75 Rules for the Modern Outdoorsman: Hunting, Fishing, Gun Safety & Camp Tips (Part 1: Rules 1-38)

Rules for the modern outdoorsman used to be passed down at hunting camp, on creek banks, at gun ranges and anywhere else someone had the patience to teach a newcomer the ropes.

But that’s not how everyone finds the outdoors anymore. A new generation of hunters, anglers and shooters is learning from friends, mentors, videos, social feeds and hard-earned mistakes, which makes good advice more valuable than ever.

For Part 1, we leaned on Michael Waddell, Ted Nugent, Bill Dance and Jim Shockey for blunt, practical rules about keeping hunting fun, being a good campmate, handling firearms safely, teaching kids, catching fish and respecting outdoor tradition.

Some of these rules for the modern outdoorsman are old-school. Some are funny. All of them come from people who’ve spent a lifetime outdoors.

PART 1

Rules for the Modern Outdoorsman From Michael Waddell

Waddell’s rules for the modern outdoorsman start with a point too many hunters forget: This is supposed to be fun.

• 1) The number one thing is to learn first that it is about having fun. A lot of hunters from the new age, and even some old school, get into too much pride and machismo. When you get full of that, it turns into a rat race.
• 2) Starting out, do it for what it means to you. It’s your God-given right to approach it that way. Do it in a way you feel comfortable and don’t worry about everyone else.
• 3) Keep it simple. For those who are just starting out, it can be pretty intimidating. Should I take a stick bow, a vertical bow, a crossbow. A rifle or shotgun? Chipper Jones didn’t start hitting off Nolan Ryan. He started off a tee like every other 4-year-old.
• 4) Avoid the infighting, the “world according to thou” thinking. You shouldn’t do something just because you feel like you’re not going to be in the cool kids club. If you do, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
• 5) Try your best to steer away from the wrong peer pressure and instead hang around people who are showing you love and showing you new challenges, not by putting you down for a certain way that you might be doing it.

There’s nothing wrong with setting a goal, but remember the enjoyment of being outdoors.

• 6) There’s nothing wrong with setting a goal, but remember the enjoyment of being outdoors. If you’re just concentrating on getting the biggest, highest-scoring animal you can get and only find joy in killing those goalpost animals, you will eventually get to where it’s not fun anymore.
• 7) Don’t listen to your critics. They don’t have anything to do but be critics. On social media, do you follow people who are positive, or do you listen to the negativity and to the he-men and to the macho men? Just stay away from them.
• 8) For your family’s sake, sometimes you have to say no to going on certain trips. But sometimes, you have to take the opportunity to sit down with your spouse and say, “Listen, this one means a lot to me, and I really need to do it.”
• 9) On the other hand, if you’re dreaming about some special hunting trip, turn that dream into a reality. Like a family vacation, you have to sit down, talk about it and start saving for it. Don’t get into the redundant cycle of saying, “Oh, I just can’t do it. It’s too much money.”
• 10) Let hunting be a reset. It is where you can pray. It is where you can think about handling problems that you might have in your marriage, problems that you might have with a loved one or a kid you’re raising, or even just find a solution to rewire your boat trailer.

Ted Nugent’s Rules for Hunting Camp and Gun Safety

Nugent’s rules for the modern outdoorsman lean hard into safety, attitude and being the kind of person people want in camp.

• 11) Never allow the muzzle of a firearm to ever cover anything you’re not willing to destroy! Since a properly and responsibly prepared individual will always be armed, we believe this is Rule 1 for life.
• 12) Always bring a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed positive spirit and attitude everywhere you may go, including hunting camp. As in life, there is nothing worse than a sour puss, no matter the setting.
• 13) Be an asset to life/camp. Bring basic utilitarian supplies like food, drink, paper towels, tissue, toilet paper and plastic bags. Everybody loves people in the asset column who give more than they take.

• 14) Work hard to do your share of chores. Sweep, vacuum, clean up, take out the trash, bring and stack firewood, help cook, wash dishes, do laundry and keep the entire camp and area clean and tidy. Job description, at camp and at home, should always be: “Yes! I can do that!”
• 15) Keep the conversations relevant to the modus operandi of the camp. Encourage everyone to share personal stories and experiences, and respect the individual conversation instead of fragmented dialogue. Listening is respect.
• 16) Never be drunk or stoned. Nobody likes pain-in-the-ass drooling fools anywhere.

Encourage, even pressure, everyone to be an activist for hunting rights and gun rights.

• 17) Encourage, even pressure, everyone to be an activist for hunting rights and gun rights. Membership in the NRA, Gun Owners of America, HunterNation.org and state organizations is critical to ensure the future of this incredible lifestyle.
• 18) Always offer friendly, constructive advice on how to improve the outdoor experience, as we can all learn something new and better all the time. For example, filleting a fish and gutting a deer should be a spiritual art form to optimize the best food.
• 19) Be sure to respect those who hit the sack early by keeping it down to a mild roar at night. Some of us need our sleep to be the best we can be before sunrise for those precious mornings.
• 20) Encourage everyone to bring family and friends, especially newcomers, to experience and celebrate this perfect, hands-on conservation lifestyle fun!
• 21) At the gun range, make certain that definitive safety rules are adhered to and everyone uses ear and eye protection.
• 22) Take lots of photographs to document the incredible, joyful memories you can share forever.

READ MORE: Ted Nugent Inducted into Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame

Bill Dance’s Fishing Rules for the Modern Outdoorsman

Dance brings the fishing side of these rules for the modern outdoorsman into focus, especially when it comes to kids, simple tactics and lifelong learning.

• 23) Focus more on the next generation and educating our youth. We need to pass along what we’ve learned about conservation, hunting and fishing, and just how important one of our greatest resources, water, is, and how to protect it.
• 24) Take a kid hunting and fishing. And when you’re taking them hunting and fishing when they are little, it’s all about them. You’ve got to know that this isn’t the day you’re going to catch a big one or shoot a big one.
• 25) When taking a kid fishing, I’d rather the child use something that’s got its own built-in action, like a square-lip crank bait or an inline spinner. Just something simple. You really want that child to catch fish.
• 26) When walking up to a pond or creek, start by fan casting. Make casts at 9, 10, 11, 12, 1, 2 and 3 o’clock. If you don’t get a bite, change lures and try something different. Then walk down the bank a little way and repeat the process.

Take a kid hunting and fishing. And when you’re taking them hunting and fishing when they are little, it’s all about them.

• 27) Education is the key to everything. My granddaddy told me, “Bill, your education is the most important thing you can have. It’s more important than a 12-pound bass. Once you get a good education, you’ll be able to do a lot of the things that you want to do.”
• 28) The plastic worm is still one of the highest percentage lures you can throw. A multitude of ways to fish it have been developed over the years: drop shotting, Carolina rigging, split shotting, slip sinker rigs and floating worms. There’s a place and a time for each.
• 29) You’re never too old to learn something new. I caught six bass yesterday on a Spook Junior in crystal-clear, 53-degree water. It taught me that if you have an idea, try it. You might be successful and you might not.
• 30) Take the good with the bad. What makes the sport of bass fishing such a wonderful sport is that it’s such a challenge. There are days they win, there are days you win. I guess that’s the way the good Lord intended it.

READ MORE: A Day Of Fishing With Bill Dance

Jim Shockey’s Rules for Hunters and Outdoor Tradition

Shockey’s rules for the modern outdoorsman take a deeper look at hunting tradition, self-reliance and respect for the animals we pursue.

• 31) Practice the skills necessary to become a true “hunter.” Shooting a bow, muzzleloader or rifle is fun, cathartic and will build your self-esteem and confidence.
• 32) Move. Definition: changing position, location or state, both physically, relocating or shifting, and metaphorically, prompting action or stirring emotions. New to hunting? Desire to be self-reliant? Easy! Move. Stick to the same-old-same-old and guess what! That is exactly what you will get!
• 33) Understand that wild animals are NOT “meat.” The relationship between a hunter and the animals they hunt is spiritual. Sacred. If you want to be a true hunter, embrace your ancestral soul.
• 34) Respect the tradition. Whoever inspired you to become a hunter may or may not have a clear historical vision of hunting. Understand that before you enter a hunting camp, there will likely be some older generations present. Show them respect.

Don't set unrealistic expectations for the hunt. Yes, you want to get your animal, but that is not what hunting is about.

• 35) Don't set unrealistic expectations for the hunt. Yes, you want to get your animal, but that is not what hunting is about. Know that just being there, in that hunting camp, is a worthy and admirable achievement.
• 36) Always remember, you get one life. That means every day is precious. Do you love what you do? Do you wake up every morning with joy and excitement about what you need to do for the rest of the day? If not, you are wasting your life.
• 37) Choose your soulmate and partner carefully. If you love the outdoors and desire to spend time in those outdoors, does he or she support that desire? Do they support you being you? If not … goodbye.
• 38) Tolerate. There will be those who do not understand why you kill a wild animal. Most will be open and genuinely curious, but a very few will be ideologically opposed to what you do. As a hunter, you have the high ground. Don’t descend from that eagle’s overlook to engage in a mudslinging war.

Editor's Note: Tune in next week for Part 2 of Hook & Barrel's Rules for the Modern Outdoorsman featuring insight from Jimmy Houston, Chad Belding and more!