By Jason Reid
(New York) Every one of us has felt the anxiousness of being at work during the hunting season. I’ll wager most of us hold down other jobs that do not involve cashing a check for representing hunting gear. This is not a knock against anyone who does, its just the exception not the rule.
I am in the same boat as many others holding a job in the food ingredients industry in addition to the many blogs and articles I am responsible for writing on a weekly basis. Becuase of time constraints the tactics and adventures surrounding the balance between work and play are noteworthy since most other hunters share in the same game.
Trying To Strategize:
I really try to not get too excited and over hunt. Hunting too much is always my problem and in an effort to become more strategic in efforts I have tried to force myself to stay out of the field more unless the risk-reward was weighted heavily to the reward side. Checking trail cameras and moving licking branches around once each week have been my efforts since getting home from elk season. However, I soon learned that trying to be strategic in hunting efforts by staying out of the woods is a whole heck of a lot like trying to quit an addictive habit without the proper help.
With the third full weekend of the season approaching-so did warm weather. A full moon and warm weather are not great conditions for deer hunting. Yet, it was the weekend. Unless you are independently wealthy and time is not an issue, passing up a weekend isn’t much of an option. Picking up my good friend, Levi, we headed for a low risk area with food in hopes a doe or two would show towards the end of the evening on Saturday.
Success:
Experiencing a successful hunt with a person who has not filled many tags is equally as exciting as filling the tag yourself. Levi had made an excellent shot on his second ever deer while surveying an old apple tree under the golden sunset of a warm afternoon. A seven time state target archery champion in his youth years, bowhunting has proven to be, well, bowhunting. Tough. But, he has stuck with the pursuit and the effort is slowly paying off.
Guidance:
Teaching a young hunter the intricacies of blood trailing, dressing, then quartering a deer can be fun when the recipient of the knowledge is invested and eager. There is a major difference when teaching an adult hunter because as a veteran hunter I valued the questions asked. The chance to help a good friend track a deer and guiding the process through butchering was a good reminder of what else we hunt for, the experience. Sharing in the experiences of the wild will help keep hunting alive.
A quick 36 hours later and it was back to the office. Checking emails, making calls and checking the weather updates when time allowed. The weekends are never long enough during hunting season, but I sat at my desk Monday morning feeling satisfied that the details of hunting had been passed on to yet another new hunter.
About:
Dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of hunting, Pushing The Wild Limits creator, Jason Reid, balances a day job with his passions for bowhunting, capturing the stories and sharing information through writing and photography. Follow Pushing The Wild Limits on Facebook for unique outdoor content.
This post The Working Hunter Journal: Teaching A New Hunter. appeared first on AmmoLand.com Shooting Sports News .