How I Earned My First Hunting License

Kristine of the Hunt Smart Think Safety blog wrote a thought provoking post today about her decision to not take a hunter safety course this year.  She has decided, at least for now, to remain the best known non-hunter in the outdoor blogging world.

But her post did inspire me to tell you a little about how I became a hunter relatively late in life.

About half my lifetime ago, my uncle Tom was part of a whitetail management program at a farm between the Potomac River and Rt. 7 in eastern Loudoun County.  I had never hunted before, and my uncle thought this farm would be a great place to introduce me to the sport.

This was shortly after the Commonwealth of Virginia had made hunter education mandatory, so I signed up for a mid-summer hunter safety course so I'd be able to hunt when I came home from college at Thanksgiving.  The course consisted of two hours of instruction on a Friday evening, all day Saturday and a wrap-up of instruction and test on Sunday.

My cousin Drew, also new to hunting at the time, took the course as well, and Tom came along for a refresher and because he's a good guy.

Only I wasn't such a good guy in those days.  Beer drinking, partying and raising hell were a lot higher on my list than hunting.  I made it to the class on Friday evening, but, when dawn came on Saturday and I still hadn't been to sleep, I made the irresponsible decision to "blow off" the class (I blew off a lot of classes in my college days, but that's another story.)

It wasn't until the following day that I fully got my wits about me and realized what a classless move skipping out on the course had been.  But did I call my uncle, apologize and set things right?

Of course not.  Instead, I left a note on his door on my way out of town and then avoided him for several months.

A couple of years later, I wound up with roommates who were avid hunters, and I began to get more interested in the sport myself.  But I couldn't go because without the course I couldn't get a hunting license.  I still wasn't mature enough to make that commitment; it just took too long.

Years went by, and I wound up back in my hometown, working as a reporter for the Leesburg Today newspaper.  That job and getting married were the two biggest factors in finally straightening me up, and I began to realize that I would have to make sacrifices to get what I wanted.  Sacrificing a weekend so I could go hunting with my uncle suddenly didn't seem like such a big deal.

When I finally did take the course it was as a reporter.  I attended the class, got some quotes from the instructors, a game warden and the sheriff and wrote a story about it in that week's paper.  But I also took the test and left with a certificate of completion.

It wasn't until nearly a year later that I hunted for the first time, actually with my uncle Jim.  But not long after that, I got an opportunity to hunt with Tom.  We still get in at least one hunt together every year.

Everything happens for a reason, and taking a hunter education course is a big commitment. 

So is hunting. 

I hope Kristine will someday be ready for both, but until then we're happy to have her aboard as the hunting buddy who doesn't hunt.

Author's Note: I finally got a chance to try out my Gunslinger yesterday and had planned to write about it today before Kristine derailed my plans by inspiring the above post.  I will say, however, that I really like the product and plan to eventually own one for everyone of my stands.

Comments

[Kristine Shreve]

Look at it this way Matt, I could still go to Deer Camp and be the chief cook, bottle washer and cheerleader. Except for breakfast of course, because I'd want to sleep in.

Someday I will be ready to hunt, and I hope to get to go along on some hunts in the relatively near future. Right now, I know I've made the right choice for me, and that's all I wanted to do.

I'm bummed I derailed your Gunslinger review, even if it was for a great post like this. I'm anxious to hear what you think of the Gunslinger.

By the way, how many stands do you have. Should I start counting my millions now? :-)

[Arthur]

Good story. I think all of us have went through those stages. Glad you got everything back into shape and that hunting was a part of it.

I can guarantee you that hunting when I was young saved me from getting into a lot of mischief.

[Tom Jr.]

Haha! I haven't heard that story before. I'll have to let Dad know to read this post.

[darrell]

I've never thought of taking the hunter education course as a big committment until reading Kristine's and now your post. To me, killing an animal is a big decision. Taking the course is something everyone should do, whether they plan to hunt or not. By taking the course, at least you can understand hunters and hunting better. Glad you took it, BTW.

[Phillip]

Great post, Matt...reminds me of my first attempt at college. Had to regroup 10 years later and take a mulligan.

I got my first hunter safety certificate at a scout camp when I was still pretty young. It wasn't a requirement then, but anything to do with guns and hunting would draw me right in.

Never thought of it as much of a commitment, but honestly, if it had come up during those first college days, I'd have probably done the same thing you did, Matt.

[Bryan]

Thanks for sharing this story.

[Jon]

Thanks for sharing this story!

The great state of Texas didn't have Hunter Safety courses when I was in college, but we did have beer and all night parties and many times arrived at our hunting and fishing venues in awful shape!