Photography by Mike Dvorak
Zachary Peglow picks up duck decoys
after the morning hunt.
Learn to Hunt
Hunting for ducks, deer, and turkey—wild game—is a
Minnesota tradition. Longtime hunters eagerly show
young hunters how to succeed.
By Michael A. Kallok
Thinkabouttraditionsyouenjoy—perhapseatingThanksgivingturkeyorhangingholidaydecorations.
Hunting is a favorite tradition of many people. Every year
about24,000Minnesotanswhoareatleast11yearsold(more
thanone-thirdofthemaregirlsandwomen)getreadytohunt
bycompletingtheHunterEducationFirearmsSafetyTraining
Program,offeredbytheDepartmentofNaturalResources.
Learninghowtosafelyhandleandshootashotgun,rifle,or
bowisthefirststepinbecomingagoodhunter.Tohuntsuccessfully,huntersmustunderstandtheanimalstheyarehoping
tobag.Thebestwaytolearnistogohuntingwithamentor—
someonewithexperience.Fortunately,theDNRanditsconservationpartnersmakeiteasyforyounghuntersandtheirparents
orguardianstofindamentortohelpthemgetstarted.
Herearethestoriesofthreeyoungpeoplewhoarelearning
tohuntducks,deer,orwildturkeys.Withthehelpofamentor,youcanlearntohunttoo.
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MinnesotaConservationVolunteer
September–October2010
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Zachary Peglow keeps a close eye on the horizon for flying ducks. If he harvests a duck or wild goose that has
a small steel band around one of its legs, he may keep the band. Most important, he will follow instructions
on the band and report the band number to help scientists learn more about waterfowl.
Whygetupat4:30a.m.?ZacharyPeglow,
age12,discoveredonegoodreason:duck
hunting.Heand23otheryouthsjoineda
huntsponsoredbytheDNR,DucksUnlimited,andtheU.S.Fish&WildlifeService.IttookplaceatHamdenSloughNational Wildlife Refuge in September on
YouthWaterfowlDay,whenonlyhunters
age15oryoungermaypullthetrigger.
Scout for a Spot.Thedaybeforethe
hunt,Zacharyandhisdad,Chip,went
scouting with mentor Win Mitchell,
a lifelong duck hunter. “You need to
knowwheretheduckswanttobe,”Win
said.Thethreehunterstrudgedthrough
mucktothemarsh.Astheyapproached
their chosen spot, thousands of ducks
eruptedfromthewater.Zacharyhoped
they’dseeasmanyduckstomorrow.
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Place Decoys. At 5 the next morning,
Zachary,Chip,andWinheadedbackto
themarsh.Inthedark,farfromcitylights,
they saw countless bright stars and the
hazybandoftheMilkyWay.
Inafieldnearthemarsh,theydressed
for the hunt. To stay dry in the marsh,
eachhunterpulledonapairofwaterproof
overalls called waders. To hide from the
sharpeyesofducks,theyputoncamouflagecoats,madeofcloththatlookedlike
cattailsandmarshgrasses.
Win’stwoLabradorretrievers,dogshe
trainedtofetchducks,whinedwithexcitementastheyreachedthemarsh.Winand
Zachary placed decoys (realistic-looking
fake ducks and geese) in the water near
theirhidingspotinastandofcattails.Becausewaterfowlfeelsaferaroundotherwaterfowl,decoyslurerealduckswithinshotMinnesotaConservationVolunteer
BILL MARCHEL
Whistling Wings
gunrange,about30yards,or90feet—the aryshot,butthetealkeptflying.“Ididn’t
distancebetweenhomeplateandfirstbase. thinkthey’dbethatfast,”Zacharysaid.
Hehadafewmorechancestoshoot
Prepare to Shoot. Zachary and Win atteal,mallards,andredheads.Between
hunkered down and waited for legal shots, he watched a pair of trumpeter
shootinghourstobegin.Whenthetime swans fly overhead and a long-legged
arrived,Winusedacall,asmallreedlike snipewalkpasttheblind.Attheendof
instrument,toimitateducksoundsand the day, Zachary wasn’t disappointed
bringduckscloser.
thathehadn’tbaggedanyducks.
To keep everyone safe and improve
“Success,” Win assured him, “isn’t
chances of getting a duck, hunters measuredbythenumberofbirdsyou
should only shoot within range—90 shoot.” And Zachary agreed. He’d go
feetorless.Thisethicalpracticeshows againjusttoseethestarsandbirdshe
respectforwaterfowlbecauseahunter didn’tusuallyseeinthecity.
ismorelikelytokillratherthaninjure
aduck.Aninjuredduckmightescape
andsufferuntilitdies.
Duck hunters must know how to
identify waterfowl species. They must
notshootprotectedspeciesorbagmore
thanalimitforacertainkindofduck.
Hunting with a mentor helps a new
hunterlearnhowtorecognizeducks.
Get Started. Check out www.mndWaterfowl mentors recognize species
nr.gov/discover (Waterfowl Day and
byshape,size,color,andthewaytheyfly.
special hunts); www.greenwing.org
Pintailaregracefulflyerswithlongnecks
(Ducks Unlimited Greenwings); www.
andpointedtails.Blue-wingedtealflyfast,
mnwaterfowl.com (Minnesota Waterandtheirwingsmakeawhooshingsound.
Your Aim.Likeminiaturejets,apairof
tealwhistledthroughthemarshwithin
range.WingavetheOKtoshoot.ZachSeptember–October2010
fowl Association’s Woodie Camp); www.
mnduckandgoosecallers.org/youthprograms (Minnesota Duck and Goose
Callers Association); www.npwrc.usgs.
gov/resource/birds/duckdist/index.
htm (identification tips).
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Bria Smith and her dad, Tony, drag a deer that Bria bagged during a youth hunt. Like all deer hunters, she must tag
or attach part of her license to the deer to show when the deer was harvested. Once out of the woods, she must
report her kill to park staff. Then she can take it to a butcher or home for processing the venison (deer meat).
BriaSmith,age14,hadhunteddeerlast
season, but she had suffered from buck
fever(gettingtooexcitedtoproperlyaim
whenabigbuckwalkedintoview).Now,
this season, she was determined to bag
herfirstdeer.
Bria and Tony, her dad and huntingmentor,decidedtoattendaspecial
DNRdeerhuntforhuntersunderthe
ageof16atSt.CroixStatePark,where
huntingisn’tnormallyallowed.
The weekend before the hunt, Bria
andherdadtraveledtotheparkforan
orientation. Inside the park’s Norway
PointGroupCenter,Briaandabout30
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otheryouthhuntersweregreetedbypark
managerJackNelson.Briaandherdad
learnedfromNelsonwheretheywereallowedtohuntwithinthepark.Briawas
instructedthatshecouldshootonedeer
ofeithersex—abuck (maledeer)or a doe
(femaledeer).Theywerealsoreminded
thattheyneededtowearblaze orange,a
verybrightcolorthatdeercan’tseebut
otherhunterscan.
Look for Signs. Youthhuntersandtheir
mentors then headed outside, where
they had an opportunity to walk into
the woods with Nelson, who pointed
MinnesotaConservationVolunteer
outthingstolookforwhenscoutinga
placetohunt.Hoofprints,nibbledleaves
onbusheswheredeerhavebeeneating,
buck scrapes (places where male deer
havemarkedtheirterritorybyscraping
the earth with their hooves or nearby
treeswiththeirantlers),anddeerpoop
areallsignsofagooddeer-huntingspot.
Of course, if you actually see a deer,
that’dbeagoodspottoo.
BriaandTonywenttotheareawhere
theyplannedtohuntthenextweekendto
lookforaspottoputtheirtree stand—an
elevatedplatformfordeerhunterstosit
onandwaitforadeertowalkbybelow.
They found a promising spot with
manydeertracksallaround.
Watch and Wait.TheFridaynightbefore the hunt Bria performed with her
danceteamduringhalftimeatherhigh
school’s football game. She was up too
late, maybe, but she was still eager to
wake up before sunrise Saturday to go
deerhunting.
At6:30inthemorning,Briaandher
dadclimbedupintotheirtreestand.
As they quietly waited, they spotted
otherwildlife.
“We saw two raccoons and sandhill
cranesandgeeseflyingoverhead,”Bria
said.“Itwasreallygorgeous.”
September–October2010
Thenaround8:30,adoewalkedbythe
treestand.Briafeltnervous.“Iwasshakinglikealeaf,”shesaid.
Butshemadeagoodshot.
“[Mydad]wasprettyexcited;sowas
I,”Briasaid.“Afterthehunthewasbraggingtoeveryone.”
Bria plans to continue deer hunting.
Someday,shesaid,“Iwanttoshootabiggerbuckthanmydadhas.”
BILL MARCHEL
First Deer
Get Started. www.mndnr.gov/discover (youth hunts at state parks);
www.mndeerhunters.com (Minnesota Deer Hunters Association’s Forkhorn
Camp); www.mnarchery.org/MSAABowhunting.html (Minnesota State
Archery Association, MDHA, DNR
youth archery hunts).
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Landon Graf carries a turkey he shot during a youth hunt. Following the hunting laws, he attached part of
his license to the bird before hauling it from the woods. In warm weather, a hunter must quickly register
and clean the bird to keep the meat from spoiling.
plasticturkeythatresembledatom(male
turkey)andseveraldecoysthatresembled
hens(femaleturkeys).
One-half hour before sunrise, when
legalshootinghoursbegan,Jerrystarted
blowing a turkey call. With it, he made
noisesthatsoundedlikehenstoluremale
turkeys to the decoys. He yelped—errrrit, errrrit, errrrit, errrrit, errrrit—and
clucked—cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck,
cluck, cluck.
Landon Graf, age 14, has been deer
huntingsincehecompletedhisfirearm
safety class two years ago. His dad,
Doug, who is an experienced deer
hunter,wantedtobecomeabetterturkey
huntertoo.Sotheysignedupforaspecialspringyouthturkeyhuntsponsored
bytheDNRandtheNationalWildTurkeyFederation.
hunterswenttothefarmlandbutdidnot
walkintothewoods.Instead,Jerrytried
to find the roost, a tree where turkeys
gathertosleepandstayoutofreachof
predatorssuchascoyotes.
Whenscared,turkeysgobble,soJerry
used a call that sounded like a coyote
totrytogettheturkeystogobble.They
didn’t, but if they had, their calls would
have given Jerry more clues about the
Find Turkeys.Tolearnthebasicsofsafe best spot to hunt. Because he’d already
and successful turkey hunting, Landon scoutedthelandandseenturkeys,Jerry
and his dad attended a three-hour class. hadagoodideawheretofindturkeys.
Theweekbeforethehunt,JerryVinopal,
theirmentorvolunteerfromtheNational Hide Nearby.At4a.m.Landon,hisdad,
WildTurkeyFederation,talkedtofarmers andJerryventuredtoaspotinthewoods
tofigureoutwheretheturkeysmightbeon andsetupaground blind,asmallcamthedayofthehunt.OnegaveJerrypermis- ouflagetentthathelpshuntershidefrom
warywildturkeys.
siontohuntonhisfarmnearRedWing.
Neartheblind,Jerryplacedadecoy,a
Theeveningbeforethehunt,thethree
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MinnesotaConservationVolunteer
Future Mentors.Becomingagoodhuntertakesmanyyears.Ifyoustickwithit,
you might someday be a mentor too.
Then you can pass your knowledge
Choose the Right Bird.Landonwaited along, perhaps helping young hunters
quietly,stayingstillandlisteningcare- beginatraditiontheywillpracticeand
fullyforturkeys.Hewatchedfortoms enjoyforyearstocome.n
V
orjakes(juvenilemales),theonlyturkeys that hunters could legally shoot
duringthespringturkeyseason.
Toms have a long beard (cluster of
hairlikefeathersonthechest)andspurs
(sharp,thornlikepointsbehindthelegs,
which they use to defend themselves
andtheirterritoryfromotherturkeys).
Jakeshaveashorterbeardandsmall
spurs. At 6:30 a.m., a jake camestrutTurkey. www.mndnr.gov/discover
tinginfrontofLandon’shidingspot.
BILL MARCHEL
Spring Gobblers
“Hecameinalone,allpuffedup,walked
uptoadecoy,andIgothim,”Landonsaid.
Alongwiththethrillofhishunt,Landondiscoveredsuccesstastesprettygood
too.“It’sbetterthanturkeyfromthegrocerystore,”hesaid.“Knowingyougotit
insteadofbuyingit,itjusttastesbetter.”
A Note to Teachers
Find links to teachers guides for this and
other stories online at
www.mndnr.gov/young_naturalists.
(mentored youth turkey hunts); www.
nwtf.org/jakes (National Wild Turkey
Federation Jakes program); www.nwtf.
org/nwtf_newsroom/turkey_calls.
html (National Wild Turkey Federation).
Pheasants. www.minnesotapf.org/
page/1000/MN-Education.jsp (Pheasants Forever mentored hunts).