There are a whole lot of variables that must be executed properly in order for a person to get lost on a hunting outing in Minnesota.  The fortunate thing is that even if all the variables occur and you find yourself lost in the woods, you have a 90% chance of being found within the first 24 hours after you are missed.  The flip-side to this enlightening fact is that once you are lost, you had better have survival plans for at least the next 24 hours.

It seems inclement weather always plays a role in getting your directions messed up when you are in the woods.  Nature provides a great compass with the sun most of the time; we all know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.  Using this knowledge and other simple observations while in the woods, you can generally chart your exit route or direction of travel based upon the estimated time of day and the location of the sun.  But without the sun, a walk through the woods can be more challenging, especially if you are not overly familiar with the property.

Well, our last class included a lot of classroom time, namely the speaking/listening stuff that we all know isnt' as fun as the hands on.  But, with hunting comes responsibility, not only to yourself and others, but to wildlife itself and the land.  Being a good hunter involves being respectful, law abiding, ethical and knowledgeable.

Some may ask, "who needs to know about habitat, carrying capacities and the like?"  Well every hunter should know about these things and understand not only the benefit of the environmental conditions, but use them to your advantage.  Take for example habitat; it would seem like a waste of time to go hunting for pheasants in a large mature forest.  First off, that's not normal habitat for a pheasant, plus carrying capacity for pheasants in an area like that isn't very high.  Believe me, after all my years hunting, I won't say that you can't find a pheasant in a mature woods, just saying it isn't likely and if you do, there won't be many.

Part of the May 6th class was about ethical hunting practices and slob hunters.  Generally, we would think that a slob hunter is one that is disrespectful and simple things come to mind.  Littering in the woods, mixing beer and liquor with hunting, and trespassing are a few of the indicators of a slob hunter.  The Student Manual describes a slob hunter as one who doesn’t practice the necessary ethics to promote the good will of hunting.  I reached beyond that description to try and find a more exact understanding, but was dumbfounded at what I found.

I never expected to inter-mix the phrase politically correct with hunting.  It appears that in today’s world, political correctness is still alive and it seems people are far more willing to condemn others for what they see as not acceptable.

By Glenn D. DelGiudice, Ph.D.
Forest Wildlife Populations & Research Group
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Article reprint courtesy of MDHA Whitetales Magazine

Imagine hiking into your favorite deer hunting area up in the northwoods for opening weekend of the white-tailed deer firearm season, or two weeks beforehand, to scout for deer sign. For hours you visit some of your favorite spots that over the years have yielded varying amounts of satisfactory to very good return on your hunting investments, be it in the form of decent sized bucks with racks that made you feel good to talk about, or antlerless deer that simply provided suitable amounts of venison for the table.

Our class on April 29th was a busy one that started with an introduction of Bruce Falcon, another certified instructor who will be working with us on Range Day.  In the three minutes he spoke, hopefully everyone picked up his message; it’s up to you to make sure others are safe and responsible with firearms.  If someone in your hunting group is not behaving properly, it’s up to you to say something.  I think everyone will agree that Bob and I agree 100% with Bruce.
 
Knowing what was planned for the evening, it was hard for me to try and talk and keep everyone in their seats.  I don’t know if my anxiousness was noticeable, but I am guessing it was.  I don’t think there is a better way to spend a class time than having a shotgun or a rifle in your hands for most of the time.
 

Do our students benefit from hands on training?  Bob and I have prided ourselves on our classroom interactivity of having real firearms available to students to pick up, inspect and learn about.  We have always felt it to be one of the most important aspects of learning firearms safety in our classes.  But does it make a difference?

We got our answer this weekend.  In between the spattering of rains on Saturday, Bob and I headed to the Minnetonka Sportsmen’s range to enjoy a bit of shooting.  One of the reasons for the trip to the range was to bring a young friend there so he could shoot ‘big bore’ rifles for the first time.  Coincidentally, this young friend had recently completed a Firearms’ Safety class successfully, but was limited on his range day to shooting a .22 rifle and a shotgun and he had expressed an interest in doing some shooting with the big guns (maybe he meant Bob and I?)

It appears we are going to have another exciting class this year.  We have a good mix of students, quite a few younger kids, a good group of 16-25 year olds and a few parents.  As has been quite consistent over the years, the females are nicely represented too.  Heads up for all the guys, the girls generally outshoot everyone on range day!

Amid the chaos of late registering students, Bob and I were able to successfully get set up for the first class in a timely manner.  Ricky was not able to join us due to a tennis tournament, but he provided me a quick lesson on how to get the DVD player and projector synched so there wouldn’t be any problem showing the video planned for the night.  As with anything electrical though, we did have a slight delay (according to Bob, because we are over 30 and not technically advanced enough), but were saved by student assistance.  One thing to keep in mind with electronics, if it won’t work properly, unplug it and start over.