This is the first of several blogs on lessons I've learned during a long hunting career.

There are shooters and there are hunters. And the two don't mix well afield.

Hunters are characterized by their interest in habitat, signs of prey, weather, well-trained dogs, stealth, etc. Shooters are interested in gun and loads. Period.

The epitome of the hunter is a man I met in Winona. When Bud Safronek wasn't cutting meat at the Red Owl supermarket he was testing his ability to fool turkey gobblers during spring mating season. In the days when winning a turkey license in the lottery was rare, he'd "hunt" anyway, without a gun. He'd scout the wooded hills in southeastern Minnesota for sign, rise in the dark of night, set out a hen decoy and call using his home-made, turkey-wing-bone call. The thrill for Bud was luring a tom as close as he could. He would then measure the distance between himself and the gobbler when it spooked. And document that distance in a notebook.

Shooter is personified by a guy I overheard talking with the Federal Ammunition field rep at a Gander Mountain store recently. He wanted to know, in all seriousness, when Federal was going to introduce four inch shotgun loads.

A kid's first duck/pheasant/grouse/deer is far more important than your 201st.

The mindset required on those first hunts is that of coach. The youngster is not your hunting partner. You are the guide. He or she is your client. And you want them to learn all that you know about the sport before they start hunting without you…which will come sooner than you like.