So you want to get into hunting? The first thing you need to know is that..
New Hunters Come From All Walks of Life
I'm a new player in the world of hunting. Being raised in NYC and living here for the majority of my life has kept me from what would otherwise would be considered too hillbilly for us city goers.But the internet and Netflix has changed that by broadcasting documentaries about everything else that goes on in the world, many of which, new Yorkers would t of ever heard of. Some years ago, I watched a film about the treatment of farm animals for factory meat, I was horrified how people have a general lack of care for animals, even those outside of the city.
After that single documentary, I never felt so far away from the idea of where my food came from. I hope those documentaries represent only a small portion of the industry because of it were the whole, we would probably all burn in hell, tied to a rotisserie, while the animal farm looking at us with their tongue hanging out over a pool of saliva.
And that's when I dabbed into the idea of hunting. Having never been exposed to hunting, I didn't have any direct resources to turn to. As with any turn of the century city adult, I turned to the internet to gather some information. Turns out, the whole process of becoming legal was quite easy. There were a few classes to take which allowed you to purchase a tag, boom. Ready to rock and roll.
The Start to Any Journey is Often Full of Roadblocks
I made it sound simple, but there are specific nuisances to the process that should be eye opening.
Firstly, these classes are always full. Even though I live in NYC, come April, most of the classes offered are packed full of people, and interestingly, from all walks of life. I saw whole families there who didn't speak a lick of English and smiled their way through the class. The instructors were demonstrating firearm safety and some had never even held a gun before. After looking around my general hunter education class, I realized there was a huge interest in hunting in general, especially in urban concrete jungle that I live in. When I took my bow hunter's course, the class narrowed to archers and people who have hunted with firearms, with a few scattered new hunters like myself.
Secondly, after my 3rd season and I realized that it's likely none of these people will ever actually hunt. Unsurprisingly, the number of students who have completed the hunter education course, vastly outnumber of tags sold each year, which vastly out numbers the number of deer that are "harvested" each year. A large part of that is
due to lack of hunt-able public land access for people on the east coast.
In an urban environment, the need for a permit to own a shotgun or rifle is also an issue, but due to gun laws in the US, this only affects major cities since long arms are readily accesible by the rest of the states.
Lastly, hunting is a chore and then some. You are literally targeting an animal who's sole purpose is to survive. In fact, part of the deer's evolution is to be able to multiply quickly after birth and adapt to nearly any environment. This is why they are so abundant in suburban communities. Plenty of food, low predator count, and lots of backyards to hang out in make for the idea lazy deer environment. When hunting season comes around, deer disappear from areas with hunting pressure and into the deeper, thorny bushes of the woods for safety. Hunters aren't willing to travel to such areas due to the tremendous amount of effort required since we can just buy
our meat at the supermarket.
Difficult Hobbies are Difficult to Start
Combine all three things together and we see that hunting is no ordinary hobby that most are willing to pick up. For those who do partake in this activity, it's often difficult to find someone to give you guidance if you live in a highly urbanized environment.
Weather or not you end up harvesting a deer, there's still a tremendous amount of fun to be had if you enjoy the outdoors and a challenge. You can hunt from a tree stand, or on the ground. Chasing tracks or just meandering around the forest looking for clues of a giant buck. However you want to participate is as good of a reason as any, to spend some time in the great outdoors.
Here's a photo of where I most recently hunted. The majestic forest offers more than just hunting. Often there is a sort of self realization while you are in there for durated periods of time by yourself.
If you are a hunter in an urban city, or just a hunter in general, let me know if you are a bow or firearm hunter and what state your from! Lets get a sub community of hunters together!