Gone Hunting for the First Time

As a long-time employee of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Claudine Lamb was fully aware of the excitement deer season creates.

But she was always on the outside looking in. Brought up in an urban setting, she had never been introduced to hunting herself.

And though her adult son, Desmond, expressed an interest in going on a deer hunt, Claudine didn’t know where to start.

That’s where an MDC program to introduce beginners to deer hunting came in.

It was a perfect fit for the Lambs. Held at the Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area and Nature Center in Blue Springs, the program featured a classroom session in which everything from regulations to deer behavior to hunting tactics were covered. Then a week later, the participants took part in a special managed hunt with mentors at their side.

Claudine and Desmond were among the 11 hunters chosen in a statewide drawing for spots in the hunt. Claudine received no preferential treatment because of her association with the department.

They were lucky enough to be drawn and so began an unforgettable journey into becoming deer hunters.

“My dad died when I was 17,” said Claudine, 55, who is an education regional supervisor for MDC. “But I did some research and found out that he loved to deer hunt. I never knew that growing up.

“I wanted to follow in his footsteps, but I didn’t know where to start. This program gave me the chance.”

Recruiting Hunters

The managed hunt, one of several across the state, had a simple goal — to introduce wannabe deer hunters to the sport in a non-intimidating setting. It was part of the R3 national initiative — recruit, retain, and reactivate — to counter a trend of waning hunter numbers.

Burr Oak Woods offered a perfect setting. The 1,071-acre conservation area looks like something out of the Ozarks, with rugged hillsides, thick timber, rocky outcroppings, fields, and restored prairies.

It isn’t normally open to public hunting, but managed hunts are used to keep a thriving deer population in check.

Burr Oak Woods was closed to other activities, such as hiking, during the hunt, which took place in mid-October 2024.

Even then, the hunt was closely regulated to promote safety. Hunters and their mentors were confined to specific ground blinds that were put out before the hunt. And .20-gauge slug shotguns were the only permitted firearms, encouraging shots of less than 100 yards.

In an orientation, new hunters practiced with the guns they would use during the hunt, then got together with their mentors to help brush the blinds.

During that pre-hunt outing, Claudine was further encouraged by seeing deer signs that her mentor, Andy Carmack, pointed out.

“We saw some tracks, a scrape, and some licking branches,” Claudine said. “We knew there were deer around where we would be hunting.”

Carmack also went over what to expect.

“We discussed how we would walk into the blind in the dark, the importance of being quiet, what part wind direction played, and where the deer would probably come in,” said Carmack, a private lands conservationist for MDC and an avid deer hunter himself. “She was ready. 

“I saw no nervousness or hesitation She was motivated and excited for this hunt.”

As Desmond hunted with a different mentor at a different spot on the conservation area, mom was ready to pull the trigger.

Success

In the gray pre-dawn hours before shooting hours, the deer teased Claudine and Carmack.

“Five minutes before shooting time, we had four deer standing broadside 40 yards from our blind,” Carmack said. “I told Claudine, ‘If they’ll stay there for another five minutes, you can take a shot at one of them.’”

The deer ambled off to the opposite side of the field, far from gun range. But it didn’t take Claudine long to get over her disappointment. 

A half-hour later, Claudine and Carmack watched a button buck tiptoe out of the timber and into the field. When it walked within range, Claudine squeezed the trigger and hit her target.

The deer didn’t drop immediately, and the two hunters had to follow a blood trail. But they finally found the deer and Lamb was able to exhale.

“I was so excited,” she said. “I finally got my first deer.”

Claudine wanted to be involved in all aspects of the hunt, so she field-dressed the deer and later butchered her harvest, readying it for the table. She already has feasted on chunks of the venison in stir-fry, and looks forward to the burgers, sausage, and roasts from the deer.

But that wasn’t the end of her memorable day. She was able to hunt again in the evening in an attempt to fill her second tag, a provision of the managed hunt.

As dusk approached, she shot a second button buck and celebrated repeat success.

Though Desmond didn’t shoot a deer, others on the hunt did.

Tristan Eve of Smithville was among the first-time deer hunters who came away from the managed hunt with plenty of memories.

He hunted waterfowl and turkeys while he lived in Denver, but he never tried deer. This hunt gave him the chance, and he made the most of it. He shot a big doe and expressed pride that he became a deer hunter.

“I didn’t have someone who could introduce me to deer hunting,” said Eve, who is 28. “I always wanted to try it, but I was intimidated.

“This program was fantastic. I am confident that I could grab my gun and go hunting on my own now.”

The Joy of Mentoring

Sam McCloskey, who manages Burr Oak Woods and was the hunt coordinator, loves to hear stories like that.

“We’ve had this managed hunt for several years now and we’ve even had people who started off as beginners come back to serve as mentors now,” he said.

Mentors, such as Carmack, get as much out of the program as the hunters themselves.

“I love to hunt, but I spend most of my time mentoring now,” he said. “It’s what I live for — being the person involved in the ‘firsts’ and introducing people to deer hunting.

“It’s more exciting for me to watch someone else take their first deer than it is for me to pull the trigger myself.”

Brent Frazee was the outdoors editor of The Kansas City Star for 36 years before retiring in 2016. He continues to freelance for magazines, websites, newspapers, and tourism outlets. He lives on a private lake in a suburb of Kansas City with his wife, Jana, and two yellow labs, Millie and Maggie.