Hunting presents challenges and fun

 It is 5 a.m. on a brisk cold fall morning. There are no sounds but the wind and rustling of the leaves in the trees. That is until a deer comes walking through the woods and is stunned by a shot.

   "I'll usually go out around 5:15a.m. so I have time to set up and I start actual hunting at 6 a.m.," said Dennis Pritchard, 19, sophomore, environmental science major, from Berkley, Mass. Hunting season has begun.

   Some people have been participating in hunting since they were young and some just started a few years ago, but all enjoy it.

    "I first started hunting when I was 9 years old," said Josh Hungerford, 21, senior, biology major from St. Albans, Vt.

    Many people who hunt now were brought out by people who had been doing it for years and wanted to share this experience.

   "I started hunting when I was around 4, my dad took me," Pritchard said.

    Everyone has different reasons for joining this exclusive club.

"I like to be outside, my brother-in-law hunts, so it's a bonding thing," said physical education professor Thomas Roberge.

  "My cousins and older brothers were doing it. It just looked like fun and it was a way for me to be in the woods and outside," Hungerford said.

   To obtain a license to be able to hunt in certain areas, there is a process and protocol that must be followed.

   "To get your hunting license, you need to take a safety course and get your card that says you are safe," said John Geronaitis, 20, sophomore, criminal justice major, from Milton, N.H.

   What you wish to hunt determines what type of tags you get. The tags are what you place on the animal once you have shot it.

   "You can get a deer tag and in Vermont you can get a bear tag," Geronaitis said.

  "The different animals I am able to hunt are ducks, coyotes, bears, turkeys, moose only with a permit," Hungerford said.

    There are different types of equipment that hunters use for different game. Some people use guns and others choose to go the old-fashioned route and use bows.

   "I use whatever the state tells me I can rifle, shotgun, or muzzle loader," Pritchard said.   

    There are different hunting seasons where hunters are allowed to hunt certain game with certain types of equipment.

   "It is small game and rifle season in Vermont. Back home in Mass it is still bow season," Pritchard said.

    During certain hunting seasons the hunters are only allowed to hunt in the areas that are sanctioned by the state to keep people who are not hunting safe.

    "I hunt behind my house, in Williamstown and at my uncle's house in Eden, Vermont," Roberge said.

    Hunters take certain safety precautions, such as wearing warm clothes. Camouflage is also a part of the experience to make sure that the animals don't see the hunters.

     "I wear some camouflage but I make sure I always have a blaze orange hat," Hungerford said.

      The blaze orange serves as protection from other hunters in the area who might not be able to see you.

    Many hunt for meat.

      "I use the animals I shoot for meat," Roberge said.

     Hunting requires a lot of skill, patience, and accuracy. It is not surprising that there would be a certain kill that would stick out in a hunter's mind.

   "The goose I shot this year was my first one ever and I did it all by myself, so I'm most proud of that one," Geronaitis said.

    "My first deer was my most proud hunting accomplishment because it took me a long time to get but it was a lot of fun once I got it," Hungerford said.

    So while the rest of us are nice and toasty in our beds, others are out hunting in the frigid cold.