Learning to hunt with no one to show you

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I want to get more out of my shotgun so I figure I'll give fall turkey season here a try. I have no one to teach me anything. I've been fumbling trying to learn dove hunting so I might as well try to learn turkey hunting. I'm going to a clinic put on by my state. It is an all day class.

Has anyone else here ever gone from not hunting to learning hunting without a family member or friend teach you?
"Let's be honest the only people who read Ayn Rand are 16 year olds and assholes"

Re: Learning to hunt with no one to show you

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inomaha wrote:When we were young, once my parents determined we wouldn't shoot and eye out, they let us go out on our own. And pre-internet, most of my hunting was learned by trial and error.

I've never hunted Turkey before. I've heard they are difficult so I stick to getting them on sale after Thanksgiving.
Domesticated turkey is much better eating.
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Re: Learning to hunt with no one to show you

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I am sort of in the same boat but in a different body of water. I went hunting with some friends and family a couple times in the 80's and am getting back in the game. I have done a lot of backcountry hiking, so the hunting is about another way to look at being out in the woods for me. Read Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold and you know what i mean.

My approach has been to gather as much info as I can from as many places as I can, but my bottom line is to trust my instincts and go for it. I like making sure I am being legal, ethical and safe about it.

You need to do a lot of planning to get where you want to go, at least here in CA. But it is much easier to gather information than back in the day before the interwebs, as long as your BS-o-meter is functional.

Now that I have the schedule for the CA DFG advanced hunter ed program i will try to take those courses as they come up. If your local DFG has organized hunts, then that is great place to start as well. Having a teenager who is interested can get you into apprentice hunts where there might be some guidance from DFG.

Mainly it's about dropping hints that you are interested at the range, LGS, or some other likely area for hunting folk to gather. Some hunters will totally stonewall you, some folks will start talking a blue streak, and most will be somewhere on the continuum between the two! :fun: Since i have teenage kids i have got really good at active listening and asking questions to get folks to expand on what they say. Be friendly, polite and low key...and see where it goes.

Best of luck!

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Re: Learning to hunt with no one to show you

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hillman wrote:
inomaha wrote:When we were young, once my parents determined we wouldn't shoot and eye out, they let us go out on our own. And pre-internet, most of my hunting was learned by trial and error.

I've never hunted Turkey before. I've heard they are difficult so I stick to getting them on sale after Thanksgiving.
Domesticated turkey is much better eating.
Whaaaatttttt? Ill take free range dispatched by some shot anyday.
Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here! The Dude.
Skilled Labor Isn't Cheap - Cheap Labor Isn't Skilled

Re: Learning to hunt with no one to show you

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MetalSlugIV wrote:I want to get more out of my shotgun so I figure I'll give fall turkey season here a try. I have no one to teach me anything. I've been fumbling trying to learn dove hunting so I might as well try to learn turkey hunting. I'm going to a clinic put on by my state. It is an all day class.

Has anyone else here ever gone from not hunting to learning hunting without a family member or friend teach you?
So, where is "here" ... ?

It's not listed, so I might have missed it, but you might be close to an LGC member or two that might be willing to take you out.

I'm in sort of the same boat here in VA, actually, though I raise turkeys, and have enough rabbit and squirrel on our land to keep the Savage warm and the pot full (and deer, too, though apparently never in season), so I haven't tried too hard to find a local mentor.

Re: Learning to hunt with no one to show you

13
hillman wrote:
inomaha wrote:When we were young, once my parents determined we wouldn't shoot and eye out, they let us go out on our own. And pre-internet, most of my hunting was learned by trial and error.

I've never hunted Turkey before. I've heard they are difficult so I stick to getting them on sale after Thanksgiving.
Domesticated turkey is much better eating.
Free range yard turkeys.

Best of both worlds. They eat the same stuff the wild ones do (with feed supplements, of course), and after a year or so they're just as tough and flavorful ... but you can catch them and slaughter them without birdshot.

Tasty, and your teeth will thank you.

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