Serving as a mentor for a new hunter is a fun as well as an important role to help someone step into the sport. No matter if you are taking out a son, daughter, friend or parent, as a mentor, you can shape a person’s first hunt. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
If your new hunter does harvest, the mentorship doesn’t end there. Show new hunters how to field dress, process and cook their game to reap all the benefits of hunting you enjoy. If appropriate, help them meet other hunters, share books, social media accounts or podcasts you enjoy - and make plans for future hunts! Learning to hunt can be complicated with so many different skills but mentoring someone along their process can be just as meaningful for you as it is for them.
Thank you for sharing your hunting season with a new hunter!
- Encourage new hunters to take a hunter education class. There is still time to enroll before many seasons open. Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1966 needs hunter education to hunt in Wyoming. If there isn’t time before this year’s hunt, you can enroll in the hunter mentor program.
- Plan to be as comfortable as possible. Pack snacks, dress in layers and use hand warmers and foot warmers. Later on, being cold and hungry might make for a good story, but in the moment, a new hunter could be miserable enough to quit.
- Prioritize and support safety skills. A new hunter might not know how to belly crawl or cross a fence comfortably with a firearm. Take time to teach your field skills safely.
- Focus on the experience, not just the harvest. Point out the beauty that surrounds you - blue skies, open spaces, trees and other wildlife. While we enjoy the harvest, the experience of the hunt lasts forever, too.
- Be supportive. Hunting - and especially a first harvest - can be emotional. It’s been referred to as a “melancholic joy.” Taking an animal can evoke many emotions, and they might not match your own. Listen or observe, and be thoughtful and understanding.
- Keep it relaxed. If a new hunter is frustrated or tired, it is ok to take a break. Make plans to head out that evening or the next day.
If your new hunter does harvest, the mentorship doesn’t end there. Show new hunters how to field dress, process and cook their game to reap all the benefits of hunting you enjoy. If appropriate, help them meet other hunters, share books, social media accounts or podcasts you enjoy - and make plans for future hunts! Learning to hunt can be complicated with so many different skills but mentoring someone along their process can be just as meaningful for you as it is for them.
Thank you for sharing your hunting season with a new hunter!
Publish Date
Answered By
Kathryn Boswell
Job Title
Hunter and Angler Participation Coordinator
Photo
Ask Game ID
208
Node order
96
Parent Node
1135