Hunting season is here again. To my fellow hunters, I wish you good hunting and pray that God will protect you and keep you safe.
As with any sport, it is useful to review the basics from time to time. Here are a few suggestions that will help you have a safe and successful season.
Review the information published by your state’s Game and Fish department. Familiarize yourself with the laws and regulations that apply to hunting in your state. Make sure that you follow all laws and regulations.
Some states do not require blaze orange clothing. Wear it anyway, whether it is required or not. You may live longer, and the deer will see it as gray.
Hunt ethically. Good hunters respect their game and follow the principles of fair chase.
Be sure that any shot you take will result in a clean kill if you hit the target. If you think you missed, go to the place where your game was when you shot at it. Conduct a thorough search of the area to be sure that you didn’t accidentally wound it. Remember that animals may run for quite a distance, even though they are fatally wounded.
Obtain permission from the landowner before you hunt on private property. Ask the landowner how they want you to leave any gates you may pass through. Don’t shoot near their residence or outbuildings. Be careful not to disturb or harm their livestock.
Stay current with weather forecasts for the area where you are hunting. Take tire chains and cold weather clothing. The Forrest Service, Bureau of Land Management, County Sheriff's Department, and others have better things to do, and don’t need to spend their limited resources extracting you and your vehicle if you get stuck in bad weather. Getting towed out by a recovery vehicle can cost you a lot of money. If the weather goes bad, everything else can get bad in a big hurry. Take enough gas, food, and water to last a few days longer than you intend to stay.
The same thing is true about getting lost. Be familiar with your hunt area. Get some good maps. Remember, you may not have cell phone coverage. Take a polished metal signal mirror and an emergency whistle with you. A tourniquet and emergency first aid supplies are a good thing, too.
If you are in rugged terrain, be sure you have an exit strategy before you climb steep, precipitous slopes, boulders, cliffs, rockslides, ice and snow fields, and the like. Others will have to risk their necks to recover you, whether you are alive, broken, or dead.
Make sure you put your fires dead out.
Always obey the rules of gun safety. Treat every gun as if it were loaded. Always unload your gun before setting it aside or storing it. Never carry a loaded gun in your vehicle. Never point any weapon at anything you do not wish to destroy. Be sure of your target before you shoot. Be sure that the round will not kill another animal after it passes through your intended kill. Never shoot without a backstop. Always be sure the area around your target is clear before you shoot. Don’t shoot across roadways. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to discharge a round. Do not use alcohol and drugs when handling guns and other weapons. Leave your distracting thoughts and worries behind and concentrate on using your weapon safely. Always keep your weapon pointed in a safe direction. Clear your firearm before handing it to someone else or field dressing your game. If you shoot someone accidentally, you will wish to be able to undo it over and over again for the rest of your life, but you can’t.
Call home when you can. Your loved one will be worried about you. Keep someone at home informed of the area where you will be hunting and your vehicle license plate number and description.
Leave God’s country the way you found it. Pack out your trash. Pack out the trash others have left behind if you can. Please don’t rut out wet, muddy roads with your vehicle. You don’t need to get to that promising hunting spot so bad that you contribute to erosion and ruin the roads for everybody else.
The anti-hunters are going to complain about us anyway. Please don’t give them additional material to slander us with. Hunting has a prominent place in the management of wildlife, the economy, and conservation. We can hold our heads high if we hunt the right way. Let’s all do our best to mentor and encourage new hunters.
If I missed anything, do that, too.
Good luck. God Bless.
