Shoot To Recruit

Busting clays is a great way to develop new hunters. Here’s your lesson plan

- Phil Bourjaily

LAST SEPTEMBER, I had the pleasure of watching my friend Rachel, a localfood advocate and former vegan, fold the first dove she’d ever shot at. I was doing my part to bring a new hunter into the field, as we all should. License sales declined by 2 million from 2011 to 2016 as more baby boomers hung up their guns. We’ll dwindle away unless we recruit new participants. The good news is that wild meat is local, healthy, and a thing right now. Plenty of adults like Rachel will kill to try it. Find one, a friend or coworker, and help them become a hunter.

Hunting lessons begin with shooting lessons, and a skeet field or sporting clays course makes a perfect classroom. The right portable trap can work too (see sidebar). Keep lessons light all around: light in tone, light on recoil (gas guns and lowrecoil loads), and light in workload. Fifty shots per session are enough. Here are the four key lessons you need to teach and how to teach them.

LESSON NO. 1: MOUNT UP