Pre-Season & Pack Checklists
Every checklist from Appendix B, from pre-season prep to the pack list for each kind of hunt. Tape the first one inside your gear closet in July.
Download PDF
Meet the Author
Hunting, Shown One Step at a Time
Tucker Ashgrove writes illustrated field manuals for people who came to hunting without a mentor in the family.
His books show each job one action at a time, in plain language, so you can keep the page open beside you and get it right the first time, even when you're out there alone.
The Hunting Manual
Every Step Illustrated for Beginners, From Your First License to the Freezer – A 12-Month Plan and 8 Field Cards to Find Your Spot, Field Dress and Butcher With Confidence
The hunting mentor you never had, page by page: 161 illustrated steps from your first license to the freezer.
This isn't another book that tells you about hunting and sends you to YouTube. It shows you. Every step is illustrated, one action per panel, in a manual you keep open beside you.
Inside, you'll find
- Your First Year on a Calendar: know what to do each month and what not to buy, so you reach opening day ready.
- The Regulations, Decoded: read your state's rules in the right order, so you don't break one you didn't know existed.
- A Place to Hunt: find public land and scout it from home, so on opening morning you know where you're going.
- Where to Aim: vital zones and shots to pass up, to spare you a night spent searching for a wounded animal.
- The First 60 Minutes: how long to wait and how to follow the trail, to keep a hit animal from becoming a lost one.
- The First Cut, Without the Panic: field dressing step by step, two ways, so you can do it right the first time, even alone.
- From Deer to Freezer: skin, debone, and package it yourself, skip the processor, and serve venison everyone wants to eat.
The paperback is on its way.
Companion Page & Printables
A book you take into the woods gets wet and dog-eared, so the pages you'll write on are here to print. Every file is a free PDF, sized for letter paper.
Scouting, Practice & Harvest Logs
The three logs from Appendix C. Start a fresh set each season and write in pencil, so a spot or a limit can change mid-season.
Download PDFFull-Size Practice Target
The 8-inch paper-plate target from Chapter 12. Print it at 100%, then measure the 2-inch bar with a ruler before you shoot.
Download PDFLandowner Permission Letter
The full-size letter from Chapter 63, ready to fill in together at the kitchen table or on the tailgate. Print one for each property.
Download PDFThe Field Cards
All eight Field Cards, one for each part of the book. Fill in the blanks from this year's regulations and keep them where you'll need them.
Download all eightOr print a single card
Print at true size
Use letter-size paper with the scale set to 100%, or “Actual size.” A target printed with “Fit to page” comes out smaller than the vital zone it stands for, and your scores no longer match what would happen on a deer.
No printer at hand? Appendices B and C in the book hold the same checklists and logs: photocopy them, or photograph a page and mark up the photo on your phone.