Women’s History Month Feature: Board Member Crystal Egli’s “My First Big Game Hunt” Video Series
Learning to big game hunt can be daunting, especially out west. Hunters of Color board member Crystal Egli was a videographer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife who had no resources or connections to hunting until she decided to give it a try as an adult.
Her 16-part video series “My First Big Game Hunt” documents her learning experience and introduces non-hunters to hunting. Below is a short description of what happens in each video ranging from taking hunter education, sighting in her rifle, hunting deer in Colorado’s backcountry, and processing big game meat.
Episode 1: The Journey Begins
Crystal opens her video series by introducing herself, why she chose to learn how to hunt, and how her network at CPW supported her newfound interest.
Episode 2: Hunter Education
Join Crystal and Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Hunter Education Assistant, Andre. They go over everything you need to know about Hunter Education, from where you can find classes and what they teach, to what additional resources are available for you.
Episode 3: Finding a Hunting Mentor
Crystal realized that there’s many aspects of hunting she didn’t know about and needs help with. She met up with Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Statewide Hunter Outreach Coordinator, Jason Duetsch. He helped her find a hunting mentor that’s just the right fit: Matt Dunfee. Are you interested in finding a mentor? Click here to fill out our Mentee application to be paired with a mentor near you!
Episode 4: How to Read a Big Game Brochure
In this episode, Crystal meets up with her hunting mentor, Matt Dunfee. They go over on how exactly to read and understand Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Big Game Brochure and Matt helps her figure out the important sections, like regulations and selecting the right license.
Please note that the rules and regulations change from year to year, therefore, it's important to make sure you read each new game brochure when they come out. For example, when this video was filmed in 2020, there were some big changes to the draw. You'll definitely want to make sure you pick up the most recent brochure to keep up to date and stay legal.
Episode 5: Where to Hunt?
Matt and Crystal figure out what some of the best places to hunt in Colorado are. They go over Game Management Units, public and private lands, and scouting.
Behind the Scenes Break!
This week, Crystal was on break for the holidays. However, she still managed to squeeze in a tour of her CPW office in downtown Denver before she left. Get familiar with state agency offices and enjoy a behind-the-scenes break in this educational series.
Episode 6: Firearm Basics
Today, Crystal faced one of her biggest hurdles with hunting: firearms. She was extremely terrified of owning and using firearms, but wanted to use one to hunt. Her mentor, Matt, helps her conquer this fear by breaking down rifle parts, firearm laws and safety, above and beyond what she learned in Hunter Ed. Crystal was able to shoot my first firearm with Matt by her side. At the range, she ended up running into District Wildlife Manager Josh Melby and asked him some questions about hunting. After getting more comfortable with firearms, she took a visit to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Cameo Shooting and Education Complex to practice using firearms by herself and to get even more questions answered with District Wildlife Manager, Ryan Swygman.
Episode 7: Small Game First
“Practicing hunting with small game taught me so much and fueled my urge to source my own food.” - Crystal Egli
Before Crystal headed out on her big game hunt, she decided to try out turkey hunting with friends Crystal and Corey. It was a great way to put her new hunting skills to the test.
Episode 8: Wildlife Identification
It’s quiz time! Matt teaches Crystal all the ways to spot the difference between whitetail and mule deer in this video. Wildlife identification is vital in making sure you can properly recognize what you're looking to hunt when out in the field.
Episode 9: Gearing Up
The gear to go hunting can seem expensive, like really expensive. Do you really need to invest that much into equipment for a successful hunt? Matt breaks down the essential items needed. He shows Crystal that she actually already owned most of the items necessary and what she can easily buy or borrow from friends.
Episode 10: The Hunt
Today's the day! In this episode, Matt and Crystal head out to the plains of eastern Colorado for her first big game hunt! If you've ever wanted to witness a novice hunter experience their first big game hunt, now's your chance. Did she get a deer? Watch now and find out.
Episode 11: Field Dressing Big Game
“It was emotionally difficult, but I ended up feeling immensely proud of being so hands-on with my food.” - Crystal Egli
So you harvested your animal... now what? Field dressing big game can be a challenge, but with the proper education, guidance and tools, it can also be informative. For Crystal, it was the first step to feeling more connected to where her food comes from, and this process gave her a sense of sorrowful pride.
Episode 12: Packing Out Strategies
So you've shot your big game. It's down; now what? Join Crystal as she talks with Donnelle Johnson about how to pack out your big game harvest. Donnelle has several decades of experience hunting and has one of the highest harvest success rates of anyone Crystal knows. It's a good thing too, because her family only eats meat they harvest themselves-- a goal Crystal is now aiming for.
Episode 13: Butcher and Storage of Meat
Here’s what to do when you have a big game animal field dressed and ready to take home. Unless you plan on roasting your harvest whole, spitted over an open flame, Crystal recommends you get the meat butchered. You can do this at home with a few sharp knives and some plastic wrap, or you can pay to get it done by a professional meat processor. Both are great options! Matt peer-pressured Crystal into butchering my whitetail doe in her kitchen and it turned out to be an excellent learning experience.
Episode 14: Cooking Game Meat
Who's got two thumbs and is the worst cook in the world? Crystal! She hates cooking, mostly because she feels bad at it. She fears the look of disappointment in the faces of her loved ones, and there's nothing worse than the slow slide of wasted food dropping into the trash can. What she didn't know about cooking could fill, well-- a cookbook, but her hunting mentor Matt showed her another way.
Cooking with game meat fills Crystal with care and pride. This meat is from a life that she took, so it is her responsibility to make sure it's not going to waste and is prepared so as to bring joy to those who consume it.
Episode 15: Hunting Ethics
What are "ethics" and what do they have to do with hunting? In this episode, Matt walks Crystal through a test scenario to see what it would take to get her to break a law while out on a hunt.
Episode 16: The Finale
In the final episode, Crystal talks about what hunting means to me and the impact it has had on her mental health.
Join Crystal Egli on her hunting journey as she learns the steps necessary to hunt big game in Colorado. Crystal is eager to bring locally sourced meat to her family while learning new ways to connect to the outdoors with her hunting mentor.