Learning to Hunt: Two Days at Bitterwater Outfitters’ Hunting School
After three or four seasons of chasing big game without success, Matt Heden signed up for hunting lessons with Randy Parker on a ranch outside Shandon, California.
Bitterwater Outfitters · San Luis Obispo County
Growing up in the Bay Area, I didn’t have much of a hunting background. Sure, my grandpa grew up in rural California towns, but he had since gone on to chase his dream of providing for his family in a different way than he saw on the chicken farm he was raised on.
After years of scouring the internet for answers and trying to decipher rather cryptic laws and regulations from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, I did exactly what the internet told me to do. I put my boots on the ground and got going. What a time that was, walking for miles upon miles with a bow, shotgun, or rifle. I learned a lot, but not enough.
That’s when I stumbled upon Bitterwater Outfitters and their hunting school. After three or four seasons of being unsuccessful at hunting big game (I shot a few ducks and stuff), I decided it was time to give it a try.
If you’re looking to learn how to hunt, or even just to expand your knowledge a bit, I can’t give the Bitterwater Outfitters Hunting School a better recommendation. Here’s a quick bit about Bitterwater Outfitters before we get into the school itself. It’s important to see the quality of the operation before you decide to spend a weekend there.
The OutfitterBitterwater Outfitters
The operation that owner Clayton Grant runs in the small, but not too remote, town of Shandon, California is truly second to none. Take one look at their website and you’ll see the opportunities are almost endless.
The Home Ranch
If you book a hunt, or better yet a weekend at their hunting school, you’ll be greeted at the end of a winding road through hills and valleys by the bison statue that welcomes you to the home ranch. As you drive up, you’ll see cattle, horses, and maybe a wild pig or two if you’re really looking.
At the end of the long dirt driveway you’ll find an office, a bathroom, a skinning station, and a covered concrete pad with a fire pit, fridge, and tables. It’s a great little area to make camp, either in a tent or in your car. They also offer trailers to stay in, or their higher-end camp cottages.
The Range
Just over the hill from camp is a shooting range you can use to sight in your rifle or just do some target shooting.
It’s a basic outdoor ranch setup with no range fee, and it reaches out beyond 500 yards. It’s always stocked with targets and a stapler, and there’s a covered shooting bench with sleds available. There’s also a moving pig target: a pig-sized target that slides side to side at the push of a button. It’s one of the cooler features we’ve seen at a hunting operation, so make sure you take advantage of it.
Overall, it’s a great place to wake up, with the morning sun peeking over the hills and lighting up the horses as they eat breakfast. As far as accommodations go, you can’t go wrong with any of their options.
At the home ranch
What’s waiting at the end of the driveway.
- Office
- Bathroom
- Skinning station
- Covered pad with fire pit, fridge, and tables
- Tent or car camping
- Trailers
- Camp cottages
- Range past 500 yards
- Moving pig target
What You Can HuntThe Hunts
You can hunt just about anything at Bitterwater Outfitters: wild pigs, tule elk, all sorts of rams, European bloodline pigs, varmints, dove, deer, turkey, and even aoudad. Some of the hunts require a bit of a drive from the ranch, so plan accordingly. It’s hard to find a place where you can hunt just about anything, let alone with this good an opportunity.
Bitterwater has a unique setup. It offers true fair chase hunting, plus an exotic game ranch that serves as a first step for first-timers and new hunters.
Game ranch
Shot opportunity guaranteed
European pigs, bison, water buffalo, and a variety of rams. A good fit for meat in the freezer, kids, and first-time hunters.
Fair chase
No guarantees
Boots-on-the-ground hunting, including wild pigs on a 50,000-acre free-roam ranch. A good fit if you want the challenge.
I’ve found that bringing kids and first-time hunters and giving them guaranteed success is a great way to move the hunting heritage forward, while I go chase pigs on the 50,000-acre free-roam ranch.
Bitterwater has a great operation for hunters of any skill level, with great guides and great opportunities. Their hunting school, though, is unlike anything I’ve seen or been a part of.
Day 1Inside the Bitterwater Hunting School
After scheduling your weekend of hunting lessons with owner Clayton Grant, you’ll show up to the ranch the night before or the morning of. I definitely recommend getting there the day before, setting up your area, and double-checking that you have all your gear.
On the morning of your first session, you’ll be greeted by a legend in his own right, Randy Parker. When my cousin and I signed up, Clayton was very blunt in saying that Mr. Parker may very well be the most knowledgeable hunter and outdoorsman you will ever meet. After five minutes in class with Randy, you’ll know he was telling the truth.
After getting to know each other a little, Randy was ready to dive in. My cousin and I were the only ones in the class, which made it a really personal experience. You get a binder full of content, and then you’re taken through every element of learning to hunt.
- Hunter safety
- Tracking and identifying animals
- Finding a place to hunt
- Shot placement
- Learning to shoot
- The hunt and field dressing
Hunter Safety
You’ll notice right away that Randy is an advocate of safe hunting and firearm handling. It’s an excellent part of the school no matter how long you’ve been shooting. Randy goes over everything you need to know in depth, and anything you could ever want to know.
This was one of the most notable parts of the class. Randy covered the different types of firearms and how to use, handle, and carry them, including how to carry safely through obstacles. He also talked about making sure you’re in the right location and can get in and out of an area safely. Then he told us to call him if we ever needed help. Having someone willing to help you as a new hunter is invaluable.
Tracking and Identifying Animals
Randy does a tremendous job teaching you how to identify animals that are legal to shoot (not just the ones in California) and how to track them. Using the whiteboard alongside the binder, we learned to identify the tracks different animals make and the features that set each animal apart.
Finding a Place to Hunt
One of the most difficult things to learn in hunting is figuring out where to hunt. Ask a few hunters and you’ll be met with looks of frustration, concern, or even anger. Turns out hunters don’t like to give their honey holes to other hunters.
Randy covers how to find legal hunting opportunities and how to find areas where hunter success goes up. We learned what to look for on a map, paper and digital, and which physical features make the best environment for game. No specific spots were handed out, but I felt like the secrets of the world were being passed down to me. Randy gave us the ability to find areas ourselves.
Shot Placement
Using the whiteboard and the binders, Randy walked us through shot placement on different animals in different situations and, because we’re in California, with different ammunition types. We even tried to throw Randy off by asking about bowhunting, but he was able to explain just about everything related to bows, arrows, tactics, and shot placement for bowhunters as well.
Learning to Shoot
After the classroom portion on firearms, animals, locations, safety, and shots, it was time to hit the range. Randy reminded us that knowledge is good and you need it, but if you never apply it, it’s worthless. So after the first day of class, he took us to the on-site range and got us set up to shoot.
I’m no stranger to shooting rifles, but Randy had a number of tips and tricks that made me a better shooter all the way around. He explained shooting on a ballistic level, how bullet weight and other factors affect trajectory and impact, and how first focal plane and second focal plane scopes compare. Honestly, it was more than I could take in. I wound up writing down most of what he said, even though I already felt like a proficient shooter.
Having a range that reaches beyond 500 yards is cool, and Randy helped us take full advantage of it. We were shooting beyond 500 yards consistently on target, and then Randy took us to the moving pig target, which is an incredibly hard thing to master.
Day 2The Hunt
After learning in the classroom and applying it on paper and steel, every student taking the hunting lessons gets the chance to hunt the following day with Randy himself. After an early wake-up in your tent, trailer, or cottage, you’ll jump in a Polaris four-seat side-by-side and ride a few miles of back roads to another part of the family ranch.
This is one of the unique opportunities Bitterwater provides: a 1,000-acre game ranch filled with exotic animals to hunt. Because of the quality and quantity of game on the ranch, success rates go up. That’s great for new and first-time hunters, and for the seasoned hunter looking to fill the freezer.
That success had eluded me for years of the boots-on-the-ground approach everyone told me to take. I still believe that approach is valid and an important part of learning how to hunt. But there are only so many YouTube videos you can watch about how to gut and skin an animal before you have to actually do it yourself.
Glassing hills, valleys, stream beds, and rock outcroppings with binoculars and a spotting scope, and actually finding game, was the most awesome feeling after more than 100 miles of hiking with no success. Randy took every opportunity to teach us, whether it was a snake track in the soft dirt or an animal tucked into a hard-to-see spot.
One of the things we loved was that there was no rush. Randy taught us every step of the way and let us search the entire property for hours, looking for the right pig or ram to take a shot on.
Eventually, my cousin and I both took Texas Dall rams. Then the real hands-on work began, with Randy taking the lead and teaching us every step of gutting, skinning, and quartering our animals. We placed them in the cooler and set up a time for a local butcher to cut the meat and deliver it to us, 5 hours away. With that, our hunting lessons were coming to an end.
We had such a good time at the ranch that we had our animals mounted so we’d always remember it. That ram still sits in my garage today as a reminder of everything I learned and the memories made on that trip.
ConclusionAre Hunting Lessons Worth It?
I’d say it depends on where you go. As far as Bitterwater Outfitters is concerned, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about, try out, or start getting into hunting. The operation, the opportunities, the guides, and everything else about Bitterwater are top-notch.
Since that first trip, I’ve been back with family, friends, and even clients from my business and their kids. I even took my wife out there once. She went on the hunt with us one day, and then we spent a day in Pismo Beach shopping and doing all the things she likes.
I’ve since returned to hunt bison, wild pig, European pig, varmints, another ram, and bobcat (before California’s ban). Each time I’ve left with memories I cherish, more knowledge, and plenty of meat in the freezer.
Bitterwater Outfitters Hunting School
Shandon, California · Two-day course
Schedule and price as listed on Bitterwater’s hunting school page in October 2026. Confirm current details with Bitterwater before you book.
Quick AnswersBitterwater Hunting School FAQ
It’s a two-day hunting school at Bitterwater Outfitters near Shandon, California, east of Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County. Day 1 covers the classroom and the rifle range, and day 2 is a guided hunt.
Two days. Bitterwater lists day 1 as a classroom session from 8 a.m. to noon followed by range time from 1 to 5 p.m., and day 2 as a full-day guided hunt. Matt recommends arriving the night before to set up camp and check your gear.
Bitterwater lists the two-day hunting school at $2,500, which includes a European pig or a ram. Confirm current pricing with Bitterwater before you book.
Randy Parker teaches the school. Bitterwater describes him as a professional hunter with 30 years of hunting and trapping experience. Matt and his cousin were the only two students in their class.
Matt’s class covered hunter safety and firearm handling, tracking and identifying animals, finding places to hunt on paper and digital maps, shot placement for rifles and bows, and ballistics and scopes at the range, followed by field dressing after the hunt.
Yes. On day 2 students hunt with Randy on Bitterwater’s 1,000-acre game ranch. Matt and his cousin each took a Texas Dall ram, then Randy taught them to gut, skin, and quarter the animals.
At the home ranch. You can camp in a tent or your car on the covered concrete pad, rent a trailer, or book one of the camp cottages.
Matt recommends it to anyone who wants to learn about, try out, or start hunting. He had hunted big game for three or four seasons without success before taking the class, and he still took notes at the range despite already being a proficient rifle shooter.
Bottom LineWhy Matt Keeps Going Back
Matt came to Bitterwater after years of hunting big game on his own without filling a tag. In two days, Randy Parker took him and his cousin from the classroom to the range to a ram on the ground, then taught them to break it down. Matt has since returned with family, friends, and clients to hunt bison, pigs, varmints, and another ram.
Matt Heden
Bitterwater’s two-day hunting school pairs a full day of classroom and range instruction with a guided hunt and hands-on field dressing, which makes it a strong first step for a new hunter.
See Course DetailsThis story reflects Matt’s experience at the Bitterwater Outfitters hunting school. Course schedules, pricing, and hunts offered can change, so confirm current details with Bitterwater before you book. Check California hunting regulations and license requirements for any hunt you plan.