So my friend is getting into hunting this year and he’s never even gone hunting or has accompanied someone hunting, he bought a bow and he wants to go deer hunting and he also bought clothes that won’t keep him warm even though he insists they will like insulated rain boots even though it gets in the negatives. He wants to hunt on land he doesn’t even have permission to hunt on and he is just thinking he can go out and get a deer real easy. And he insists that he can drag it up and feild dress it even though he has noooo experience. The real kicker is that he might even try to hunt alone even though he is 15 which would make it illegal. He bought trail cams and salt licks which are cool but he just has no experience and is thinking it’s gonna be easy and he won’t get cold. Then I call him out for so many things and basically say he is an idiot, then he gets mad at me for talking to him like he is stupid. What should I tell him to get it through his thick skull that he’s not gonna go out there and get big buck. Especially because he don’t even have experience finding a dead animal or keeping quiet or anything like that. I’m frustrated with him because he just don’t get it.

You can't fix stupid
Let him homeschool himself

WOW ! That's quite the rant, sign of the times I guess.

Yeah sorry for the rant but I just want to know what to tell him so he doesn’t be dumb

Get him signed up for hunter education.

Let his parents know he wants to hunt alone, or have the game warden remind him of the local laws. I’m not saying turn him in, just a friendly chat with them.

Offer to take him squirrel hunting or some other small game hunting with you or an adult mentor if you have one. He’ll learn quickly that it isn’t as easy as it appears. Let him know that his persistence and hard work will pay off eventually and that he will learn in time to become a better hunter as long as he has an open mind. Don’t ridicule him or say you told him so. Let him know you are there if he has questions.

As far as equipment and being cold, he will learn the hard way that his stuff isn’t warm enough.

Buy him the book called precision bowhunting by John Eberhart. That will get him started in the right direction.

https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/precision-bowhunting-john-eberhart/1113805997

Good luck with him.

He has gone through the whole hunter Ed course online and I really appreciate the advice, I think I’ll take him rabbit hunting a few times.

Good stuff^

Did he complete the field day? Or did they make it not a requirement? I’m not 100% up on the laws for Ohio. We require a live fire in person field day and didn’t know if yours is a requirement.

Well at least he's determined to get it done , he's got lots to learn .

Better than sitting on the couch and smoking a crack pipe

You can just do an online course and email or print off and mail your answers back

Yeah much better than smoking crack even though that’s the only ways I think he comes up with these ideas of his

Sounds like a good recruit for antifa.
Tell him in no uncertain terms what professional wildlife managers think of poachers, if he breaks the law and you find out about it you will report it.

Mason: It is not your job to educate/train him. Handleing guns safley is a serious skill that a person must constantly think about and practice until it evenually becomes a habit. From what you've said, he is along way from being a safe hunting partner you can trust in.
I have no patience for lookin down gun barrels. Be careful and aware.

He shoots but doesn’t hunt....

Well its two different worlds: Shootin cans in the gravel
pit, versus moving across the landscape with a loaded gun and handleing all obstacles and circumstances in a safe manner.
Get you a dog to hunt with, Mason. Let your friend learn on his own for a few years.
Good Luck

Never under estimate desire and will power.
I gave a crack answer above.
But you should google the 5 year old from Utah, that a trooper stopped who was on his way to California with $3 dollars to buy a Lamborghini

Oh yeah I saw that

Encourage him by stories and taking him for small game or coyote hunting. He has the desire so fuel it but fuel it right by instilling ethics and true experiences. Maybe get him in contact with a mentor.

You can't fix stupid. I'm all for getting people into the outdoors but they have to be willing to learn which he clearly isn't. Let him fail or succeed on his own and turn him in if he does anything illegal. It's up to real outdoorsman to keep the integrity of our sports intact. You can lead a horse to water but that's about it.