I have often written about the stages of a hunter’s career. This is a common topic among hunters — especially lifelong hunters like me who now are getting a little long in the tooth.
Stages range from a new hunter wanting to an active part in wildlife conservation by simply filling their tag with any legal representation of the species to aging hunters who want to give back in some small or even large way to the sporting lifestyle, the critters and the wild lands and waters that allow us the arena to do so.
Although I still consider myself very active in hands-on conservation — I am an advocate of the farm/field-to-table healthy-eating lifestyle — I have to admit I am concurrently enjoying the last stage for many hunters: giving back.
This phase is all about the conservation of the animal, introducing new hunters to the lifestyle of hunting, education, safety and protecting the resource, and giving your time, energy and monies to others in the name of passing it on.
Here is an example that might shed some light on the subject. This past weekend, my old college roommate and I decided to meet at a farm centrally located between him and me. (I live in Southern West Virginia, and he resides in the northern part.) We landed on my brother’s farm in Jackson County and the targeted species was wintertime squirrel hunting with my dogs.
He asked if his son could join us. With dogs, the answer for me is always the more the merrier.
Both he and his son are accomplished hunters, particularly bow hunters. They both grew up hunting, and on occasion hunted squirrels, but I did not realize until after the dogs were running and we were walking around the hillside that neither of them had ever hunted squirrels with dogs.
In fact, I only realized the fact after his son asked me some very interesting questions about my dogs and how they hunt. We discussed questions about their nose and scent, their eyes and ears, and how they exactly locate squirrels.
The cool thing about finding a winter day with the sun shining is that typically if the land has game, the action is fast and it doesn’t take long for a new hunter to catch on to it. And that is exactly what happened. After about the fourth or fifth time the dogs barked up a tree, our group of hunters had turned into a true team for the dogs.
On a good day of hunting with dogs, you learn a lot. In fact, I am still learning after all these years of watching them hunt. You learn about the game, their habitat, their food sources, how they hide from their natural predators and their winter home inside of den trees — all mostly by watching the dogs figure out where the smell filling their noses is coming from.
At lunch, I could tell by their smiles that my companions had enjoyed their morning in the winter woods.
On his way home, my old college roommate called me to thank me and the dogs for the morning and that his son was bitten by the squirrel-dog hunting bug and was simply fascinated by the sport.
For me, a little walk around the hillside with my dogs may have been a simple morning hunt. But for others, it could be a spark that fuels the love of all things wild, wildlife, wildlife conservation and the sporting lifestyle.
You never know, but as sportsmen and women, it is our goal to simply give someone new access to the sport and a chance to find out.
Chris Ellis is a veteran of the outdoors industry. His book “Hunting, Fishing and Family from The Hills of West Virginia” is available at www.wvbookco.com. Contact him at chris@elliscom.net.
