Despite never having owned a gun or gone hunting ever in my life, last Fall I got it into my head that it was something I wanted to do. I actually know the specific moment when the idea came to me… it was when I read my friend’s facebook status update: David Cooper is hunting a turkey.

I thought it was very exciting, and decided soon after that I was going to hunt our 2009 Thanksgiving turkey. Turns out Mr. Cooper was just being figurative. Oh well, I’m still after the bird.

So, I’ve got a rather unscheduled and thrown together map of what I need to do to reach my goal.

Step 1: Buy a gun. Completed. A few weeks ago I bought a Remington 870 Express Super Magnum shotgun.
Step 2: Complete the VDIF required Hunter Education course. Check… I was certified this morning.

Now I need to a few more very important steps… shoot my gun and learn how to hunt. I’ve decided to forego the spring turkey season… it’s a bit too much to process at this point, and I don’t want to purchase a bear/deer/turkey license that will expire in a couple months. I’ll just wait until July, and then it will be good for a year (they run July 1-June 30). So that gives me some time to learn the ropes.

A friend has talked about building a shooting range on his property, and I really hope he does it, because it would be great to have a place to shoot a bunch to really learn my gun, and know how to shoot it and how it shoots.

I’ll be doing some reading of how to get a turkey, and maybe also some deer and waterfowl hunting in the fall, maybe some upland game birds whenever that season is. Some friends from church do some hunting, so I’m going to beg and plead they drag me along with them to teach me.