9781422283165

Hunting

Mason Crest

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Hunting

beth landis hester

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2017 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record- ing, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3565-2 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3571-3 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8316-5

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Santa Barbara, California Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Patty Kelley Production: Sandy Gordon www.shorelinepublishing.com

Cover photograph 9387388673/Shutterstock.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

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Chapter 1: Let’s Go Hunting! . Chapter 2: Hunting Smartly.

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Chapter 3: Choosing the Right Gear .

Chapter 4: Further Adventures.

Find Out More.

Series Glossary of Key Terms.

Index/Author .

key icons to look for

Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills.

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.

Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments and much more!

words to understand

blind a small structure that keeps hunters concealed camouflage a pattern designed to fool the eye and let the wearer blend in with the environment waders tall rubber boots that protect the entire leg from getting wet

chapter 1

Let’s Go Hunting!

t’s a chilly morning in fall—the middle of duck-hunting season. The sun isn’t even up yet, but at the hunting camp you and your hunting companions have already packed a hot breakfast and lots of good snacks, bundled up in warm clothes and waders , and are ready to head outside. Even your Labrador retriever, Cher, knows it’s time to start out; she’s waiting by the door of the cabin, looking happy and eager to go. After checking anddouble-checking your gear and topping off your outfit with a camouflage jacket and bright-orange safety vest, you’re ready to go! Together with the group and your hunting guide you walk into the woods toward the blind , and despite the early-morning hour you feel less and less tired with every step—and more excited

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8 about the big day that lies ahead. As you hike along in the dim light, the fresh scent of pine fills the air. The natural world is all around you, from the fallen leaves crunching softly underfoot to the dew-tipped branches brushing your sleeve. Already it’s a beautiful scene—and when the yel- low sun begins to peek over the horizon and wash the forest in golden light, the whole group pauses to take in the breathtaking sight. This is nature at its best, and you are in the middle of it all! By the time the group nears the blind, the soft morning light brings the whole area into view, including a wide, quiet pond lined with tall grass. You slosh through the shallows toward the blind on its banks, feeling grateful for the tall rubber boots keeping you dry. It’s harder walking than the dry path, but the changing scenery offers plenty of entertainment along the way. Luckily, there will be plenty of time to enjoy that scenery from your front-row seats in the blind. Right now, though, it’s time to get settled in and dive into that breakfast in your backpack! Your hunting guide lifts a camouflage flap to let you step into the wooden duck blind, which has a seat for each hunter and even a special platform (complete with a ramp into the water) for Cher. The long walk has worked up a big appetite, and it feels great to sit down and fill up on a healthy breakfast. You’ll need that fuel for the hours ahead: hunting requires a mix of concen- tration and patience, and you want to be sure you have the energy and focus you need. Today you’ll be hunting for ducks, so your gear includes a duck call and decoys, as well as binoculars and a youth-sized shotgun. After breakfast all the gear gets organized in the blind so it’s easy to reach when you need it. Your guide walks with you back into the marsh to position decoys in the water, where ducks will see them. Then he helps to load the shotgun and shows you how to stow it safely with the safety on until it’s needed. Now it’s time to wait. After a while, a pack of ducks flies overhead. You blow through the call to make a loud quack, drawing the ducks’ attention to the sound while you stay hidden in the blind. A duck draws near, coming to settle in the water near the decoy. Carefully you raise the shotgun to your

9 shoulder, take aim, and fire. The duck flies away—a near miss! But the guide helps you reload and try again, and soon enough you’ve shot your first quarry. The guide gives Cher the signal, and the dog bounds down the ramp and through the water to retrieve the duck. It’s the first duck of the day, and you know you’ll eat well back at the camp tonight! Why Hunt? hen your family needs food to eat, you probably make a trip to the supermarket. Need a warm coat? A stop at the mall or some online shopping will do the trick. These days just about anything we need can be bought at a store or on the Internet. Long ago, our ancestors had to hunt and farm everything they ate and wore. Hunt- ing was a necessity, and early people learned to identify which animals were good quarry—tasty to eat and useful, too. A duck or goose would A duck blind uses natural elements of the area to blend in.

provide the healthy protein the hunters and their families needed in their diet, and its soft feathers were used for stuffing pillows, mattress- es, and seats. A deer or elk could feed a large group of people, while its skin could be cured and used as leather for clothing, saddles, and shel- ter. Animals that weren’t useful in these ways were generally left un- hunted, and nothing was wasted.

Hunting has long been a part of many families’ lives, as shown in this German painting.

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11 Today, people who hunt usually don’t need to do so in the same way our ancestors once did, but responsible hunters still hunt only what they can eat or use. Usually that means helping to put food on the dinner table. It’s amazing how good a meal can taste when you know you’ve had a part in finding the meat to make it! You may even see food from the grocery store in a new light when you remember the effort that went into the food from your hunt. Connecting to Nature unting helps people connect to the source of their food and to their history as people, but it’s also a way just to enjoy being outdoors in nature. Spending a day in the woods on a hunt puts you in the middle of the natural world, surrounded by trees, fresh air, and wildlife. You’ll learn a lot about the animals you hunt—about their habits and behavior, about how their senses work, how they move, and how they interact. While you wait for your quarry, you’ll also see many other species in nature, from songbirds to chipmunks, even mighty eagles and hawks. A quiet perch in a blind or tree stand offers the perfect opportunity to observe life in the wild, and even take a picture or two to remember the species you’ve spotted. You can also take notes or make sketches of the plants and animals you see—a great way to pass the time and record your surroundings. You won’t just be using your eyes: you’ll become aware of how the wind carries scent as you take your position, how a duck sounds in flight as your ears become extra-sensitive in the quiet of the blind. The senses become highly tuned during a hunt, when they are your best tool for spotting your quarry. You may learn about tracks and scat, or droppings, that offer clues about where wildlife has traveled and when. You might memorize the calls of different animals. Tracking and luring animals can be like detective work—calling on keen senses and smart thinking, and training your mind to be its sharpest during the hunt and well beyond.

Hunting Responsibly ome people think hunting seems cruel to animals, but most hunters actually have a great deal of respect for the animals they shoot. Most do everything possible to make sure the ani- mals don’t suffer. They do this partly by practicing their shooting skills to be sure the kill is quick, and partly by respecting the animals’ envi- ronment—not littering, cleaning up campsites—so that healthy ani- mals can thrive. Hunting laws and hunting licenses are also designed to prevent over- hunting and make sure animal populations are healthy. This means making sure there are not too few of a certain species, but also making Hunting licenses are required in most areas, for most types of game.

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13 sure there are not too many—in some areas, deer, turkeys, and other game can over-flourish, causing damage to farms and homes and even threatening the safety of human populations. Hunting regulations and shooting limits are carefully balanced to take all of this into account, so it’s important to know and obey them every time you hunt. And of course, never shoot more animals than you know you can clean, carry, and use. What’s Your Quarry? uck hunting is a popular way to enjoy the sport of hunting, but there are lots of kinds of game to try: rabbits, squirrels, quail, doves, geese, wild turkeys, and bigger game such as deer. De- pending on the kind of animal being hunted, the equipment needed can vary a great deal. Many beginning hunters start by catching smaller woodland animals (such as rabbits and squirrels) in traps. As they progress, they might move on to shooting waterfowl (such as, ducks or Ducks of many different species are the quarry of hunters.

hunter’s dictionary

Part of learning to hunt is mastering the special vocabulary hunters use. Here’s a quick guide to get you started: Call

A tool (such as a rattle, whistle, or blow-tube) for making a sound that will attract a certain animal, or the sound the tool makes Decoy

A fake animal that looks like a certain species, used to trick real animals of that species into coming near Hunting license Official permission to hunt in a certain area, for a certain kind of game Hunting season The only time of year it is legal to hunt; at other times, hunting is not allowed Marsh It looks real . . . but it’s just a decoy.

A wetland area where plants grow in the water, such as at the shallow edges of a lake or pond Overhunting A situation where animal population numbers become low because of too much hunting Pack A group of ducks

This is a real duck, hiding in a marsh.

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