Last Call for the October Class

Following a cancellation, a misunderstanding, and someone who needed to move to the November deer class, I suddenly find myself down from what was a fully booked class to several openings in this weekend's deer hunting class. This is the two day version of the class covered by the New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, etc.

Anyone who was on the fence or couldn't get in before when it was briefly full, here's your chance. Drop me an email at jack.landers@gmail.com

Sorry to regular readers for the steady stream of posts here about the deer classes. Next week I'm leaving for a two week trip to Texas to hunt some very unusual invasive species (the market for emu meat collapsed and it seems that some ranchers just opened the pens) and that will start a steady stream of the gonzo hunting journalism that everyone seems to love.

[Photo copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers]

Autumn's First Success Story

I don't usually post dead animal pictures here, but I can't resist in this case. A past student of mine (who wishes to remain anonymous) just got his first deer on his own with an ideal shot to the heart with his bow. Based on what he told me, I'm going to guess that the deer was quartering towards him and that the blood on the abdomen in the photo is where the arrow exited.

This same student came out with me for a day of one-on-one tutoring last fall on the opening day of rifle season and dropped a deer that day with a perfect spine shot after successfully stopping the deer for a shot. Now he did it again on his own with a bow.

And he did it on public land! This hunter read the terrain and found a funnel almost exactly the same as the one which we'd used to get his deer last fall. Then he butchered his kill himself. The best part of all is that he took a new hunter along with him on an apprentice license.

I love getting photos and stories like these from class alumni, students and new hunters who read my book. Send me more, please.

Spots Left for October Deer Class

We've got a few spots that have opened up again for the deer hunting class on October 29-30th. Time is running out. If anyone wants in, shoot me an email at jack.landers@gmail.com

Only two more classes, possibly one in December, and then that is the end when the deer farm that supplies us closes. This is still, as far as I know, the only deer hunting class in the world that supplies a freshly killed deer for students to learn hands-on how to gut, skin, quarter and butcher. When this is over I don't know how long it will be until I can find a way to make a similar program happen somewhere else.

[Photo copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers. All rights reserved.]

Africa in 2012?

I have plans for 2012. In addition to the long-awaited launch of 'Eating Aliens' and hopefully of my goose book, I've decided that its time to get my butt over to Africa.

There are several projects in Africa that I am considering but the most likely option is to spend at least a month hunting and learning from indigenous hunter-gatherers (preferably the San or the Mbuti). Many anthropologists have spent time with the San or with other tribes but I think that doing this from the perspective of an American hunter learning techniques and tactics from indigenous hunters would be something novel and useful enough to be worthwhile.

Part two of the same trip would be to spend time hunting with the staff or biologists of a large park where some type of culling is necessary. I'd like to learn more about how professional hunters in Africa go about their work and see what happens to all of that meat.

Right now my best leads seem to be in either Gabon or Sierra Leone but I'm open to other countries.

The plan is for this expedition to result in a book, several magazine articles and a documentary film. The major factor in deciding which country to visit will be one of financial support. I have no money at all with which to finance this. The book and the film will be able to help promote eco-tourism in the country that is chosen, so support from a state's government is important. We're going to need help getting around the back country, places to pitch a tent, and some type of air travel for myself and a two-person film crew.

Got a private jet that makes regular stops in Africa? Perhaps you own a cargo ship that we can hop across the Atlantic on? I'm open to novel means of transportation. If any of my readers are in a position to help make this project happen then I would love to hear from you.

I can be reached at jack.landers@gmail.com

[Photo copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers. All rights reserved.]

There's Nothing Good about Shooting Exotic Pets

People keep asking me for my two cents on the story today about the escaped exotic animals in Ohio that were killed by law enforcement agents.

This really isn't my idea of hunting invasive species. I don't think that there was much chance of any of these lions or tigers surviving and reproducing in Ohio. The ideal resolution of the situation would have been for the animals to be captured live and placed in zoos, or possibly reintroduced into the wild if appropriate.

That wasn't a realistic option here. I think that the Sheriff made the right decision given the fact that he had no time or specialized resources for live capture. It is easy for people on the sidelines to complain and criticize. Its very easy to just say 'they should have tranquilizer darts and capture the animals alive,' if the critic doesn't know anything about how this is done.

Dangerous, hungry animals were running around in the dark. Animals which probably had minimal fear of humans due to having been fed in cages by a human for a long time. Something had to be done immediately. It would have been impossible to obtain enough tranquilizer guns quickly enough, let alone appropriate darts. Then there is the need for proper training in how to use these specialized tools.

What the Sheriff and his deputies had to work with were firearms. It was an ugly business but I can't blame them. The loss of at least one cheetah is particularly disappointing, given the critically endangered status of that species.

I am surprised that none of these deputies were harmed. Taking on a grown tiger (it is referred to in the media as a Bengal, but I really doubt that any of these journalists or law enforcement agents have the slightest idea exactly what it was) with a service pistol is scary stuff. Professional hunters would not even consider going after a predator like that with such light armament. Then consider that few of these people are likely to have really understood the anatomy of a lion or tiger and probably didn't even know exactly what part to aim at.

For example, if a grown male African lion is running straight at you, what part of the thing would you shoot at? The head seems like a good choice but that is a really big head coming right at you. The mane over the face tends to throw people off. The skull actually slopes backward right away over the eyes, but the bulk of the mane makes the head look taller than it really is. Many hunters have made the mistake of thinking that they were gunning right for the brain when in fact their bullets were only hitting hair or creasing the hide.

Try to keep this little bit of trivia in mind the next time there is an escaped lion running around your neighborhood. Little mistakes like that have cost many African hunters their lives and its really remarkable that these deputies managed to get through the night without human losses.

If there is a lesson to be learned here it is that someone with a long history of animal abuse and neglect charges should not be allowed to continue keeping exotic, dangerous animals around like this.

[Photo copyright 2010 by Helenah Swedberg. All rights reserved.]

'Lives of the Hunted,' by Ernest Thomspon Seton

'Lives of the Hunted,' by Ernest Thompson Seton.

Ernest Seton (1860-1946) is my favorite naturalist. I first came across his work at the age of around seven years old when I paid the enormous sum of $15 at a flea market for an antique set of natural history volumes that included his work on mammals. $15 was a hell of a lot of money for a seven year old in 1985.

I am not a fan of wildly anthropomorphic stories about animals. Yet a strictly dry, scientific account of how an animal lives is not a very useful means for most people (children in particular) to understand a species. Seton walks this line well in 'Lives of the Hunted.' This is a collection of stories about animals' lives that hews very closely to Seton's serious understanding of them.

Seton ascribes motives and emotions to these animals that cannot possibly be proven. He received a lot of criticism from other scientists at the time for this but I consider Seton's characterizations to be fair literary license taken in the interest of greater popular understanding of animals. When I think about coyotes I still inevitably recall Seton's tale of 'Tito', a coyote who represents a shift that really did take place in terms of how western coyotes respond to human hunting pressure. 'Krag' the bighorn sheep is still my basic idea of what a wild American ram is and how it behaves. If I even hunt bighorn and find any success then half of the credit will be owed to Seton's story. A little bit of literary license goes a long way in helping the information to stick with the reader.

These stories were written in the late 1800's and first published as a single collection in 1901. Popular taste in writing styles have changed but the stories and the animals remain relevant. I come back to this and other similar books by Ernest Thompson Seton every few years and his work remains just as entertaining and informative as it ever was.

As a hunter, an outdoor writer, and a hunting instructor my philosophy is that the first duty of a new hunter (or an experienced hunter pursuing new prey) is to become a student of the animal. Don't start out studying tactics. Study the animal and understand how its motives and needs change throughout the year and in response to different environmental conditions. The world needs more writing like Seton's to help us to do this.

Amazon carries an e-book version for the Kindle which is absolutely free, though it does not appear to contain every story from the original edition of the book. A reprint edition of the entire book is also available. My own first edition in nearly perfect condition is not going anywhere for love or money.

[Photo copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers. All rights reserved]

Jump-Shooting Canada Geese

Jackson Landers hunts Canada Geese from Helenah Swedberg on Vimeo.

Lately a documentary filmmaker, Helenah Swedberg, has been filming a movie about me and my work. The filming will continue for a few more months and then she'll be editing for a long time after that. Meanwhile she has edited and posted a few clips from what she's captured so far.

A couple of days ago she posted this great little three minute thing showing the goose hunt that I was on recently with Michael Macfarlan of Glass House Winery.

We started out trying to pass-shoot a medium-sized flock that didn't quite come within range. After that flock left we figured we'd try fishing for a while until some more geese showed up. Very quickly we heard a few geese flying nearby so I started calling them in while rapidly switching from rod to gun.

Yes, I know that I sound completely ridiculous when I'm making goose sounds but the fact remains that it worked and the three geese came right in to me. I was too slow to make the shot as they passed overhead so it became necessary to go in and get them off of the other side of the pond where they had landed.

This type of hunting for waterfowl is called 'jump-shooting.' Michael and I used a little bit of planning to take advantage of working in a pair. Geese usually take off facing into the wind in order to generate lift, just like an airplane does. By checking the direction of the wind relative to where the geese were, I could predict the path they would have to take once spooked. Michael took up a position directly along that route and remained visible. This way their attention would be focused on Michael while I started to sneak around to the other side of the pond where I could jump them from behind.

I stalked in through the trees and emerged about twenty five yards away from the geese before they spooked away from me and started to take off. I dropped two of them right there while the third goose behaved exactly as expected. Michael took the third goose with a perfect shot as it flew straight at him.

The lesson here for new hunters is that you don't need a lot of gear and money to hunt Canada geese. We used no decoys, no factory-made calls, no dogs, no blind. Even the boat that was used to retrieve the dead geese wasn't necessary. A fishing rod with a snag hook works quite well. We didn't even have to wake up especially early. All it took was a shotgun, hunting license, and ammunition. My battered old Mossberg 500 cost me around $150 used and has paid for its self many times over in geese, turkeys, and doves.

As for the goose burgers, all I did was butcher and grind the meat. Daniel Klein (host of 'The Perennial Plate', which was also filming that day) deserves the credit for cooking what I really think was the best hamburger I have ever eaten.

The Accidental Goose Evangelist

I never intended to allow the giant Canada goose to become a fixture in my life. The very fact of finding myself writing that last sentence is almost absurd.

For a long time I was known as 'the deer guy' but over the past year or so I've probably become more known for my advocacy of using nuisance geese as food than I am for teaching people to hunt deer for food. Through events with various Slow Food chapters, articles on my blog, and most recently an appearance filmed for 'The Perennial Plate' I've become very involved with the promotion of goose hunting for both ecological and culinary reasons.

A little over a week ago I had the pleasure of appearing as a guest on The Perennial Plate with host Daniel Klein for an episode that probably won't be ready for broadcast for another month or two. Daniel was a pleasure to work with both during the hunt and after. He stalked in on the geese with me (we were jump-shooting) without spooking them off and later he deftly carved off the meat from one goose in less time that it would take me to remove a single drumstick. The man is a real professional.

I suggested to Daniel that we grind all of the meat from two of the three geese we bagged into goose burgers. What better way to prove the concept of geese as simple, fast cuisine?

We plucked the geese (I saved the down for pillows) and had them butchered within about an hour and a half. The meat was sliced off in rich, red strips and run through an inexpensive meat grinder provided by our hosts at the Glass House Winery where we were hunting and cooking. Plenty of the silky-smooth goose fat made it into the grinder as well, along with a single egg and about half a stick of butter.

After producing the raw material I left Daniel to work his magic as a professional chef. He served these large, thick burgers very simply with only a bit of pan-wilted greens, sliced tomato and a touch of mustard.

As you will see when the episode airs, they looked incredible. More importantly, these were probably the best hamburgers I have ever eaten in my entire life. This is literally true. They tasted especially good paired with Glass House's 'Cvillian' red table wine. It is always a special thing to eat goose meat that was fattened on the same grapes of which the wine is made.

Understand that geese consist of red meat. The meat has much more in common with beef than it does with chicken. Imagine beef with a finer-grained texture, less of a beefy taste, with a softer and more flavorful fat.

Every time I have the opportunity to work with another chef on wild geese that I've hunted and shot, I find myself more and more impressed with the value of this ingredient. For this and other reasons, I am now about 90% sure that my next book will be a beginner's guide to hunting geese for food. The book will focus on unconventional methods of hunting geese that are geared towards beginners, urbanites, and people who do not have the time, space or budget to hunt with a huge spread of decoys at dawn with a couple of specially trained dogs.

Meanwhile, I am willing to go anywhere to prove the value of this nuisance species as food. If governments are going to kill them anyway, lets eat them! If you represent a school, civic organization or other group that has an interest in this topic then I would be happy to travel to speak on the subject and perhaps bring a goose along to cook and serve. Being of very modest means I'll need help with transportation, lodging and other expenses, but you can be sure that I'm still cheaper than Michael Pollan.

Interested persons can contact me at jack.landers@gmail.com

[Photo copyright 2011 by Helenah Swedberg]

Autumn Deer Hunting Classes Scheduled

For several years now I've been known for offering classes to beginners on how to hunt deer for food. Unfortunately, it is looking like this will have to be the last season of classes for people coming in from out of the area.

A critical component of the classes that I teach is the opportunity for students to work on a freshly killed deer to learn how to gut, skin, quarter, butcher and cook their own food. In order to offer this experience at a specified time I have to get the deer from the only remaining deer farm in Virginia.

I recently found out that the only deer farm in Virginia will be shutting down soon. The owner will have to sell off the rest of the herd and that will be that. However, she has offered to save a few deer for me to use for classes this fall and perhaps the winter.

So this is it. I am scheduling the last few deer classes now and I doubt that it will be possible for me to teach any more of these. If you ever wanted to take one of these classes then this probably is your last chance. As covered by the New York Times, reviewed by We Love DC, and many, many other newspapers, magazines and blogs.

The first two-day class will be offered for the weekend of October 29th-30th. Yes, its short notice but I'm trying to get in as many as I can before the farm is closed and the deer are gone. The second class will be the weekend of November 26th-27th. I might be adding one more in December but that is still up in the air.

The cost per person for each of these classes is $380. This price includes all ammunition, use of rifles, a few meals, and other class materials. For a full description of what the class involves, I suggest reading the review on We Love DC.

A 25% deposit is required to reserve a spot in the class. The balance is due by the start of the class. We reserve the right to cancel the class with a full refund provided if low enrollment or cancellations put us in that position (this has only ever happened once in the last 3 years). Deposits are non-refundable if the student cancels seven days or less from the start of the class.

If interested, please send an email to jack.landers@gmail.com. We accept credit cards and bank transfers through Paypal under this email address. Personal checks or cash are also accepted.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to shoot me an email.