Joe Becomes a Hunter

Gun Watch ^ | 3 September, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Last year, I wrote about mentoring a new hunter.   It is harder to bring new hunters into the gun culture now than when I was a child.   When I started hunting at age 11, with an air rifle on the farm in northern Wisconsin, I grabbed a gun, stepped out the door, and was hunting.   My father had carefully told me what pests I could hunt.  In  a year, I was using a real rifle,  a .22.  My father taught me to shoot, but most of my early hunting was alone or in the company of one or both of my younger brothers, who at 3 or 5 years younger than I, were not yet allowed to carry a gun themselves.    Every boy that I knew hunted, or wanted to.    The idea that a 12 year old was not responsible enough to carry a gun around the woods or drive a tractor, would have been considered preposterous; the idea that such a decision be made by the government, insane.    Now, government schools tell parents that their children may not carry a pocket knife, or even draw a picture of a gun.  It is an intolerable situation.

Last year Joe shot four dove on his first hunt, under close supervision.  This year on opening day, he shot four more.  Taking Joe hunting is why new articles have been scarce on this blog the last two days.    If a new generation of the gun culture is to continue the tradition of hunting, it is up to us to make it so.   Joe's father is a hunter, but medical problems make it very difficult for him to go afield.

This morning, Joe graduated to full hunter status.   I felt confident enough in his ability that I let him hunt on his own.  We even did a couple of mini-team hunts, where we separated and moved to flush sitting birds toward each other.   To be trusted to carry a deadly weapon in the presence of others, to be considered mature enough to hold a gun in your hand, follow the safety rules, exercise judgment and make instant decisions involving life and death, is a profoundly maturing and empowering experience.   Joe passed that threshold today.

In the gun culture, this experience is not approached lightly.   I have known Joe for years.   I have taken him shooting.   I helped instruct him on gun safety.  I closely observed him interact with others, follow instructions, handle the firearms that I presented him with.   Some people never reach the state of responsibility that Joe has reached.    Today, Joe shot seven dove;  I shot eight.  I had Joe clean and prepare his birds as I did mine.   We did it together at his house, they went into his refrigerator, and together we have enough for a celebratory dinner.  

Joe is now more than a student.   He has become a hunting companion.   We are talking of a deer hunt in northern Wisconsin.  Joe is 16.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

Firearms note: Joe is holding my Browning Double-Auto Twentyweight 12 gauge in the top picture; the Browning and a  Remington  870 20 gauge that I was using in the second picture.   Both guns have Poly-chokes.

[marktwain]

Attacks on hunting are attacks on the gun culture.

[showme_the_Glory]

Very nice. Keep up the good work.

[rfreedom4u]

Food always seems to taste better when you’ve provided it for yourself. It gives one a sense of pride in being able to provide for the family too.

Happy hunting guys!

[smokingfrog]

Off topic, but what is your opinion of the poly-choke?
I guess you probably wouldn’t use it if you felt it was totally worthless, but does it really perform as advertised?

[Blood of Tyrants]

I started hunting when I was 12. But I haven’t hunted in years.

[TEXOKIE]

While I am pro-2nd, I confess ignorance. What is a poly choke? ... and what is it advertised to do?

[Born to Conserve]

It used to be that you could afford to hunt or fish a couple times a year, but now, with all the BS government rules, you have to hunt a LOT or it just is not worth it. I’ve also noticed that the percentage of hunters who are nut jobs has increased. It used to be that the hunters were a cross section of normal land owners and their friends, now they are mostly obsessed weirdos who spend more money on camo outfits than on their trailer park rent. If your camo pants match your camo jacket, you know who you are.

When the system collapses, all these bureaucratic rules won’t stop market hunters from wiping out all large game East of the Mississippi in one week.

[smokingfrog]

It’s an adjustable shotgun choke. Supposed to take the place of multiple chokes depending on the shot pattern you desire.

[imardmd1]

Nice post. Takes me back 70 years, walking the woods with my Dad.

[marktwain]

When the system collapses, all these bureaucratic rules won’t stop market hunters from wiping out all large game East of the Mississippi in one week.

Much depends on what sort of “collapse” happens. If most of the power system of the U.S. is rendered useless by a intense solar eruption, such as happened about a 150 years ago, then transportation will be greatly diminished and a lot of people will die of starvation, disease, and conflict.

If it is a simple economic collapse, then most people will live and have access to transport and food.

In the first case, a great deal of the game east of the Mississippi will be harvested, but we never wiped out deer with decades of market hunting in the early 1900’s.

[marktwain]

I have always liked them. I have not tested mine extensively, but they seem to work. They have simply gone “out of style” in favor of interchangeable choke tubes. The tubes are easily lost, and take more time to change.

On many classic shotguns, such as the Double-Auto, the 870, the Auto-5, and others, the poly-choke was an aftermarket add on, and guns with them are considered altered and “non-collectable”. Thus guns with poly-chokes are often less expensive than guns without!

I think I paid $200 for the Browning Double-Auto, and $100 for the 870. They are classic hunting guns, both fit me very well. Yes, that is bragging.

They may not be the most pretty, as the 870 has hardly any finish left on it. But they work extremely well.

[marktwain]

See post 11 about the poly-choke. I forgot to add you to the address line.

[smokingfrog]

Thanks for the info.

[Born to Conserve]

Well, I suppose with a healthy dose of equivocation, you can say anything you like about my statement.

[marktwain]

That is true. If you want more specifics, tell me what you mean when you say “when the system collapses”, and I will comment on it.

People have speculated on many different types of “collapse”.

I am curious as to what you mean when you say it.

I have often said that no one is really starving in America. You can tell by the numbers of pigeons in the cities.

[meadsjn]

When the system collapses, all these bureaucratic rules won’t stop market hunters from wiping out all large game East of the Mississippi in one week.

When the SHTF, the human population will diminish more rapidly than the wildlife population. I believe wildlife would flourish.

More than 80% of the population live in urban and suburban areas. The cities will resort to cannibalism before all the pigeons are gone, and long before the inhabitants learn to hunt, snare, fish, or raise their own food.

[Hot Tabasco]

Michigan is getting harder and harder to hunt upland birds, ya got to go up north for the them. The only salvation for us southern Michiganders was the potential to hunt doves, but that was thrown by the wayside.......

Currently, Michigan does not allow the hunting of the Mourning dove because the bird is not a game species listed in Public Act 21. In 2006, Act 160 of 2004 allowed mourning doves to be listed as game species, but was rejected in the 2006 election and therefore, Mourning doves are not hunted in Michigan.

There are pheasants here in S.E. Michigan, I've seen them crossing roads in the less populated areas such as Macomb Twp and Lenox but good luck finding the land owners of the fields, let alone getting them to allow you to hunt them.......

The last time I hunted pheasant was maybe 2001 and had to fork up the expenses to travel to N.W. Kansas..........I can't afford that anymore......

[marktwain]

I sympathize. I was so fortunate to grow up where I did, when I did, with the parents that I had.

I could walk out the door and start hunting. I spent more time in a canoe growing up, than on a bike. Most of the family farm was purchased by the Federal government as a part of the wild river project.

Good luck on finding a place to hunt. If you are interested in deer hunting, I might be able to wrangle a spot at the family hunting shack near Hayward, Wisconsin.

Rather primitive, and out-of-state deer licenses run about $125 , last that I looked. No guarantees..

[TEXOKIE]

Thanks for the education!

[marktwain]

“When the SHTF, the human population will diminish more rapidly than the wildlife population. I believe wildlife would flourish.”

What sort of scenario do you envision for when the SHTF?

Just curious, there are many possibilities.