Northwest Sportsman – August 2019

nwsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2019 Northwest Sportsman 145

By MD Johnson

L

ast month in the front half of this

two-part feature on mentoring

new waterfowl hunters, we

discussed money, paperwork and

gear acquisition. This month, we’re

going to assume you’ve located a

source of said money, purchased the

necessary paperwork and stockpiled

the required gear, which consists

Mentoring

Waterfowlers, Part II

Following on his call to action last issue, a longtime duck and goose hunter

lays out how to be a good instructor for newbies.

primarily of clothing and waders,

along with an appropriate firearm

and ammunition. Decoys and all the

amenities – you’ve got those covered.

So we’ll begin with your role as

mentor versus as hunter.

A VERY SHORT story to begin with, one

involving a land-bound bird, but

work with me for a moment.

Believe it or not, I wasn’t always

a great turkey hunter. In fact, I was

pretty inept. I moved too fast. Got too

close. Called too much. Didn’t know

what I was listening for. Or why I was

listening at all.

I learned, sure enough, but my

education was a slow, painful process.

Once I had enough gobblers under my

belt, though, and I felt comfortable

setting my shotgun aside to work with

other folks, then I truly began to learn

HUNTING

It may not be easy to mentor a new hunter, but

it will be worth it. “...(E)very person you get

involved in waterfowl hunting and, by default,

waterfowl conservation is a tremendous step

in the right direction, that step being the

continuation of what we ’fowlers hold most

dear,” writes author MD Johnson. (TRAVIS SMITH,

INSTAGRAM: @WICKED_WINGZ)