Busting clays is a great way to develop new hunters. Here’s your lesson plan
LAST SEPTEMBER, I had the pleasure of watching my friend Rachel, a localfood advocate and former vegan, fold the first dove she’d ever shot at. I was doing my part to bring a new hunter into the field, as we all should. License sales declined by 2 million from 2011 to 2016 as more baby boomers hung up their guns. We’ll dwindle away unless we recruit new participants. The good news is that wild meat is local, healthy, and a thing right now. Plenty of adults like Rachel will kill to try it. Find one, a friend or coworker, and help them become a hunter.
Hunting lessons begin with shooting lessons, and a skeet field or sporting clays course makes a perfect classroom. The right portable trap can work too (see sidebar). Keep lessons light all around: light in tone, light on recoil (gas guns and lowrecoil loads), and light in workload. Fifty shots per session are enough. Here are the four key lessons you need to teach and how to teach them.
LESSON NO. 1: MOUNT UP
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Is there any place better than a good hunting camp? It has everything: great food, games and pranks, and of course, hunting. Shoot, we don’t even mind going to camp for grueling work days in the summer. Here, our contributors share their favorite stories, traditions, and lessons learned from camps they’ve shared. So come on in and join us. The door’s open.
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