Fall 2023 21 Virginia’s forestlands provide a wealth of benefits: timber revenue, clean air and water, financial investment, and for many owners, a place to hunt. Pursuit of game consistently ranks as one of the most important reasons people want to own land. They want a place to enjoy the outdoors with hopes of bagging that trophy buck, or that strutting Tom, or that flushing covey of quail. Hunters generally evolve through five stages in their hunting career: Shooter Stage: Seeing game and being able to take a shot. This stage isn’t particularly concerned with trophy hunting; rather, it’s the stage where hunters hone their skills in both the pursuit and taking of game. The biggest consideration here is the ability to see and harvest game. Limiting Out Stage: Hunters in this category want to “fill their tag.” They want to harvest as much as hunting regulations allow. Part of it is bragging rights, and part of it is the satisfaction that they’ve developed their skills to the point that they can confidently take their desired game. Trophy Stage: Here, hunters aren’t concerned about the “most;” they’re concerned about the “best.” Hunters in this stage know they have the skills to harvest their species of choice. Now they want to be selective and bring home the best that Virginia’s forests can produce. Method Stage: Once a hunter moves beyond the Trophy Stage they want to up the ante, so to speak, to place artificial limitations on the fair chase. A deer hunter might decide they only want to hunt the archery season, purposefully making the process harder to enhance the satisfaction of a successful hunt. A turkey hunter might decide to only use a wingbone call or refrain from placing decoys. Anything to make the chase more complicated, requiring advanced skills, is the objective. Sportsman Stage: Those in the Sportsmen Stage aren’t really concerned about harvesting game. They really want to get out and enjoy the quiet of the woods, introduce children and grandchildren to the sport, tell stories around the fire at deer camp, and just enjoy the companionship and camaraderie that brings all hunters together. As consulting foresters, we make every effort to manage our clients’ timberlands to not only achieve their financial and environmental goals, but also to create a forest that allows wildlife to flourish. Come January (or May), once the season is over, they can then sit back and fondly reminisce the brisk morning that 12-point buck presented himself, and recollect all the steps they took to bring that trophy home. Nothing brings us more satisfaction as consulting foresters than getting that call from a client about how the management plan we implemented provided the opportunity for them to bring home the hunting story of a lifetime. —The Executive Committee of the Virginia Chapter ACF VIRGINIA CHAPTER Association of Consulting Foresters Hunting. What It’s All About. Photo by Fred Schatzki
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