Hunters Unite

By Andrea Haas

My friend Kinsey and I dove hunting

Every year on social media I see hunters bashing other hunters for their hunting methods. I even fall victim to this myself from time to time. It seems there's always one hunter that wants to criticize others because the buck they shot was too small or too young, they don't agree with the weapons others hunt with, or even the type of animal that is being hunted. The way I see it is, if it's legal and no laws were broken then why criticize them for hunting the way they like? 

Crow hunting is something that I catch a lot of heat for. We have a crow season here in Missouri that opens every November. For some of the benefits of crow hunting, check out this article: http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/AmericanCrows.asp

Personally, I could care less what weapon I hunt with. If it's in season, I'll use it! I enjoy hunting deer with a bow, rifle and muzzle loader almost equally and my main goal is to put meat in the freezer. If that meat happens to be from a big buck, even better! I see a lot of people setting goals for themselves to only harvest deer with their bow, opting to forego rifle season even though their odds of harvesting a deer would be better. Let them! There's no rule that states we all have to hunt the same way and have the exact same goals for our season. And if there was such a rule, think about how boring and uninteresting that would be!

My doe from 2015 Rifle Season

In case you haven't heard of the Sportsmen's Alliance, they are a non-profit organization working to defend hunting, fishing, and trapping against lawsuits, legislation, and ballot issues proposed by anti-hunters. Another thing that they are working just as hard at is getting hunters to unite, stop bickering with each other, and accept each others differences. Last week they shared this photo on their Facebook page, along with this caption: 

"One of the greatest threats to hunting is our own inability to get along and accept each others differences. ‪#‎OurHeritageOurFight‬" 

I couldn't agree more with that statement! If there's one thing that every hunter has in common, I feel it's that we all want to have the right to go hunting. We all enjoy the outdoors in our own way and need to be united against those who are ready to take those experiences away from us! Embrace our differences and, as long as it's legal, respect other hunters' choices. After all, "We're all on the same team."

For the Love of Bird Hunting

As my love for deer hunting has grown considerably over the years, so has my love for hunting birds. Most recently I have taken up pheasant, dove and crow hunting and found that I enjoy that just as much as I do hunting deer.  Not only has it expanded my time in the outdoors, it introduced me to a much more relaxed and carefree hunting atmosphere, which I found is much needed after months of being so serious about deer hunting.

Last November I went on my very first pheasant hunt in Kansas.  I didn’t really know what to expect but to prepare myself I shot skeet as often as possible throughout the summer and weeks leading up to opening day. Looking back, I feel that it was a good way to prepare and found that pheasants fly very similar to a clay pigeon being thrown out of a skeet thrower, starting at the ground and flying up. Not many birds were shot due to the previous years’ drought taking its toll on the population, but this will be a hunt I look forward to each November from now on. 

Dove hunting was a slightly different story for me.  They are much smaller, much faster, and fly totally different than a pheasant. The best way to prepare myself for dove hunting was to actually go dove hunting. I will admit that I spent a lot of time in the dove field last season and came home each time without a single dove.  I feel my biggest mistakes were not swinging through the shot & leading the dove, and just getting too anxious & forcing a bad shot.  Dove season starts this Monday and I feel much more prepared this season after my experience with it last year!

A less common type of bird hunting that has quickly grown to be my favorite is crow hunting. Like pheasant and dove, I also began crow hunting last year. Crows can be brought into shooting distance fairly easily with an electronic call and some crow decoys. I’ve found that crows are easier to hit than other game birds because they tend to fly slower, therefore you don’t have to lead them too much with your shotgun. Not only is crow hunting a blast, I feel it has helped me the most in becoming comfortable with my shotgun and learning how to handle it.

As a deer hunter, I have learned patience, appreciation, and determination. As a bird hunter, I learned each of those all over again. I set my rifle and bow & arrows aside, something I had become comfortable with, and learned my way around a different weapon.  I’m glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried something new last season. By doing so I not only learned the above skills again, I gained a whole new perspective on hunting.

-Andrea Haas