Qualifications
Got a free afternoon and twenty-five bucks? Yes? Good. Then you're set to become a certified, licensed hunter. We can make this statement with our left hand on a camouflage-covered hunting magazine and our right hand grasping a set of military-grade binoculars (source).
Every state has their own set of rules for issuing a hunting license, so be sure you check. After you've qualified for your license and paid the twenty-five dollars for your certification, you'll need to take your certification to your friendly neighborhood license-issuing office and pay whatever fee they charge for legalization. Fees can range anywhere from fifteen dollars for an annual license to five hundred dollars for a multi-year one. After that's done, you're all set to hunt.
If your job is hunting/trapping, then the cost of your license and the course, along with necessary equipment, may qualify for tax deductions. That's a good reason to get licensed, but we've got a few better ones.
First, hunting illegally is...well, illegal. Second, call us crazy, but if we were out in the woods with a bunch of hunters, each one of whom has a deadly weapon, we'd like to know that they've all passed their safety training.
Are there other qualifications? Sure. There are some unwritten rules of being a good sportsperson that you'll want to understand before you get out there. Just like everyone knows you shouldn't drive slowly in the left lane or talk in a movie theatre, there are some things that all hunters, trappers, and fishers know: throw the little ones back, watch your step if you're in a tree stand, and never yell, "Hey, look, everybody! It's a deer!"