We’re sharing stories from hunters who’ve taken someone new hunting and participated in the Hunter Mentor Pledge. Here’s one from Jeffrey Freeman of Big Lake, who shared this story from September 2023:
I took my 14-year-old nephew, Caden, out for his first waterfowl hunt this season, and he had an amazing time shooting two teals. He was super excited to get out and hunt waterfowl. We were on public land and we set up on the south side of a pond. He asked a bunch of questions about how to set decoys, why we set them the way we did, and what kind of ducks would be around. After setting up, we went through a safety reminder and took our spots.
Caden’s dad, my brother, was with to help out, and we awaited shooting light. We didn’t have to wait long as the clock struck shooting time. We had a lone teal land right in the decoys, and he was able to bag his first-ever duck one minute into shooting time. We had some more teal work, but they were out of range, and we couldn’t get them to commit within shotgun range. Then, out of nowhere, a single bluewing zoomed past us and made a wide circle before finally committing to our decoys, and duck number two was in hand.
We called it a day around 8:30 and started to pick up the decoys. To be fully immersed in the experience of duck hunting, Caden wanted to help pick decoys up, and I informed him to go slow, as walking in waders and muck is very different than normally walking around. He took my advice and was doing great until he stopped and tried to get moving again. Down he went in slow motion face first into the mucky water, baptism by the ducky waters of the marsh. Even after his swim, he loved every minute of it, thanked me multiple times, and couldn’t wait to get out there again.
The Hunter Mentor Pledge from the Minnesota DNR and Pheasants Forever encourages hunters to take someone hunting who has never hunted or hasn’t hunted for a few years. The program is open to all types of hunting in Minnesota that are legal and in-season. Participation is simple and you can find all the details on the Minnesota DNR take a friend hunting webpage.
Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Freeman
