The Hunter's Journey
Your Course & Community to Learn to Hunt Sustainably
- Do you dream of being able to hunt sustainably & feed your family from the land?
- Are you looking for a mentor & a supportive community with shared values?
- Would you like to overcome barriers such as finding land to hunt on, a mentor or finding people to hunt with?
Enrollment for the Hunter's Journey Course is currently closed.
Join our Hunter's Journey Newsletter below for free lessons and resources. This is where we will also notify you about upcoming workshops and learning opportunities (online & in-person).
"I wasn't raised in a hunting family. This program filled in many gaps for me, and gave me some amazing tools to progress. What they are sharing is essential. This is some high level teaching, presented in a really accessible and engaging way."
Steve Leckman
2020 Participant
"I came in with no prior knowledge or skills in hunting. This course gave me a solid comprehension of the techniques required, and, a deeper understanding of why we hunt, and how to do so ethically. Thanks to this, I had a successful hunt in my first year hunting white-tail deer, something I did not expect."
Carey Buss
2021 Participant
The Hunter's Journey is for YOU if:
- You want to feel the EMPOWERMENT of successfully harvesting meat to bring home to your family and community.
- You want to hunt for food, but believe ETHICS & STEWARDSHIP must come first.
- You have never hunted before, or are a beginner hunter looking for MENTORS & COMMUNITY. Guides to help you learn and overcome your unique barriers and challenges to getting started.
- You want to increase your SELF-RELIANCE while being a steward of the land.
- You want be part of a FRIENDLY & INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY open to ALL genders, ethnicities, religions and you support Indigenous sovereignty and land rights.
The Hunter's Journey Course Covers:
How to Get Started
- Get your license & hunt legally
- Navigate all the regulations
- Find land to hunt on
- Choose your first firearm or bow
- Aquire the right gear for you
Techniques for Different Species
- Bow & firearm strategies
- Big Game such as Deer, Moose, Bear, & more
- Small Game such as Squirrels, Rabbits & Grouse
- Migratory Birds (Ducks & Geese)
Processing the Whole Animal
- How to retrieve your harvest
- Butchering and processing
- Preserving & cooking
- Using other parts of the animal such as the hide, bones, feathers, fat, etc.
What's Included:
Live Monthly "Virtual Hunt Camp" Mentoring Calls
(FYI, the schedule changes from year to year)
This is what makes The Hunter's Journey unique from other online courses. Join our growing team of mentors live online where we share our favorite techniques, debrief our hunts and answer your questions about how to get started, learn and succeed.
There are a few different call series happening and you have access to all of them.
- Base Camp - A 4-week session (once a week in May) for new hunters designed to help you learn the foundations and figure out how to get started in your unique situation.
- Spring Turkey Camp - Every other week in May to discuss all things Turkey Hunting
- Fall Deer & Bird Camp - October through December and dedicated to all things deer hunting
- The Virtual Hunt Camp - These calls happen monthly throughout the year. Get to know the mentors and other participants, learn about hunting strategies for a variety of species other, hear stories and debriefs from hunting trips and ask your questions in a friendly environment.
Video Library - Learn Skills & Techniques
Many of the skills required of the hunter are better demonstrated. Videos are an excellent and effective way to teach many hunting techniques. We are frequently adding new videos to our already comprehensive video library.
A few examples of lessons already inside of the library include:
- Camouflage, stalking and movement skills.
- Hunting techniques and how to prepare hunting blinds, tree stands and how to still hunt from the ground.
- Choosing your first firearm and understanding different types of ammunition.
- Step-by-step tutorials on how to butcher deer, birds, rabbits and more.
- Wilderness navigation and survival.
- And, more...
Community and Networking Opportunities
This is where A LOT of additional learning happens.
Inside the community you can post pictures and stories, share resources you come across, check out top resources posted by the instructors, ask questions and more.
Looking for other people to go shoot, scout, or hunt with?
Utilize the online community and live calls to network with other students near you and organize your own outings, training sessions and hunts.
Workbooks and Checklists
The workbook is full of practical resources to help you make the most out of the course and your "dirt time" out in the woods.
Examples from the workbook and "cheat sheets" include:
- Hunting Terminology Glossary
- Checklists for gear, preseason prep, during season reminders and harvest processing
- Journal templates to help you learn and adapt as you go
- Explanations of specific tactics and concepts
- ...and much more...
2023 "Virtual Hunt Camp" Schedule
All calls are recorded if you are unable to attend live. Feel free to pick and choose which calls ytou attend based on interest. It is recommended that all new hunters go through the "Base Camp" call series.
May 8th, 2023
Turkey Camp Starts; Intro to Spring Turkey Hunting
with Bob Etzweiler and the Hunter's Journey Team
May 22, 2023
Turkey Camp; Lessons from the Hunt
with The Hunter's Journey Team
June 5, 2023
Hunt Camp; Wrapping the Spring Hunt & Preparing for the Fall
with The Hunter's Journey Team
July TBA, 2023
Preparing for Fall Deer Hunting
with The Hunter's Journey Team
Aug TBA, 2023
Preparing for Migratory Birds (Ducks & Geese)
with The Hunter's Journey Team
Sept - Dec 2023
Deer & Bird Camp & Fall Hunt Camps Start
More Dates to be Announced Soon
Take the next step on
YOUR Hunter's Journey
Meet Your Guides
Everyone has their own unique relationship with hunting. There are also many different strategies and techniques that can work and many different types of hunting. To support you and your unique needs and interests, we have a collective of instructors inside the course with a diversity of hunting backgrounds and decades of experience harvesting food from the land.
Here are a just few of the talented instructors you will meet inside the course and community:
Chris Gilmour
Course Creator & Lead Mentor at ChrisOutdoors.ca
Chris has been hunting for over a decade and harvested his first deer with a bow and arrow he made himself. He strives to harvest a significant amount of his families food from the land in a sustainable manner.
Today he hunts a mix of big and small game as well as waterfowl. He hunts with traditional bows, crossbows and firearms.
"Hunting to me is about so many things, it is part of my identity as a human. To me, hunting is about a deep connection to the land, being part of the food chain, providing for my family while being a steward of the earth, and achieving some degree of self-reliance and independence from the modern industrial food system."
Caleb Musgrave
Lead Mentor and Owner of Canadian Bushcraft
Caleb Musgrave is a Mississauga Anishinaabe Woodsman and Hunter. He is a generational hunter who grew up learning his techniques and mindset from his father, uncle and grandparents.
With a background in ecology as well as archaeology, Caleb has a deep understanding of humankind and hunting.
From tracking, to traditional camouflage and scent covering tactics, to ways to make the most use of the kill, Caleb is an experienced instructor with a mental toolkit that covers a little about everything.
Stephanie Stevens
Guest Instructor, Hunter & Fisherwoman!
Stephanie is an avid outdoors woman. She hunts, fishes, forages, and has been getting into falconry.
Stephanie is part of a White Corn group called Ohelaku.
She is a dedicated teaching her children skills to live off the land. She has her master's in education with a focus on culture based environmental education.
Sandy & Cal Reed
Course Instructors, Original Wisdom School
For Sandy and Cal, hunting is not a sport or activity. It is a philosophy for living everyday life.
Sandy has been hunting for over a decade now and focuses on deer and turkey. To her, hunting is not a sport or activity. It is a philosophy for living one’s life. She is proud to have made her own bows and has hunted successfully with them. She loves to combine the skills of tracking, trailing and hunting into a way of living with the earth.
Cal is a self-taught primitive archer, capable of making a complete archery outfit from materials directly from the landscape. He has been hunting his whole life.
One of his proudest achievement is when he harvested a deer in 1997 with all home-made materials including an osage bow and a cane shafted flint tipped arrow he fashioned himself. Cal is also an accomplished rifleman and was on the rifle team in college.
Preston Taylor
Guest Instructor, West Coast Hunter, Tracker, Biologist
Coming soon...
Bob Etzweiler
Guest Instructor, Turkey Hunter & Instructor with Vermont Wilderness School
Coming soon...
Carolyn Knapper
Course Instructor, Fisheries Biologist
Carolyn is Ontario born and raised but has been living in Western Canada for the last 10 years.
Professionally she works as a Biologist, with a focus on fisheries, and travels frequently to remote areas to hunt, fish and explore in BC, AB and the Yukon. She is currently in Prince George where she is studying to complete her MSc in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, focusing her thesis on straying in pacific salmon species.
Carolyn is an avid angler and hunts big game in the Mountains of British Columbia.
These are just a few of the mentors you will get to learn from inside of the course & community.
Why Nikki, (previously a vegetarian), joined The Hunter's Journey?
Flexible Enrollment
The Hunter's Journey
- 4-week "Base Camp" calls to get new hunters started
- Spring "Turkey Camp" calls all about Wild Turkey Hunting tactics
- Comprehensive Course Video & Worksheet Library
- An active Community to Ask Questions & Share your experience with.
The Hunter's Journey
TBA
- 4-week "Base Camp" calls to get new hunters started
- Spring "Turkey Camp" calls all about Wild Turkey Hunting tactics
- Fall "Fall Deer & Bird Camp" calls all about Deer & Bird Hunting tactics (waterfowl & land birds)
- Comprehensive Course Video & Worksheet Library
- An active Community to Ask Questions & Share your experience with.
All Access Pass to
Chris Outdoors Online
- Nature's Language ($349)
- The Mushroom Course ($165)
- The Hunter's Journey ($625)
- Survive the Storms Emergency Preparedness ($97)
- Any bonus calls or classes run exclusively for the community
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
- You will have access to all the materials including the recordings of the past live sessions for tall of 2023.
- If you fall behind during the course, no sweat, you can go through the material at your own convenience.
- Once you explore the course, if it is not what you expected, we offer a no-questions asked 30-day full money back guarantee. We've never had anyone take us up on it, but thought you should know about it!
Frequently Asked Questions
You have the option to join either the spring camp (4-months) or the spring and fall camps (8-months). Both come with full access to all of the course lessons, community and virtual hunt camp calls.
Suppose you are only a couple of years into your journey and have had limited success with harvesting. In that case, we can help grow your confidence and work towards more consistent successful harvests.
However, if you have been hunting for several years and have had multiple successful harvests, in that case, many of the lessons may be review for you. But, you may still benefit from the community and live calls where we debrief instructor and student hunts and discuss how to adapt our strategies.
No, you do not need your license to start the course. However, if you are ready to start hunting, we will support you in getting set up to do it legally
We do our best to create a welcoming and supportive space where you can be you, regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity.
We keep politics out of the conversation unless directly related to hunting or Indigenous land rights.
This is also an LGBTQ-friendly space, and we are working on building a diverse community and mentoring team.
There is no tolerance for any form of bullying in the course. We stand behind the motto, "respect for each other, the land, & reverence for the animals we hunt."
We are also open to suggestions on how we can improve this welcoming and safe learning environment for all.
We strive to create a welcoming and safe learning environment that honours everyone's unique relationship with hunting and individual goals in taking the course.
Hunting (and some hunters) can sometimes be intimidating, especially if you were not brought up around it or had a bad experience.
Our goal is to break down the stereotypes and barriers to getting started and make hunting more accessible to those who believe in doing it sustainably.
Yes, the community is set up for you to share your stories and ask questions. We are also happy to debrief your hunting experiences on our monthly "Virtual Hunt Camp" calls, so instructors and participants can share feedback.
No problem. Many of our participants live in urban environments or do not know where to hunt when they start. We will support you in exploring your options and finding places you can hunt.
Yes, you sure can. We are here to support you through the entire process regardless of whether you are ready to hunt this season or just exploring the possibility for the future.
People join for all kinds of reasons. We have several participants that are still exploring if hunting is right for them. Some folks want to know how but do not intend to unless they need to.
Taking life to sustain your own is a big deal. That is why we call it the Hunter's Journey. Everybody's journey is different.
All the live sessions are recorded and available to watch within 48-hrs of the live event. We also turn them into audio files if you prefer to listen to the recordings like you would a podcast.
Both. Our diverse team of mentors has experience with tactics and strategies for traditional longbow hunting, recurves, compound bows, shotguns, rifles and more.
We will help you understand the benefits and challenges of each and how to pick which is the best tool for you.
Yes, we are open to custom arrangements. Our mentors rely on their teaching income, and we strive to pay our team fairly for their decades of experience and hard work.
However, we also honestly believe in making this ancient pathway accessible. So, if you feel that you would benefit and have the time to put into learning but face financial or other barriers to joining, please email us to discuss possibilities.
The Hunter's Journey is a standalone learning experience online that encourages participants to get together in person to further their learning.
Many of our instructors run in-person workshops related to hunting, bow building, survival and other skills. We will let participants know about inperson learning opportunities as they come up.