SHARE OF THE WILD

By Sharon Buccino (she/her) CDTC Board Member

What are the five things you need to hunt in Wyoming? I didn’t know the answer, but I would before the weekend was over. It was Friday evening on Memorial Day weekend. I had driven a hundred miles from Laramie to Glendo, Wyoming. I found myself sitting before the altar at Circle G Cowboy Church with twelve other people for a hunter education class being taught by Kenny Jensen.

Wyoming, like most states, requires hunter education to hunt in the state. Volunteers like Kenny Jensen teach the class in a variety of formats at various locations throughout the year. Twelve of us had decided that an intense experience over Friday and Saturday was what worked best. Excitement filled the room as boys and girls eager to hunt with their parents or other relatives sat at attention with a pencil in hand.

I had come to understand and experience. Called to the wild early in life, I dedicated my career as a lawyer to protecting it. Having worked for thirty years for a national environmental organization, I knew the power of the law to protect. But I also knew its limits. I moved to Wyoming to spend more time in the wild but also to better understand local perspectives and realities that shape the wild.

I’ve never held a gun. But those who have – hunters– are a large part of the people working to save the wild in the world and the wildlife in it. I was curious. What was hunting all about? Why did so many of my fellow Wyoming residents enjoy it? What connections did hunting provide to nature? How did hunting motivate people to protect nature? Kenny made clear that we needed to pay attention. The class would end with a test. We needed to pass the test to get our certification. He promised to teach us what we needed to know. But we’d fail if we didn’t pay attention. I paid attention. And I learned a ton. I learned about hunting rules and regulations. You can kill a coyote or a jackrabbit in Wyoming without a license. That’s also true for a raccoon, skunk, or stray cat. As Kenny said when asked what the best gun to kill a coyote is, “It’s the first gun you can grab.” Hunters must be able to tell a whitetail deer from a mule deer because a license might be for one and not the other.

I learned a code of ethics. Hunters are responsible for their own safety and that of others. They have a responsibility to the wildlife they kill as well as preserving wildlife for future hunting. Good marksmanship and hunting skills are necessary to ensure a clean kill and a fair chase. Wildlife should not suffer and should have a fair chance to escape.

I learned why people hunt. It might be a family tradition. Others hunt to relax and enjoy nature. Some like the sense of adventure and accomplishment in using hunting skills that they have developed over many years. Some hunt to fill the freezer or the dinner plate.

I’d never sat in a room filled with guns before, and I was uncomfortable knowing their destructive power. In the wrong hands, guns do tragic harm. Yet, not everyone who holds a gun is bad. I learned in Kenny’s classroom at the Circle G that hunters can have a deep love for the wild and wildlife. They often know more about wildlife and their habitats than most others.

Learning how to keep themselves and others safe, hunters care about people as well as wildlife.

So here they are: The 5 Things you Need to Hunt in Wyoming.

1. A license

2. A conservation stamp (to help fund state conservation efforts)

3. Permission (if on private land)

4. Something hunter's orange or pink to wear

5. Hunter Education