Huntress Mentorship 2020
~a zoom-based deer hunting program for marginalized genders~
Oct 8-Dec 3, 2020
**THIS PROGRAM HAS FILLED TO CAPACITY AND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS**
Do you feel the call of the sacred hunt? A hunt rooted in deep respect for your prey and motivated by a sense of the dignity of all life? Hunting is an initiation that teaches us accountability, ethics, mindfullness, humility, and healthy grief. By looking death in the face, we encounter our full aliveness and commit to living life without holding back.
In this pandemic year, we are offering a very special Huntress Mentorship program in lieu of our usual in-person hunting skills programs and guided hunts. Over 8 years as a hunting instructor and guide, I've found that the number one thing people need in order to follow through on their hunting aspirations is social support: the accountability and reinforcement of others who believe what they are doing is important, worthwhile, and worth getting up at 5am for!
Loving hunting community is a given in many traditional hunter's worlds, and is an invisible key to their success. For those of us coming to hunting as adults, and who don't match society's stereotypical image of a hunter, we need to build our own networks of support. In this intimate community of fellow learners (group limited to 10 people), you will build friendship and support to carry you through the 2020 fall hunting season.
This program is for you if:
In this pandemic year, we are offering a very special Huntress Mentorship program in lieu of our usual in-person hunting skills programs and guided hunts. Over 8 years as a hunting instructor and guide, I've found that the number one thing people need in order to follow through on their hunting aspirations is social support: the accountability and reinforcement of others who believe what they are doing is important, worthwhile, and worth getting up at 5am for!
Loving hunting community is a given in many traditional hunter's worlds, and is an invisible key to their success. For those of us coming to hunting as adults, and who don't match society's stereotypical image of a hunter, we need to build our own networks of support. In this intimate community of fellow learners (group limited to 10 people), you will build friendship and support to carry you through the 2020 fall hunting season.
This program is for you if:
- You feel a calling to hunt deer with a high standard of ethics, spiritual connection, and accountability.
- You are a new or relatively inexperienced hunter (more experienced hunters are welcome too if they don't mind sitting through some review).
- You yearn for like-minded community to support your hunting aspirations.
- You have the resources and support to acquire a rifle, shotgun, hunting bow, or crossbow and practice with it regularly leading up to hunting season. This means having a safe & legal place to practice, having money for ammo, and being able to find a local in-person shooting mentor if that is the support you need.
- You have time to obtain a hunter safety certification (online courses available, free or low cost) beyond the hours of this course, and fulfill any requirements for possessing & carrying a gun that your state or province may require.
- You are ready to proactively research the hunting regulations and gun permit laws in your own state. Murphy can advise you on Vermont laws, and has also hunted deer in Maine, North Carolina, Virginia, Minnesota, and Iowa. If you are outside Vermont, you need to take full responsibility for knowing the laws where you hunt. If you are outside of North America, hunting laws are wildly different and much of this course's material won't apply.
- You are prepared to locate land in your area where you can legally and safely hunt deer, and get permission from landowners if required.
- You are committed to following all applicable hunting laws during your hunt, and upholding a high standard of ethics.
- You understand that this program covers deer hunting only. Use of firearms or archery tackle for self defense or in martial situations will not be discussed.
- You understand that we'll be focusing on hunting whitetail deer in eastern forests and farmlands. Much of this information can be applied to hunting other game in other environments, but that won't be our focus.
- You understand that this program is only open to marginalized genders (women, non-binary folks, and trans people of any sort -- transmasculine, transfeminine, non-binary, etc).
- You understand that hunting teaches us deep lessons whether or not we harvest any game. You know that you may or may not be successful in your hunt this year, but you'll come away with new self-awareness, knowledge, and friendships that will serve you in all your future hunts.
- You have the ability to participate via Zoom and the Signal chat app. Zoom can run on any smartphone, tablet, or computer, or you can call in by phone for an audio-only experience. Signal can be installed on a smartphone or computer, but you'll need a smartphone to activate a computer-based account.
- You are over 18.
Program Schedule:
Seven Weekly Zoom Meetings: 7-9pm Eastern Time on Thursday evenings.
Six Live Zoom check-ins on weekend evenings during peak rut
Group Chat on the Signal App for ongoing connection, community-building, encouragement, and sharing.
Seven Weekly Zoom Meetings: 7-9pm Eastern Time on Thursday evenings.
Six Live Zoom check-ins on weekend evenings during peak rut
Group Chat on the Signal App for ongoing connection, community-building, encouragement, and sharing.
- Greetings & Connection, Oct 8: Acquiring a firearm, bow, or crossbow. Hunting attire for warmth & safety.
- Keeping it Legal, Oct 15: Hunter Safety certification, your state's hunting laws, finding land to hunt on, buying a hunting license.
- Safe Shots, Oct 22: Firearm & archery safety. Where & how often to practice. Tree stands vs. ground hunting.
- Spiritual Groundings, 29: Preparing for your hunt spiritually. Huntress mythology in the ancient Greek & Norse traditions.
- Deer Population Biology, Nov 5: The ethics & legalities of hunting bucks, does, and yearlings. Where to look for deer on the landscape. Tracking & blood trailing.
- Final Preparations, Nov 12: The Huntress Prayer, death offerings, and death songs. Dragging your deer out & butchering options. Planning to use all parts of your deer.
- HUNTING THE RUT TOGETHER: Nov 14-29 is Vermont's Rifle Season, and generally represents the peak of the whitetail rut across the Northeastern US. During these 16 days, there will be an open Zoom Room on Saturdays and Sundays at 7pm Eastern Time to check in about the day's hunt. We'll also be utilizing our Signal App group text thread to share check-ins and hunting stories throughout the week.
- Closing Ceremonies, Dec 3: We celebrate our learning together & set intentions for moving forward.
Your Hunting Mentor
Hello! I'm Murphy Robinson (They/Them). I grew up vegetarian and decided to learn to hunt deer when I was 28 in response to a deep spiritual calling to engage with the forest in a new and more interwoven way. I'm also queer and identify as transmasculine. I've been teaching other people to hunt since 2013, and specializing in creating safe spaces for women and trans folks to explore deer hunting as a spiritual initiation. My own practice of the sacred hunt is grounded in animist prayer, spiritual consent, respect for the personhood of the deer, songs of gratitude, deep relationship with Huntress deities such as Artemis and Skadhi, and a commitment to using all parts of my prey. I'm also a Vermont State Hunter Safety Instructor, and have spoken at the International Hunter Education Association conference and the Vermont Hunter Safety Instructor Annual Banquet on the best ways to welcome gender diversity into our hunting communities. I've hunted deer in Vermont, Maine, North Carolina, Virginia, Minnesota, and Iowa. If the practice of mindful and ethical deer hunting calls to you, I'd love to help you find your way toward this initiation.
Hello! I'm Murphy Robinson (They/Them). I grew up vegetarian and decided to learn to hunt deer when I was 28 in response to a deep spiritual calling to engage with the forest in a new and more interwoven way. I'm also queer and identify as transmasculine. I've been teaching other people to hunt since 2013, and specializing in creating safe spaces for women and trans folks to explore deer hunting as a spiritual initiation. My own practice of the sacred hunt is grounded in animist prayer, spiritual consent, respect for the personhood of the deer, songs of gratitude, deep relationship with Huntress deities such as Artemis and Skadhi, and a commitment to using all parts of my prey. I'm also a Vermont State Hunter Safety Instructor, and have spoken at the International Hunter Education Association conference and the Vermont Hunter Safety Instructor Annual Banquet on the best ways to welcome gender diversity into our hunting communities. I've hunted deer in Vermont, Maine, North Carolina, Virginia, Minnesota, and Iowa. If the practice of mindful and ethical deer hunting calls to you, I'd love to help you find your way toward this initiation.
Tuition Sliding Scale
We want to make this mentorship to those who feel called to it, and also honor & compensate the many hours of emotional, intellectual, and technological labor that go into birthing this program. Please refer to the income chart below for our recommended tuition scale, and read on below if you need more affordable options.
What your tuition includes:
Our Sliding Scale
If you have special economic circumstances such as responsibility for a very large family or big medical bills, you can adjust your place on the scale accordingly as feels right and ethical to you. Conversely, if you have a high level of wealth & earning power that is not reflected in your current income, you are welcome to adjust in the other direction. We do this by the honor system, no proof of income is required. If the sliding scale is not financially accessible to you, please see the special rates below.
Total Household Income: Program Cost:
$15,000 or less $275
$15,000-$20,000 $300
$20,000-$25,000 $350
$25,000-$30,000 $400
$30,000-$35,000 $450
$35,000-$50,000 $525
$50,000-$75,000 $650
$75,000-$100,000 $750
Over $100,000 $850 and consider donating a partial or full scholarship to a participant in need
Special Rates
COVID-19 Hardship: $195
Credits
We do not offer refunds, but if you decide to permanently leave a course for any reason you will be issued a prorated credit based on how many weeks of the course you've already completed. This credit is good for any future classes at Mountainsong Expeditions.
We want to make this mentorship to those who feel called to it, and also honor & compensate the many hours of emotional, intellectual, and technological labor that go into birthing this program. Please refer to the income chart below for our recommended tuition scale, and read on below if you need more affordable options.
What your tuition includes:
- Instruction from Murphy at seven 2-hour online learning sessions, held via Zoom on Thursday evenings at 7pm Eastern Time. Check-ins and Q&A time included.
- Six Zoom check-in sessions on weekend evenings during peak rut.
- Community connection through a group chat on the Signal app (secure encrypted texting).
- Video and audio recordings of the primary teaching content of the first six learning sessions will be available. Personal check-in time on these calls will generally not be recorded, nor will our closing ceremonies on the last call (in order to foster open, vulnerable, un-self-conscious connection in the moment).
- Relevant handouts and resources (PDF format).
Our Sliding Scale
If you have special economic circumstances such as responsibility for a very large family or big medical bills, you can adjust your place on the scale accordingly as feels right and ethical to you. Conversely, if you have a high level of wealth & earning power that is not reflected in your current income, you are welcome to adjust in the other direction. We do this by the honor system, no proof of income is required. If the sliding scale is not financially accessible to you, please see the special rates below.
Total Household Income: Program Cost:
$15,000 or less $275
$15,000-$20,000 $300
$20,000-$25,000 $350
$25,000-$30,000 $400
$30,000-$35,000 $450
$35,000-$50,000 $525
$50,000-$75,000 $650
$75,000-$100,000 $750
Over $100,000 $850 and consider donating a partial or full scholarship to a participant in need
Special Rates
COVID-19 Hardship: $195
- If your income has reduced or ceased in the pandemic
- If you identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color, we have scholarships available to cover your tuition. We offer these scholarships in the spirit of reparations, and in acknowledgement of the inevitable emotional labor inherent in participating in predominantly white spaces.
- Money is extremely helpful to us right now as we attempt to navigate the choppy waters of a pandemic economy as a very small business. But if you can't afford the suggested tuition and you have skills or goods that Murphy can put to good use, feel free to make an offer. Some good barter offers include non-perishable food, bodywork or healing services (near Central Vermont), and willing able-bodied labor for grunt work on the homestead (for example, helping Murphy roll large rocks out of the archery range, transporting horse manure in a truck to our gardens, painting/carpentry/electrician/plumbing tasks, etc).
Credits
We do not offer refunds, but if you decide to permanently leave a course for any reason you will be issued a prorated credit based on how many weeks of the course you've already completed. This credit is good for any future classes at Mountainsong Expeditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I bow hunt? Well... not unless you've been actively preparing for a year or more and have achieved consistent aim with a hunting-weight bow. Bowhunting is an advanced skill, requiring the strength to pull a 40-pound-draw-weight bow, many hours of target practice to achieve consistent aim, and an advanced hunting ability to get very close to a deer (bowhunters must get within 20 yards, while many firearm hunters can comfortably shoot from 100 yards away). Murphy's advice to all aspiring bowhunters is this: Get a bow and start practicing, AND start rifle hunting at the same time. In one to five years, you will be ready to put the two skillsets together, and what you learn rifle hunting will save you years worth of beginner hunting mistakes as a bowhunter. A lot of instruction in this course will focus on firearms hunting for this reason, but we'll talk about bows some too.
- Can I hunt with a crossbow? Yes, if that is legal in your state or province and you are able to practice enough to achieve consistent aim. Crossbows have a faster learning curve than bows and demand less physical strength, but still require you to get closer to a deer than with a firearm, and require a high level of bodily awareness to use safely (people commonly sever the top of their thumb when they allow that digit to get in the way of the string -- self-injury with a bow or firearm is less likely). Cross bows are also pretty expensive. We recommend starting with a firearm if this is your first hunt, but becoming competent with a crossbow in a short time isn't totally unrealistic.
- How do I acquire a firearm? You can buy one or borrow one, and many different calibers can serve. Purchasing a new budget .308 deer rifle costs around $400 at a big box store like Dick's Sporting Goods or Walmart. If you plan to hunt with a used gun that hasn't been shot in a while, be sure to get it checked by a gunsmith for safety before you try shooting it. While we recommend a rifle where it is legal, some states (such as Massachusetts and Iowa) only allow you to hunt deer with a shotgun. A budget shotgun with a rifled barrel for slug hunting costs around $500. Be sure to budget for a scope or sight if that is not included, and plenty of ammo too. A box of twenty rounds of ammunition costs around $20.
- Can I hunt with a muzzleloader? Murphy has never shot a muzzleloader and cannot advise you on how to use one. If you already feel competent shooting black powder firearms, or have a good mentor to instruct you, then you are welcome to hunt with one where local regulations allow.
- What about firearms permits? Please research what is required in your own state, since laws vary wildly. Regulations for long guns (rifles, shotguns, and muzzleloaders) are generally more relaxed than regulations for handguns. In Vermont, there is no carry permit or registration required.
- Where can I find land to hunt? State forests, national forests, Wildlife Reserves, and other public lands are often open to hunting. Private property can offer very good hunting ground, especially on farm or orchard land, but please get permission from the property owner. If you own your own land, call your town clerk to find out if there are any local municipal restrictions on hunting (often hunting is not allowed within city limits).
- Is this course oriented towards a certain religion or spiritual path? This course is open to people of all religions or none. Murphy will share about some earth-based animist/polytheist spiritual approaches from their own practice, but you are welcome to take what works and leave the rest. We just ask that you not press any religious beliefs on other members of the course, and that you are willing to supportively witness other people talking about their own faith and how it affects their own hunting practice.
- What if something happens in my life and I'm not able to actually hunt this year? Sometimes life happens. You are warmly welcome to stay in our circle, learn alongside us, and be a supportive cheerleader for those who are hunting this year. If you need to drop out of the course entirely, we don't offer cash refunds, but you will get a pro-rated credit towards future Mountainsong courses.
- Is this course going to get political? While the craft of hunting largely transcends politics, neither Mountainsong Expeditions nor Murphy themselves are politically neutral. We embrace a radical politics of liberation, and support Black Lives Matter, justice for Indigenous people, queer and trans rights, most gun regulations, people's right to navigate their own fertility however they choose, dismantling economic inequity, and whatever paths to mitigating climate change that are left to us. The timeframe of this course encompasses the 2020 election, with both the White House and US Senate are teetering on a terrifying edge that specifically impacts the marginalized genders that this course serves. We might need to talk about it in our check-ins. That said, hunting is a sacred tradition that is older than humanity itself, and grounding ourselves in that pursuit can help us navigate upheaval in our political world. We'll lean into that timeless grounding as an anchor in the times ahead, focusing on hunting not as an escape from our societal problems, but as a practice that can nourish our wholeness as we fight for justice.
**THIS PROGRAM HAS FILLED TO CAPACITY AND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS**
How to Apply:
This course is limited to ten people, and two people have already signed up in advance of the public launch (thanks to them for helping inspire the program!). We will close enrollment whenever we will fill up with folks that we deem to be a good fit for this learning environment. Start by filling out this application, and then Murphy will schedule a follow-up phone call with you on October 1, 3, 4, or 8, 2020. Once you are accepted into the class, full payment is due by October 8 unless you've worked out a different payment plan with Murphy.
This course is limited to ten people, and two people have already signed up in advance of the public launch (thanks to them for helping inspire the program!). We will close enrollment whenever we will fill up with folks that we deem to be a good fit for this learning environment. Start by filling out this application, and then Murphy will schedule a follow-up phone call with you on October 1, 3, 4, or 8, 2020. Once you are accepted into the class, full payment is due by October 8 unless you've worked out a different payment plan with Murphy.