Going hunting for the first time is a bit like experiencing that famous "first time". Emotions, performance anxiety, fear of failing, are all sensations and feelings that you feel during all the things you do for the first time.
Going hunting for the first time essentially means joining a serve and firing the first cartridge. The experience certainly represents a great turning point in the life of the new hunter, who finds himself experiencing (in a hunting sense) an important change in his life. The first hunting experiences, according to the testimonies of the hunters themselves, are lived very early, a bit like that other "first time". Generally, professional hunters, or enthusiasts, are children or grandchildren "of art" who as teenagers accompanied fathers, grandparents or uncles during their hunts. There are also frequent cases in which the first time hunting was experienced during childhood, between three and six years.
In this case, the future hunters only witnessed the hunt and were not involved (thankfully) in the use of the rifle. There are also parents who have had the audacity to take their children on a hunt and have their first cartridge fired at the very precocious age of seven. Here we cannot dwell on the goodness or danger of this gesture, which we put only and solely to the conscience of the parents. Certainly, having a child or a grandchild watch a joke is not negative, quite the opposite. It is precisely these first experiences that make the wild germ of hunting passion mature in the boys.
Initially, if future hunters are too small, the experience can bother them or, on the contrary, it can become extremely exhilarating, as a hunter now in his XNUMXs recalls. The latter says he went hunting for the first time with his father at the age of three and a half. Another hunter says, however, that he was four years old when he had his first hunting experiences in the company of his father. These were exciting experiences, so much so that it was he, as a child, who got up first in the morning and waited for his father to go hunting. The very first hunting experiences lived by hunters and told with sincerity and passion in the hunting forums are all very exciting and passionate and reveal the great love one feels for an activity that is not as it is believed, that is negative or criticizable, but which is practice for a deep passion for life in the open air and in contact with nature. The first hunts are told by hunters who have learned from their fathers and grandparents respect for the environment and for protected species, the thrill of waiting and the capture of the wild that suddenly appears and disappears on a landscape shortly before. silent and deserted. And again, today's adult hunters review the days of Saturday or Sunday morning spent eating sandwiches with their grandparents or parents waiting to prepare the post office, or going out at dawn on rainy mornings, but still exciting and harbinger of big hopes.
Among the memories of the first hunting experiences, those of hunting migratory game, such as woodcocks, turtle doves, thrushes and quail, stand out. The first hare hunting experiences were also intensely experienced. The memory comes alive in those who have witnessed as children (always between three and five years old) the capture of a hare that was bigger than them. From all these early hunting experiences came the professional hunters of today. Among these, also numerous women, who, as young girls, were involved in hunting trips by their grandfathers, fathers or hunters uncles. Suffice it to say that in Maremma there are about 200 female hunters, women who have developed a passion for hunting living it within their families of origin. These women, today, are expert hunters, they know how to aim and hit the wild to perfection and they know how to train dogs to be used for different types of hunting. From the experiences of the past we then arrive at the first official experience as a hunter, which takes place at the age of 18, with the achievement of the hunting license.
The license is obtained by submitting a request to the police command or the competent police headquarters and passing an exam in which you must demonstrate knowledge of hunting laws, wild animal species, environmental regulations and those on the use of firearms. The exam schedule is set by the provincial hunting and fishing offices. To be admitted to the examination, documents must be produced which include: two revenue stamps, a medical certificate with ASL stamps attesting to suitability for hunting, a certificate from the attending physician, a certificate of family status in plain paper, two passport-sized photographs, one of which authenticated, a photocopy of the military discharge or a certificate of qualification for shooting issued by the National Shooting Range and a copy of the payments of a government license fee. After passing the exam, all the documentation must be sent to the police command or to the police headquarters. Any changes to the procedure are established by the individual provinces or regions. The hunting license lasts six years, after which it must be renewed.
The new adult hunter who obtains the coveted license is certainly preparing to live an unforgettable experience and often crowned by the gift of the first hunting rifle.
Even if given as a gift, the rifle must be chosen according to the type of hunting that the young hunter will want to practice. Usually, it is the same hunt practiced by relatives who, to pass on a tradition, often give their old rifle or a new version of it. However, the weapon to be used must be calibrated according to the weight and musculature of the hunter. The shotgun, in fact, must have the right length for the grip and to ensure aiming, the same applies to the stock. The latter must guarantee an exact grip and pressure of the index finger on the trigger. Incorrect shotgun length can cause aiming or barrel alignment errors. In all these cases it is necessary to modify or purchase a new firearm. For migratory hunting, it is advisable to choose super-light weapons, especially for hunting woodcock, a wild game that is sometimes difficult to identify in inaccessible areas where it stops for certain periods of the year. For small game, they use shotguns (shotguns, over-and-under, semi-automatic) that fire broken ammunition, that is, shot. For medium and large game hunting, rifles are used, which fire single-shot ammunition, or carbines. To hunt and shoot for the first time, you also need to know which cartridges to use.
New hunters usually prefer to try their hand at migratory hunting. Let's remember, then, that ammunition with lead from 8 to 12 are good for hunting woodcock, preferably with a 12 gauge. For quail, cartridges with small pellets are good: 10, 11 and even 12. For the wood pigeon, wild robust and casing, heavy ammunition or magnum 12 gauge must be used, containing lead from 5 to 7. For the small migratory (thrush, finch, sparrow, cesena, lark, starling, blackbird) leaded cartridges from number 8 are used at 10, ideal for hunting from stalking and for long-distance shooting. For the one in the sketch, where you shoot at a short distance, it is better to use lead in the numbering ranging from 10 to 12.