MN Firearms Safety

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.

Being a responsibile hunter includes practicing conservation, preservation and wildlife management, both directly and indirectly.  Following game laws is part of each of these practices.  Yes, even presevation, the non-use of natural resources includes following game laws.

But the really big issue is using everything discussed in this last class to present yourself as an educated and responsible hunter to the rest of the world; especially those 80% that make up the undecided/no opinion people.  Your actions while you hunt, or otherwise use firearms, will ensure your future in the woods and your childrens future too.

Respect it seems, is a very nice term to boil everything down to.  Respect the land, respect the landowner, respect wildlife, respect other hunters, respect the laws, and respect yourself.  How would you want to be treated in a certain situation?  Treat others that way and you will most likely be a success in respect. 

I think the best example I can convey is the one I talked about in class.  Where a friend and I offered a pheasant to the landowner because "he was just too old to hunt anymore and really missed it."  I love to tell that story because it is filled with so many different levels of respect.  Although I had permission to hunt the land, because I was bring someone new, we asked for permission for my friend as well.  We outlined where we would be hunting so the landowner knew where we would be.  We stopped on our way out of the fields and talked with the landowner again.  We offered the landowner a pheasant because he missed hunting and eating them.  And although he initially refused, after cleaning two birds for him, he gladly accepted them.

And the bottom line of the story?  Our respect of the land and landowner made my friendship with the landowner a better one, and created another friendship between the landowner and my friend, so that now my friend is able to hunt that land without me being around.  Every year, my friend has delivered a couple of cleaned pheasants once or twice during the season to the landowner.  Just kind of filled with respect isn't it.