Learn to Hunt From A Woman Teacher
Based at the Joy of Hunting Preserve, Anne offers coaching, primarily to women who want to learn to hunt from another woman. Anne is very easy to get along with, will go at your pace and put your comfort and safety above all. She’s an excellent shotgunner and an experienced and avid hunter – and she’s fun to be around.
Anne works with beginners who have never shot a gun before through to seasoned shooters who want to tune up their hunting skills. A beginner package typically consists of an initial shotgun fitting, eye-dominance test and a few easy practice shots; specific shooting drills to build hunting skills; a comprehensive safety talk followed by dry run in the field to practice safe handling of the (empty) gun; and finally live hunting over different types of dogs. The emphasis is on developing key skills and confidence building - and, hopefully, getting hooked on bird hunting for life!
Depending on the aptitude of the hunter, greater emphasis will be placed on shooting form for the field; how to achieve a smooth mount and how to practice it; all aspects of safety; becoming a "conscious" hunter; hunting over flushers and pointing dogs; more about birds, their habits and habitat and hunting strategies; and several hunts with Anne as your expert guide and coach. At the end of the day, perhaps after a bird-cleaning demonstration, we'll relax and tell the day's stories and plan the next steps.
Topics of special interest to the client can be covered in depth, such as chokes and loads, pattern testing, bird cleaning and gun cleaning.
Topics of special interest to the client can be covered in depth, such as chokes and loads, pattern testing, bird cleaning and gun cleaning.
You will leave with a plan for practicing your new skills to make them automatic and plenty of resources for charting your own hunting path.
"Your first hunt can be very intimidating. You have a loaded gun and you're walking perhaps 20 yards from your hunter friends and their dog (or yours) - over uneven ground, long grass that can trip you up, across ditches and through trees and thickets. A bird gets up and you're too scared to shoot - or you didn't hear it, or see it because you were looking at your feet. The next one gets up, it's your shot, and it gets out 100 yards before you fire your gun, so much is involved in taking the shot. Oops, you forgot to take the safety off. And so it goes on - so many variables you have to consider at the same time, while your fellow hunters (and worse, your dog) give you that look if you don't take a shot or you flat-out miss!
You can get a handle on most of these variables simply by being aware of what they are! Mastery of technical skills comes with practice. Lessons with me will give you an excellent overview of the knowledge and skills required to be safe when you hunt, take more shots confidently and recover downed birds for the table. If you're confident, you'll be successful and beyond success comes the path of a true hunter: connection with the outdoors, connection with the food you eat, connection with friends and with life (and death) itself... and that connection with yourself where hunting itself is what matters, not how many birds you shot (or missed). I would be honored to walk with you on the first stage of your hunter path!"
Anne Kania - Joy of Hunting
You can get a handle on most of these variables simply by being aware of what they are! Mastery of technical skills comes with practice. Lessons with me will give you an excellent overview of the knowledge and skills required to be safe when you hunt, take more shots confidently and recover downed birds for the table. If you're confident, you'll be successful and beyond success comes the path of a true hunter: connection with the outdoors, connection with the food you eat, connection with friends and with life (and death) itself... and that connection with yourself where hunting itself is what matters, not how many birds you shot (or missed). I would be honored to walk with you on the first stage of your hunter path!"
Anne Kania - Joy of Hunting