hunting shows to get me going.  In general I hate most of what is on the Outdoor Network and Sportsman’s Channel but there are a few exceptions of shows that really focus on the total sport of hunting.

• MeatEater – more Steven Rinella.  His show really emphasis the ethics of hunting and shows the butchering and cooking of anything harvested.   The episodes where he takes Brittany Brothers and Helen Cho on their first elk hunt and first deer hunt are especially good for beginning hunters as is the whole episode on butchering a deer and several of the cooking specials.  In some of the best episodes Rinella gets skunked, something you don’t often see on hunting shows.  A few seasons, including the above mentioned episodes are available on Netflix.
• Leupold’s Fresh Tracks with Randy Newberg – Randy is a huge public lands advocate and great hunter.   His YouTube channel has a TON of great content that covers all topics surrounding public land hunting, it is a master course in becoming a hunter.
• The Flush – If you want to see bird hunting and learn a bit about habitat and conservation then The Flush is the show.  My dog even enjoys watching it.

Podcasts are another great way to learn more and there are a few I listen to regularly.

• The MeatEater Podcast – Can you tell I’m a Steve Rinella fan yet?  I always learn something from these podcasts, maybe not about hunting but a lot about conservation and the critters we hunt.
• Hunt Talk with Randy Newberg – Again another good source from Newberg.  A lot of talk about public lands and conservation but also good info on elk hunting especially.
• Orvis Hunting and Shooting Podcast – A very good podcast for bird hunters.  Reid does a good job covering topics around upland bird hunting and has good listener Q&A episodes that cover beginner questions.

Give it a try

Small game hunting, especially bird hunting, is a great introduction to hunting and can be tried out without needing to buy gear and a dog (yes, you’ll ultimately need a dog).   Many preserves offer guided hunts and you can rent a shotgun for the day.  This way you can go out and experience a hunt and maybe get a bird or two for dinner.  This is how I got back into it a few years ago, I did a two day shooting/hunting trip at Red’s and I was hooked again.  The basic idea was so popular they put together an Upland Bird 101 Class where in 4 hours you get to learn sporting clays and then move those skills to a real bird hunt, shotgun and ammo are included.   This is a great way to go try it out and see if it is for you.   Cooke Canyon Hunt Club in Ellensburg also offers guided outings and also an annual women’s day to give a good intro to new women hunters.   I did a guided outing there before I finally got a dog of my own and it was a good way to get out and hunt before going all in.   Double Barrel Ranch and Miller Ranch both near Spokane also offer guided bird hunts for pheasant, partridge, chukar and even turkey.   Red’s now also offers guided waterfowl trips which I had hoped to do this season but a bad cold put an end to that, something for next year.

Gearing Up

Going out and buying gear is intimidating, especially getting a gun that is right for you.   Everyone has opinions and it is hard to try before you buy much of the time.   I did a ton of research on all my gun purchases and my best advice is to do the same then go to a GOOD gun or outdoor shop to make your purchase so you can get something that fits you well or can be adjusted to fit you well.   I have four hunting guns which is probably one too many.   For birds I shoot my 20 gauge most frequently but there are times I chose to use my 12 gauge and if I was waterfowl hunting that would be my gun of choice.   I’d say in general the 12 is your best bet but if you have a pointing dog and only shoot upland then the 20 is usually sufficient and much lighter.   For big game I chose a .270 Winchester which seems to be able to take down anything in North America according to Jack O’Connor and has a light recoil so I can shoot it very accurately.  The 30-06 is the other popular option but has more recoil than the .270 and does not shoot as flat.  Figure you will spend as much on the scope as the rifle,  that first deer or elk is expensive.  I also have a modern inline muzzleloader which does not have light recoil but is accurate out to 100 yards and is just plain old fun to shoot.

Practice

No matter what type of hunting you choose to do a big part of it is practicing to become proficient with your weapons.   If you don’t know how to shoot then just learning the basics is huge.  I grew up with shotguns and small rimfire rifles but had never shot a real rifle before buying my .270 so having some instruction was a huge help.

With shotguns you can go visit a local trap/sporting clays range and get lessons to get the basics then keep going back on your own to hone your skills.  Seattle Skeet and Trap offers trap, skeet and sporting clays and works with several good instructors.   The Kenmore Range has trap, skeet and five-stand and also has some good workshops and classes on shotgunning.

At the rifle range you can maybe meet someone who can help you out or find a friend that shoots, I got lucky and found someone who was a military shooting instructor who took me from scattering shots to hitting 1″ groups at 200 yards in a day.   The Kenmore Range has NRA classes in rifle shooting which are well worth your time if new to rifle shooting.

Guided/Mentored Big Game Hunting

If you decide you like the sport and want to dive in further and go after deer or elk then a guided or mentored trip can be a good way to start.  Yes, you’ll have to go buy gear and get proficient with it but the guide should take care of knowing where animals are and help you get in position for a shot.  If you want meat in the freezer then I’d suggest looking for a doe or cow elk hunt where the chances of finding an animal are much higher and many places offer at least a guaranteed opportunity for a shot, then it is up to you.    Miller Ranch in Eastern Washington provides muzzleloader doe hunts that are guaranteed opportunity.  While I didn’t do a guided hunt with them I did hunt their property and they have a large number of deer, especially does.    I did my first deer hunt with a friend who helped a lot, talking me through the whole process of getting set up for a shot and then when the deer went down how to field dress and finally butcher the animal.  Many guides will do the work for you but it is best if you get your hands (or nitrile gloves) bloody and do it yourself with some direction and coaching, you’ll learn much more than just standing by watching.  After getting helped out on that first deer I was a able to process an elk and my second deer completely on my own.

Join

Want to meet more like minded people and maybe find a hunting partner or mentor?  Join up local  chapters of national hunting/conservation organizations and it will happen.  Locally we have chapters of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, and the National Wild Turkey Federation.   I know I’m missing some but I belong to most of these and have met some great people from going to events.

Learn

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife offers clinics on hunting throughout the year and some of these include mentored or group hunts.   Speaking of which, unless you are old like me you’ll need to take Hunter Safety to get a license.  I had to take it in CO even though in WA state and most states I am able to opt-out because of age.

Finally if you are looking for a complete mentorship program take a look at the Path of the Hunter offered by Earthwalk Northwest.  This is a nine month mentorship designed to teach you pretty much everything about hunting and fishing in the PNW.   You have classroom time on safety, ethics, butchering, packaging, etc… and real-world in the field time hunting big game, grouse, turkey, waterfowl as well as fishing and clamming.   If I was totally new to hunting this is the course I would be doing, heck, I thought about doing it anyway even though I had already built up quite a bit of experience in the first years doing all the stuff I outlined above.

After spending a few seasons doing all the above I am now able to go out and hunt on my own.  After getting a dog and training it mostly by myself I do well pheasant hunting, especially on her second season when she finally got fully into the game.   I got my first totally solo deer this past fall too with my muzzleloader and it felt good to have everything I’d been learning come together in the taking and processing of that deer.

I’ll get into the fishing side of this in the next post.