NICK HOFFMAN TELLS US ABOUT HIS FIRST DEER HUNT
I am one of the lucky ones who make a living getting to travel the globe in search of big game animals and interesting stories for my TV Show, Nick’s Wild Ride.
Some people have gone so far to call me the Anthony Bourdain of the hunting industry because I spend a lot of time on the road hunting unique animals in extraordinary places and while I am hunting, I often dive into the local culture and the local food.
I often get asked about my favorite hunting memory or my favorite hunt of all time. For me, that’s easy: it was the first time I went deer hunting and, ironically, I didn’t even fill a tag.
I didn’t grow up in a hunting family. The only animal I remember my dad killing was a fox if it got into our chicken coop. That said, as a kid I always loved being in the woods watching animals and learning about animal tracks. I always wanted to be a hunter.
When I was 12 years old, a neighbor who hunted offered to take me hunting. I took hunter’s safety and he took me deer hunting in Minnesota, where I grew up. The first day I went hunting I was extremely excited: every time I heard a noise in the leaves, I was convinced it was a deer.
I didn’t kill a deer that day but it lit a fire in me that still burns to this day. I often think to myself, “Where would I be if my neighbor hadn’t introduced me to hunting?” I certainly wouldn’t have a successful TV show on the Outdoor Channel or have harvester over 70 species around the world.
I speak at a lot of SCI banquets and I often tell people that surely they know someone who would like to go hunting but they have never been invited and I challenge them to try to change that.
As we approach the spring turkey season, maybe this is the year you can invite a neighbor or a non-hunting friend on a spring turkey hunt. Maybe you will spark a passion for the outdoors in them the same way my neighbor helped fan the flame in me. Get outside this spring and bring a friend with you.
To listen to a podcast with me where I highlight some of my favorite hunting trips, click on the link below.
https://the-drop-tine-report.simplecast.com/episodes
https://the-drop-tine-report.simplecast.com/episodes/nicks-wild-ri