The Hunter Spotlight Series | Helen Cho
This week The Hunter Spotlight Series brings you, the reader, to the northeast...and me, right at home. I'm proud to present to you all...director, producer, hunter...and most importantly, fellow New Yorker, Helen.
By Cliff Cadet | Equalized Outdoors Newsroom
Name: Helen Cho
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
How long have you been hunting?
"My first hunt was in November 2014, so I’ve been hunting on and off for about 12 years now."
Who introduced you to it?
"I was introduced to hunting through television production. I was working at a production company at the time, and one of the shows we were making was with a writer living in Brooklyn named Steve Rinella. We developed various iterations of TV shows with him until a few were bought by networks. A few networks later, the show became MeatEater, and that stuck.
"I’d accumulated years of armchair knowledge just from being around Steve, reading viewer comments, and fielding questions for him. Eventually I got the chance to get out in the field and hunt myself.
"At the time, I’d already been fishing for a few years, mostly around Brooklyn and Long Island with my partner. Sometimes on our way home from a fishing trip, we’d stop by Steve’s to drop off some of what we’d caught. He’d open up his chest freezer and start digging around, pulling out packages. “You want a mallard?” “Have you ever tried bear fat? Take this jar.” He was always so enthusiastic about sharing whatever he had, so strangely enough, I’d eaten quite a bit of wild game before I ever hunted or killed an animal myself."
What wild game have you hunted, and which is your favorite?
"I’ve hunted elk, whitetail deer, squirrels, and turkey. The best tasting wild game has to be elk. I know I’m biased because it was the first animal I ever harvested, but to this day it’s still unmatched in terms of quality and taste. And lately, I’ve really been enjoying turkey hunting every spring I can get out."
You’re a New Yorker, born and bred, like me. When it comes to hunting, what are some misconceptions some of your non-hunting friends have?
"My friends are mostly just intrigued by hunting, but I don’t think they realize how much effort and research go into it, or how regulated it is. I think most would be surprised by how much preparation is involved, from getting your gear ready and monitoring the weather to studying the game, the topography, and the scouting of the area you’re looking to hunt. And then there are all the tags, licenses, and seasons you have to understand.
"I also think they’d be surprised by how much hunting isn’t an action-packed gimme, meaning just shooting at things. There’s a lot of sitting still, hurrying up and waiting, and being really locked into your senses and what’s happening around you."
What would you hope that folks from larger metropolitan areas could learn or understand about hunting?
"That you don’t have to grow up hunting, or even have much experience outdoors or with firearms, to learn how to hunt safely and enjoy it.
"I think people sometimes see being a city person and being a hunter as two different worlds, but they don’t have to be. You can love restaurants, art, and all the noise and energy of the city, hate bugs, be terrified of rats and grossed out by pigeons, and still be surprised by how much you love being in the woods, learning about the animals and the landscape, and chasing wild game."
Are there any hunters/anglers in your family?
"No. Nobody on either side of my family hunts or fishes."
Whether yes or no, what are their thoughts on your hunting endeavors?
"I think my family finds it a little strange that I hunt, which is understandable. My parents grew up in South Korea, where hunting isn’t very common and gun laws are very strict, so it just wasn’t something they were exposed to. But they support me because they know I enjoy it and that it’s important to me. My mom even tried some of the elk meat from my Montana hunt and liked it."
Earlier, you mentioned your work with Steve Rinella of MeatEater. That particular brand has had a great impact on both the hunting AND non-hunting community. What was YOUR experience working with that crew?
"I’ve known Steve and the OG MeatEater crew for nearly two decades now, and I’m really grateful for their friendship and for all the years we got to work together. It was an exciting time because we were a small, passionate team trying things out. Most, if not all, of us hadn’t hunted before working on the series, which I actually think helped. We weren’t coming in with a formula for what a hunting show was supposed to be. We were learning about hunting ourselves, and we just wanted to do something different and make good TV.
"And, of course, getting time in the field to learn about firearms and how to hunt from some of the most knowledgeable hunters out there is something I don’t take for granted. The hunts I got to go on with Steve, Ryan, Janis, and Doug during those years are memories that will stay with me forever. For better or worse, I couldn’t forget them if I tried. They’re all documented on video."
One of the pictures you shared, for this piece, shows you taking instruction from a Marine sniper. What that day was like?
"Before my first whitetail hunt on Doug Duren’s family farm in Wisconsin, my friend Brittany and I had the incredible opportunity to get a shooting lesson from Tony Palzkill, a former Marine sniper and sniper instructor.
"Tony taught us how to shoot from positions we’d actually encounter in the field and using whatever was around us to create a steadier rest. One thing he taught me that has really stuck was “the push or the pull”: how to use pressure against a tree, rail, or makeshift rest to stabilize yourself and your rifle. It was such a simple concept, but I still think about that lesson every time I take a shot."
Almost every spring, since you and I met, we catch up either before or after the turkey season. You shared an awesome picture of you with your first turkey. Tell us about that day.
"My first turkey hunt was in Montana in 2015 with my friends Brittany, Janis, Jennifer and their kids, and my partner, Jon. We didn’t get a bird, but we heard our first gobbles, saw turkeys and came home fired up to try it locally. It’s one thing to have a seasoned hunter show you the ropes and another to figure out a new species and a huge amount of public land on your own. We were lucky to have access to that public land through our friend’s mom, whose property butted right up against it. Between traveling for work, a short one-month season and only being able to get out for a few hours at a time, it took us three years of getting skunked, hunting rain or shine, and slowly learning how the birds behaved before it finally came together.
"On May 25, 2020, we got out before light and set up in a spot we’d hunted the day before. That morning we’d heard gobblers all around us only to get skunked, and this morning was starting to feel the same. In the past we’d hear them making a ton of noise on the roost, then hear them fly down and everything would go quiet. This morning they were sounding off all around us from the roost, and once they were on the ground, they answered a few of our calls. But eventually the gobbling seemed to be getting farther and farther away, and we were starting to feel pretty dejected.
"We had a single hen decoy out and I was on the gun, with Jon calling from a separate tree to my left. I heard noises to my right and tried to stay as still as possible, moving only my eyes to see that a real hen had come in and started answering our calls. One of the gobblers doubled back, came up the backside of the meadow and started running toward the real hen and our decoy, closing about 70 yards surprisingly fast. Jon gave two soft yelps, the bird stopped about 35 yards away between two thin trees, I aimed and pulled the trigger. I made the shot.
"We couldn’t believe it had actually worked. Jon’s dad had passed away just a month earlier, so it was an emotional and cathartic morning that I’ll never forget. And I’ll always remember the first meal from that bird. I’d heard plenty of people say they didn’t like the taste of wild turkey, but the turkey schnitzel we made was incredible. We got to share it with our friend’s mom, whose property had given us access to the land we’d spent all those seasons learning, which made it feel even more special."
That was this week's Hunter Spotlight Series featuring Helen Cho If you'd like to learn more about Helen, you can visit her website.
Also check her out on Instagram: @helencho
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