Learning to hunt is a rite of passage that many take for granted. They grow up in hunting families with longstanding traditions and hunting camps. Their friends hunt. Their neighbors hunt. There’s hardly anyone they know who doesn’t hunt! But that is something truly special that most people will never get to experience. We created the Field to Fork program for the folks who feel called to learn these life skills but have no one to guide them – and you can help by hosting an event.
What is Field to Fork?
Field to Fork is a customizable learn-to-hunt program for adults that provides education, training, and one-on-one hunting time with a mentor. The program is designed for those who don’t come from hunting families but have a desire to source their own protein in a safe and ethical manner. The in-person training, at a minimum, consists of shot placement, an overview of basic regulations and safety precautions, and operation of the bow or firearm they will be using. As deer are harvested, participants have the opportunity to get hands-on with blood-trailing, field-dressing, and processing. Other topics such as deer biology, scouting, and hunting tactics are covered by our Deer Hunting 101 online course, which participants can complete before arrival, allowing the majority of the event to be focused on getting out into the field.
The design of the program is very flexible, but the average event occurs over a weekend, starting with a training session and followed by a few hunts. Sometimes they are “destination” events that include lodging, and sometimes all the attendees are local enough that everyone goes home each night. The average number of new hunters per event is six to 12, but events can be larger or smaller. How you design it is up to you.
Who Can Host a Hunt?
The short answer is anyone! Deer Steward graduates and other private landowners, conservation groups, volunteer groups (including our own NDA branches), college clubs, industry leaders, state or federal agencies, and any combination of partnerships. The desire to pass on the tradition of safe and ethical hunting is all that is required. The possibilities for designing your event are nearly endless, but there are two main types of events that generally take place. Large/formal events are typically hosted by agencies, industry leaders, or nationally recognized non-profits on high-acreage sites. Small/informal events are typically hosted by community-based organizations or a crew of friends on one or more of their own properties. Each event type is just as valuable as the other.
While these event types will differ in the scope of goals, expectations, and resources needed, all events will follow the same general planning process outlined below. Initial planning can begin anywhere from late winter to early summer with new hunter recruitment typically happening in July or August.
Assemble a Team
Running a Field to Fork event takes a small but dedicated team. At a minimum, for an informal event, you’ll want a group of mentors – one for each new hunter you will train. These could be friends, family, or local volunteers who have hunting experience. Larger events may require a broader search for mentors on social media or by tapping into the Hunter-Ed instructor community. This recruitment process may take a while to complete, overlapping with other steps, so it is good to start early. Mentors are the backbone of Field to Fork events. They make one-on-one instruction possible for the many aspiring hunters who are waiting for their chance to learn. A good mentor will have a desire to teach and the ability to work with people of all backgrounds. To ensure everyone is on the same page, have the mentor team watch our mentor training, shot placement, and blood trailing videos prior to the event.
You may also want to designate an event coordinator to keep things organized and on track. Likely, if you’re reading this article, that’s you. In certain states, we have Field to Fork Coordinators on staff who can not only coordinate events but multiply them. Our partnership with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, for example, has led to Pennsylvania holding more Field to Fork events than any other state in the nation.
It is helpful to have someone designated to handle meals as well. For small events, simple crockpot meals are inexpensive and easy to manage. If you are able to serve venison, that makes the food extra meaningful and memorable. For larger events, or when you really want to make food a centerpiece, you’ll want more than one person handling the collective tasks of meal planning, shopping, cooking, setup, cleanup, and of course coffee brewing.
You’ll want a group designated to setup treestands or blind sites prior to the hunt. If this property hasn’t been hunted by your group before, you’ll also need to do some scouting. For small events, these tasks are often taken care of by the landowner or the mentor group. For larger agency events, this is initially done by staff and partner organizations, but as the program becomes more established, you’ll be able to incorporate volunteer help from graduates.
Larger events often utilize partnerships to share duties and resources. Land access, gear, and mentors are usually the top three most needed items. Partners can help locate those and share valuable information during the planning process. Other roles that may need to be filled, depending on the nature of the event, include security, range safety officer, photographer/videographer, processor, and “hunt assist” roles to help with blood-trailing and recovery of deer. For small events, those roles are either filled by the mentor team or not needed.
Establish Event Goals and Framework
You’ll want to establish some basic parameters for your event. Where will this event be held? The ideal piece of land holds deer and has no competition from other hunters. This may mean that the parcel has been set aside for mentored hunts only, or it may mean that other hunters simply aren’t allowed to hunt there during the time of the event. Multiple properties may also be used in conjunction. It helps to have indoor spaces that can be used for gathering, eating, and learning, but a pop-up tent and some camp chairs will do in a pinch.
Which wildlife management unit (WMU) is it? WMUs are sometimes called Deer Management Units or Game Management units, depending on the state, and they dictate seasons and other regulations. Will shooting practice and hunting happen on the same property or different properties? The same weekend or different weekends? Do you have a shelter such as a barn or pavilion where deer can be processed out of the elements or will you take deer to a processor? The answers to all of these questions will depend on your preferences and the resources you have available.
How many new hunters will you host? How many hunting sites can your property safely accommodate? During which dates/seasons will your event be held? Will it be an archery hunt, a firearms hunt, or both? Do you have lodging to offer participants or will they go home or stay in a hotel each night? Are you in a CWD zone? If so, plan to make submitting samples part of your program and be sure to follow best practices when handling carcasses.
Many of the answers to these questions are interdependent on each other. Seasons, dates, WMUs, and weapon types, for example, must all be in alignment. If mentees must go home each night or the weather is warm, there may not be enough time for them to process their own deer. If this is the case, you should identify a local processor to work with and become familiar with their drop-off procedures. No matter which route you take, having a demonstration of field-dressing and processing that all attendees can witness is a valuable addition to any event.
We offer our online Deer Hunting 101 course free for all participants to take before arrival. But our interactive shot-placement presentation (designed to be delivered in-person) has been proven to significantly increase deer recovery rates. In fact, the new hunters I’ve trained have much higher recovery rates than most of the older, more experienced hunters I know. These new hunters simply never learned bad habits. A laptop connected to a large screen TV or projector works well for that presentation. But if you don’t have electricity available, you can print out some photos of deer with the proper aiming point marked.
Double check that you have the gear necessary to accommodate your desired number of new hunters. For informal events, mentors can simply bring their own gear for mentees to borrow. In states where we have Field to Fork Coordinators on staff, we have high-quality gear that can be provided, such as crossbows, rifles, targets, blinds, chairs, shooting sticks, and more. This is usually the preferred method for formal events where the consistency of equipment creates a more professional appearance.
Register Your Event
Once you have a general outline of your event, you are ready to register! Just fill out some basic details on our registration form (e-mail me for a link) and in return, you will receive our Field to Fork Kit full of materials that will help you plan a successful program.
The kit contains:
- Planning documents
- Sample agendas
- Case studies and videos of past events
- Sample flyers
- Coupon code for free Deer Hunting 101 online course
- Coupon code for free online Hunter-Ed certification
- Insurance coverage
- Liability waivers and media release forms
- Safety orange hats and vests
- Access to our database of aspiring hunters
- Guidelines for taking respectful photos
- Shot-placement PowerPoint presentation
Plus we’re continually adding new resources. Each year when you register your event, you’ll receive the best and most up-to-date version of the kit we have to offer.
Recruit Participants
The National Deer Association maintains a database of aspiring hunters from all over the country. As a host, you will get access to that database after registering your event. You’ll still have to screen the applicants to find the best candidates, but you can very likely fill your event with the names from that list. If you can’t, what other options do you have?
When Field to Fork began, we recruited in person by setting up a table at a farmer’s market and handing out venison samples. Interested people would fill out a survey, and we offered spots to the best candidates – adults who did not have family or friends who hunt but were interested in learning to hunt for food. Other possible sources for new hunters are grocery stores and co-ops, foraging groups, archery clubs, shooting ranges, social media, and word of mouth. But start with the database. Those folks have been waiting for someone like you to contact them.
When you’ve finalized a list of new hunters, be sure to send us their contact info (names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and home addresses). They will receive a free premium membership to the National Deer Association. This will get them signed up to receive articles on deer hunting, invitations to events, action alerts tailored to their location, discounts on classes and hunting gear, and it will make them eligible for member prize drawings throughout the year. It will also enable us to gather feedback on their experience and keep our database of aspiring hunters up to date.
We are also gearing up for an expansion of Field to Fork – more events and new locations to give aspiring hunters more opportunities to become part of our hunting tradition in a safe and ethical manner. It costs us about $200 to create a new hunter (insurance, educational materials, administration, etc.), and we currently create hundreds of new hunters per year.
To make the program sustainable and make expansion possible, this year we will begin accepting donations from new hunters. Each event will have a webpage created for it where those contributions can be made. To be clear, our goal is not to make a profit, only to break even. We’ve tested this model out in several locations already and have had nothing but positive responses.
Hunter recruitment is a major component of the NDA’s mission. With your help, we can finally give Field to Fork the solid foundation it needs to grow.
Educate
In order to keep events focused on hunting, the majority of “classroom” education should happen prior to arrival. As part of our Field to Fork Kit, we share with you coupon codes that mentees can use to take Deer Hunting 101 and Hunter-Ed online for free. Our Deer Hunting 101 online course is the most comprehensive and most popular deer hunting course available anywhere. It will give your new hunters a solid foundation of hunting knowledge which you can then pair with hands-on experience.
You should go over basic regulations such as safety zones, legal hunting hours, hunter orange requirements, antler restrictions, tagging, reporting harvests, and anything else that directly relates to your hunt. Much of that can be communicated prior to arrival as well. If new hunters will be climbing treestands, be sure to demonstrate proper use of safety harnesses and lifelines.
And before they go on their first hunt, be sure to review shot placement. If possible, use the shot placement PowerPoint in the Field to Fork Kit. Each hunter should know, based on the weapon used, where to aim and which body positions are ethical shots to take.
And finally, get them out on the range to shoot crossbows, rifles, or whatever gear is being used for your event. Make sure they can consistently hit the target before allowing them to hunt. If it is an archery hunt, crossbows are recommended for their short learning curve. Rifles, if in season, allow for greater reach and could lead to increased harvest rates.
Go Hunting
And finally, the part everyone has been waiting for – the hunt! What makes Field to Fork so valuable is that each new hunter gets paired with a mentor to experience their first hunt. This one-on-one time is irreplaceable. New hunters get a chance to be out in the field for their first hunt with an experienced hunter who can help guide them through every step of the process. Their mentor can, for example, get them set up properly in the blind or tree stand so that they are ready to take a shot when the opportunity comes. They can provide snacks or handwarmers to make the sit more comfortable.
They can explain what makes that site a good location to see deer and which direction the deer are likely to come from. If a deer does appear, they can help them decide whether to target that particular animal. And if they decide it’s the one, they can help to calm their nerves, remind them of correct shot placement, and make sure the deer is in the right position and within range. Once the shot is taken, that new hunter has someone there to help blood-trail if necessary, celebrate the recovery, take pictures, and help them to field-dress. Having someone by their side to experience all of this with them is going to make the memories of their first hunt that much stronger.
Create Community
This step is more important than it might seem at first, but it’s hard to overstate how much community motivates new hunters to continue. It starts at the event, but it continues long after. Storytelling, laughter, sharing food, and late-night processing sessions (often accompanied by music and adult beverages) form a unique bond and long-lasting memories that anyone who has experienced deer camp would understand.
Go fancy if you want, but simple crockpot meals like pot roast, chili, stew, or pulled bbq venison are a delightful addition to any event. And since there often isn’t time to prepare any venison that was harvested during the event, these meals help participants experience the sense of fulfillment that comes from the Field to Fork process.
Mentors are encouraged to stay in touch with each other during the hunt via text to stay informed of the status of the other teams, provide support, discuss any sensitive situations that may arise, or just crack jokes to pass the time. Have each team take a selfie and share with the group. If someone harvests a deer, clean up the blood, take a nice picture and share that, too.
After everyone goes home, stay in touch. Send photos, share recipes, and get feedback from your participants. Let them tell you what they loved about the event or what could be improved for next time. If all of your new hunters live close enough, you can have them return for a potluck in the weeks or months afterward. They’ll have a chance to share a bit of their venison, sample each others’ recipes, and reconnect with the friends and mentors who made their first hunt so special.
Another option is to host work days. When it’s time to help set up stands and clear shooting lanes for the next season, invite your new hunters back. They will not only get valuable hands-on experience, it’ll be yet another chance to reunite with the group, share some food, and give them more confidence in their skill as a hunter.
Invite the new hunters to become mentors for the next season. Not everyone is ready to take that step, and that’s ok, but some clearly are and would jump at the invitation. Let people know if you think they’d make a good mentor. Oftentimes new hunters lack confidence in themselves, so a vote of confidence from you can make all the difference in the world.
Keep them in the loop for more hunting opportunities. Some event hosts, for example, allow continued hunting on their property for those who show up to help at a work day. But among the mentor group, there are likely people who hunt other species and would invite people along for turkey, small game, or other activities.
Looking back at the folks I have mentored over the past few years reveals the power that these programs can have when we emphasize community. I never stopped to list these out until now and am truly honored by what I am seeing. One is now teaching hide tanning to other new hunters at our Field to Fork events. Several others show up regularly to mentor and give back to the program that got them started. Another became a certified Hunter Education instructor. Several became multi-species hunters and multi-state hunters. Another volunteers for habitat restoration projects on public land and hosts venison dinner parties for his non-hunting friends. The more connections we can build between these new hunters, the land, and each other, the more likely they will continue to participate, contribute, and leave a legacy of their own.
Summary
As you can see, a Field to Fork mentored hunt is more than just an event. It’s a gateway to a new way of life. As an event host, you can be the catalyst that helps new hunters develop confidence, community, and skills that will last them a lifetime. They will become goodwill ambassadors for our traditions, helping others understand that hunting and conservation go hand in hand.
Whether you are a state agency, a non-profit, or a group of volunteers, Field to Fork offers a tested, flexible framework that you can shape to fit your community’s needs. If you are thinking about hosting a Field to Fork event or you are a state agency looking to establish a Field to Fork Coordinator position, please contact me here.