Hunting is an extreme outdoor activity that is popular throughout the world. This is because hunting allows you to observe and experience how the animals live and survive the harsh nature of their environment. Hunting gives you a different kind of adrenaline rush because of the thrill you will experience once you start hunting.
Basically, you have to survive in the middle of the forest with all the things you have and use all the resources you can find, track your food, and strive to live for another day. If you are intrigued with this and want to experience this extreme sport, this article will surely help you achieve that goal. Here are some tips you should do to be able to start hunting.
1. Educate yourself
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The first thing that you need to do is to educate yourself. Before committing to any extreme outdoor activities like hunting, you have to study and know everything related to this sport. From the sport’s history, its goal, restrictions, rules, and guidelines, down to the appropriate rifles and accessories that you must use. You can find plenty of online resources in the form of blogs like Lunde Studio and video tutorials from Youtube.
- Fundamentals
You have to spend a lot of time learning the basic knowledge about hunting, and the first thing that you must know are the rules and restrictions of this sport. There are rules that you need to follow, like which areas are allowed, what rifle builds are permitted to bring, what kinds of animals are restricted to hunt, and many more. You also have to study how you can get your license to start hunting and register your hunting rifle.
- Rifle knowledge
You have to know every little detail about guns, how it works, what accessories you should put, what gears to wear, what builds are not allowed, and many more. The sets of rules and restrictions are effortless to memorize and put into mind, but the real challenge here is how you can put all the knowledge about guns, rifles, and rifle accessories all inside your head.
You can try looking for websites that specialize in selling hunting rifles; for starters, learn the basics and familiarize every rifle. Websites and blogs also exist where you can find articles about hunting that would help you learn more about hunting and weaponry. Before trying this extreme sport, make sure that you have already acquired all the knowledge, tips, and tricks about hunting.
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- Know the animals and learn the necessary skills.
This step is the advanced version of the first step. After knowing all the fundamentals of hunting, restrictions, sets of rules, guidelines, weapons, and other essential things related to hunting, you can now focus on studying the animals. You will have to know which animals are allowed for hunting, humane methods of killing, how to deal with them, how to survive wild attacks, how to avoid them, etc.
It is crucial to know about this to avoid getting criminal charges for killing restricted animals. You might end up killing an endangered species and might be imprisoned for your lack of knowledge. After knowing which animals are prohibited from being hunted, you also must know how to take them down properly to show respect to them.
Hunters may be brutal and cruel to others, but they have their ways to hunt, which will not put an animal in agony and respectfully end their lives. After knowing about the animals and how to deal with them, you should now learn the necessary skills for you to survive in the forest. Shooting is a known fact, and you need to learn how to shoot. The essential skills that I am referring to are how to cook them, how to skin them, how to create fire, how to get fresh water, build your sleeping area, and many more.
2. Get your mind and body ready for hunting.
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After all the preparation you have done for your brain, the next thing you should prepare next is your body. Hunting requires a lot of physical and mental strength, and you need to have a lot of stamina when you do this outdoor activity.
- Physical Training
Hunting requires a lot of physical energy, and you have to make your body fit and healthy to survive the harshness of this sport. Remember that you will have to carry your hunting rifle with you throughout your entire hunt. Hunting could go on for days, and if you don’t have enough strength, you will not be able to continue walking around the forest.
Not only that, but you will also be walking around the forest with uneven terrains, so you have to strengthen your legs and feet to continue hiking or running. There will also be times where you will fail in your hunt, and you cannot eat the exact amount of protein to eat for strength. This outdoor activity is not fit for the weak, so if you want to try hunting, you must start working out and keep your body in shape.
- Mental Training
If you have a weak mentality, hunting is not suited for you. Having a strong mental strength is vital because you need to have discipline, patience, social awareness, and alertness when you hunt. There are times where you need to be patient before you shoot your target. It could get frustrating sometimes, and if you lose your patience, you might not get that kill.
It would help if you also had a strong sense of social awareness to stay alive and avoid getting attacked by wild animals. Remember that you are not alone in that forest. Other predators see you as their prey. Be alert all the time because even a bit of movement on bushes, tiny waves that you can see on rivers, or even soft noises lurking around, could cause you your life.
- Choose a type of hunting
The next thing that you need to decide on is the type of hunting you want to participate in. With the knowledge that you already have and the body that you gained from all your training, I guess that you are already qualified for any hunting that you want to participate in.
There are different types of hunting that you can try, there is bird hunting, big game hunting, small game hunting, wild boar hunting, bait hunting, active hunting, and many more. Try to choose what you think is within your capabilities and at the same time have some fun.
- Choose your gear
After deciding the type of hunting you want to participate in, you can now choose your gear and hunting equipment. There is specific hunting equipment for different hunting types that you need to have, such as a camo hunting rifle for camouflage hunting and a Winchester rifle for big game hunting.
You already have knowledge on which rifles you need to buy and what accessories you need to add to make your hunting rifle more effective, so I will leave the decision-making to your hands and let us proceed to the last step.
- Start hunting with a mentor
If you followed all of those steps mentioned above, then you are basically ready to go on your first hunt. But for your first hunting experience, it is best if you go along with an expert hunter to help and guide you during the hunt. Visualizing is different from the actual thing because of the unpredicted scenarios.
Something might happen that wasn’t included in your lectures, such as a falling tree, a charging elephant, or whatsoever. It is best to be with someone who is experienced and knows their way around the forest. Either way, you would still have the best experience of your life, and you can still apply what you learned in your first hunt.
