Private Deer Hunting Instruction: What is Involved?

A number of people have emailed me to ask what the difference is between the deer hunting classes that I've taught in the past versus the private hunts I'm doing now.

The classes were intended for groups of up to ten people and included a lot of classroom time with 'labs' on each day. We got a fresh deer from a deer farm in order to guarantee that everyone would have the chance to actually gut, skin and butcher a deer.

The private hunts are one-on-one (or one-on-two) and are real hunts where you will be trying to shoot and kill a wild deer under my supervision. I can not guarantee that you will actually get a deer, but you will get a lot of experience in the field and go home with a lot of new hunting skills.

A typical day for a beginning hunter would go like this: We meet at 8 am near my home to assess and perhaps improve your shooting skills. First we cover basic gun safety and then you will shoot a scoped .22 rifle from various field positions. Off-hand, seated on the ground with the rifle resting on a monopod, from the side of a tree, etc. Then we'll move up to a little bit of shooting with a more powerful deer rifle, before switching back to the .22 for a while.

After working on your shooting skills for an hour or two we will know what shots you should or shouldn't take. For example, you may find that you can shoot at a deer off of a steady rest out to 100 yards, and out to 30 yards off-hand. By knowing this, we can avoid having you wound a deer rather than killing it.

Then we sit down to talk shot placement and anatomy. We'll make sure that you understand what internal organs we are aiming for and where they are located in the body. How to locate them three dimensionally from a variety of angles. When not to take a shot. Then I'll test you on your knowledge using various photographs of deer from different angles.

Time to go hunt! We'll drive to the hunting location and begin with a mid-day stalk through the area. Sometimes we'll bring a shotgun loaded with buckshot in case we surprise a deer in thick brush. While walking around we will examine food sources that the deer seem to be exploiting. We will cover the basics of tracking and how to tell how fresh deer tracks are. The landscape will be interpreted for you in the eyes of a deer.

By late afternoon we're in our ambush. Time to hurry up and wait. Between 3 pm and sunset is usually the most likely time in the day that you will see a deer. We will sit in total silence, trying to understand whether we are hearing a squirrel, bird, deer, or something else moving in the underbrush. This can be a great time to take wildlife photos, since our silence means that birds and other animals that are usually scared by human presence will resume their normal activity.

Sometimes the sun goes down and the deer don't cooperate. But usually at least one deer will wander into view before dark and that is when you need to go form zero to sixty instantly. Rapid judgements need to be made about distance, angle, etc. I will tell you when it is safe to shoot.

Photo copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers

Your gun goes off, the deer drops, and usually that is the end of it. When necessary, I will take a follow-up shot to anchor the deer in the event that the student wounds the animal and it appears to be escaping. To date, I have stopped 100% of the escaping deer that my students have wounded. The animal will be dead within seconds.

The race is on to get the deer butchered and into your cooler before dark. Sometimes we have to work in the dark with flashlights. You will participate in the skinning and quartering and can take your meat home with the pride of accomplishment.

My day rate is $200 for one person or $250 for two. Most weekends are already booked up for the rest of the season, but a great many weekdays are available. I typically hunt and teach in the vicinity of Charlottesville, Virginia, but I may be available to travel out of state or out of the country by request in order to teach a land-owner how to hunt their specific property. Please email me at jack.landers@gmail.com to discuss scheduling and details.