When do I go?

Hunting has seasons; for example, deer, dove, duck, turkey, raccoon, squirrel, boar, etc. Usually, you have to hunt at different times of the day. People go raccoon hunting at night, squirrel hunting during the day, and deer hunting at sunrise and sunset. To hunt, you must have a hunting license, tags, and a certain type of gun and bullets. With deer hunting, most people use shotguns and buck shots. To get a license, your parents can either pay over $100 when you are born, or you can buy one every year for less than $100. There are different types of tags. If you want to hunt bears, you can buy bear tags. If you want to hunt everything in season, you can buy tags for everything in season. I usually get tags for two bucks, four does, two jakes/tom turkeys, and two bears. However, with duck, dove, and squirrel, there is a daily limit per person. The daily limit for duck is usually six per person, depending on what state you are in. Almost every season has Youth Day when people under the age of 18 can go hunting.

How do I get ready?

When the season begins, I make sure that my hunting space is ready. When dove season starts, my dad goes to the dove field and mows the weeds except for small areas so we have somewhere to hide. He also buys hay bales for us to hide behind. During deer season, we make sure our tree stands are stable, and we put out corn to ensure the deer we have around stay. For running dogs, we make sure we have tracking and shock collars in working order. We put the dog box in the back of the truck and leave it there until the season ends. There are other seasons I must get ready for, but these are the highest maintenance.

What do I wear?

When I go hunting, I make sure I am dressed right for the weather, but I also make sure that I blend in. Each animal has a different sense. Deer can hear and see well. When deer hunting, I have to be quiet and blend in. I wear lots of camos, but I also wear a bright orange hat, toboggan, shirt, jacket, etc. We wear bright orange to be visible to humans but not to deer because deer cannot see orange and other colors. To them, orange looks green, making it a perfect hunting color to wear. When you go deer or duck hunting, it is usually cold, so you must dress really warm. However, with squirrels or doves, you usually go during the day or in warmer seasons, so you can dress for warm weather.

What do I do?

When I tell my friends about my hunting trips, they wonder what I do. Do I just sit there? Yes, I do. However, I do have things to entertain me like my phone or I can take a nap. It gets boring sometimes, but it is also peaceful. With other types of hunting, like running dogs, it is a lot more exciting. You don’t have to wear all camo, you can talk and make noise.

What happens to the animals I kill?

Usually what I kill ends up in the freezer for dinner. However, there is a process to get it to the freezer. It starts by cleaning the animal. No matter what animal I kill, it must be skinned to be stripped of its meat. Each animal has a different body structure, so each animal is cleaned differently. After I clean them, I cut off the meat. It’s easy to get confused with what you can and can’t eat on an animal, and there’s a lot less to eat than you think, depending on the animal.

The last thing to say is hunting is a sport, so you have to play by the rules, and it takes practice, but you can be good on the first day.

Photo by Rhett Noonan on Unsplash