Slob Hunters

An Article Just Right For The Season
by Jamie Jent

I consider myself to be a conscientious person not only in my everyday life but in my hunting activities as well. I take the time to purchase items I may need for the upcoming hunting season months in advance, secure hunting sites (permission, leases, etc.), practice with my weapon of choice until proficient, scout, prepare blinds, and try to increase my knowledge as much as possible. I do this with the same zealous as with my home or car, we (most of us) all want these things in order.

I know as a hunter I have responsibilities to myself: to be prepared, have confidence, display ethical behavior, obey laws, respect the game I pursue. I do this to insure that someday my son/daughter can feel the excitement of opening day, experience the joy of shooting a bull's-eye, the thrill of seeing a deer up close for the first time, the beauty of a crisp October morning sitting in a tree stand, and the comradre of fellow hunters. I have a responsibility to the game I pursue to make a clean kill, I do everything in my power to limit suffering, and make use of the meat harvested.

I have come across individuals in my lifetime who obey rules when they are convenient to follow and break them just as conveniently in their everyday lives and in the field as well. Some of these people are relatives, friends, acquaintances and it is extremely disheartening to see. I thought they were the exception to the rule. Trespassing, hunting out of season, poor practice habits, just a flat out disrespect of the good Lord's creations. I have since separated myself from this unfavorable element but the impression is still there.

I've been privileged to hunt almost exclusively on private land and have not encountered many problems. Stories of fights over hunting spots and downed game, drunken hunters, overcrowding, unsafe hunting practices, trespassing on to private land are just a few reasons some hunters have given up the sport.

I guess I lived in a jaded reality thinking this was a minor occurrence until a friend of mine was mobbed on private land by a bunch of "good ol' boys" for hunting on "their" land. The victim had been leasing the property for several years and his success on the property had gotten the neighbor's dander up, because he was shooting "their" deer. The mob found his blind on the opening day afternoon and proceeded to urinate, throw beer cans into the blind, and fire a few rounds into the air for good measure, mind you the occupant and his son were still in the blind!

Nothing irks me more than when I'm at a local archery shop or major sporting goods store a day or so before the opening of archery season to hear a 20-30 year old man ask the person behind the counter to set-up this bow because he is going hunting in the morning. Unfrickin' believable! What's even more disappointing is when the person behind the counter does it without a conscience. Not bothering to encourage practice or explaining the difficulty of the sport. I know you have to make a buck but at what price?

The severity of the problem of instant self-gratification was never more evident when I was the person behind the counter at an unnamed very, very, large "outfitter". Without fail, on the evening of November 14, streams of "hunters" file into this outdoor Mecca to be "outfitted" for the next morning hunt (Michigan deer season opens the 15th). Clueless people with a credit card and a need to get away from their wives, on a drunk, holding armloads of ammo, clothing, scents, wanting to know a good spot to hunt, and the coup de Gras they need a deer gun. A DEER GUN, they need a brain! What do they think this is splat ball or a video game? They buy guns and want me to bore sight it. After explaining the intricacies of firearm operations, ammo, and the importance of taking the gun to a range to sight it in, they just want it to hit paper, "if it can hit paper, it can hit a deer" a quote heard at least 100 times. Finally, I had enough and refused to set-up anymore firearms and went home disgusted. People, these are living animals not paper, not an insignificant life form, not a video game graphic, but a living, breathing deer.

Why is it some states require you to show proficiencies with your weapon before you are issued a license every year and in some states you just have to have a pulse? Is the animal or the heritage of hunting not worth it? Is it too much to ask to show your ability to make a killing shot on an animal? Is it too much to ask to practice a few weeks out of the year? Is it too much to ask permission to go onto someone else's land? Is it too much to show respect, act in an ethical matter? If your answer is not clear to these questions then it's my belief you don't belong in the great outdoors.

A lot of us should look inward, are we doing everything we can to be better hunters? Have we been slacking off with our archery equipment? Do we wait too long to sight in our guns? Should we have crossed that fence? Should we have taken that shot in the rain or near dark? I'm not perfect and I have made mistakes, but before the season and every time out in the field I try to get better, to be better. I hope you will do the same.