sacred wyld
harvest mentorship
A rite of passage experience
Take a personalized journey toward skill, responsibility, and relationship with the animal kingdom.
Please note: the buttons on this page will take you to a checkout page where the application is linked in the description
Become more grounded, capable, and connected through a lived experience
Sacred Wyld Mentorship is a personalized journey toward harvesting an animal with presence, preparation, and integrity.
Through a customized container of practical training, conversation, and relationship-building, you develop the skills and inner capacity to meet the harvest experience - and yourself - with greater confidence and responsibility.
It's your time
You're here because you know there is more available to you.
You have built a stable life while still feeling disconnected from some essential part of yourself.
Perhaps you want to develop practical skills, become more capable in the natural world, or learn how to provide for yourself and your family in a more tangible way.
Perhaps you've simply reached a point where information isn't enough. You want to experience something real.
Sacred Wyld Mentorship offers a place to begin.
This is a guided process of learning, preparation, relationship, and direct participation. You will develop practical hunting skills while exploring the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of meeting an animal in the harvest experience.
The intention is not simply to teach you how to hunt.
It is to help you become someone who can meet any challenge with presence, capability, and responsibility.
"The longhorn harvest shifted the way I am present in relationships, life, death and the way we experience them. It was the single most impactful event in my life that prepared and allowed me to be fully present in other truly life changing events that followed!"
Nicholas G.
This is a relationship, not a program.
The Harvest Mentorship curriculum is deeply personalized. You aren't being placed into a predetermined system and expected to fit yourself into it.
Sacred Wyld meets you where you are and builds from there.
The practical and the personal are held together: learning how to move through the field, developing technical skills, understanding animal behavior, preparing for harvest, and exploring the deeper questions that arise when a person takes meaningful responsibility for their actions.
The mundane and the spiritual meet here to create actual change.
To hold a strong container where the personal aspects can arise and be addressed inside a structure designed for success, we hold these pillars as markers along the path:
Prepare
Build the foundational knowledge and practical understanding necessary to enter the field with confidence through regular one-on-one Zoom calls with Wes.
practice
Develop the practical skills required to move through the natural world, work with your equipment, and interact with an animal with greater awareness and competence through a personalized training protocol and one-on-one tactical lessons.
encounter
Meet the animal and step into the field. This is where preparation becomes presence.
harvest
Participate directly in the harvest experience with guidance and support. Take the steps and discover more of yourself in the process.
integrate
Process what you've experienced through dialogue and embodiment exercises, and consider what the experience asks of you moving forward.
What's included
1-3 months of personalized mentorship based on intentions, experience, weapon choice, and animal availability timing.
6-10 weekly (or bi-weekly for shorter curriculums) virtual preparation sessions with Wes.
These sessions include:
▪ tactical skill guidance and practical hunting education
▪ discussion of your personal themes and internal process
▪ guided connection with the animal kingdom through meditation and awareness exercises
▪ logistical preparation conversations
1-3 in-person training sessions with Wes, depending on your location, experience level, and weapon choice.
These sessions are where your technique and subtle movements will be refined.
Harvest preparation logistics.
We will make sure you have everything you need to join us in the field and drop in for a focused harvest experience.
Three-day field experience. You will be guided and held through a harvest experience on the land.
This experience includes:
▪ an outfitted basecamp on the land, including meals
▪ time to meet and interact with the animal to be harvested
▪ an opening ceremony to spiritually prepare for the harvest
▪ guidance and support through your harvest moment
▪ hands-on demonstration of breaking down the animal's body and harvesting its organs
▪ post-harvest integration ceremony
▪ an opportunity to visit local hot springs.
Integration and ongoing support.
2 post-harvest integration Zoom calls to uncover your learnings from the harvest and develop an actionable plan for reentering daily life with a new perspective.
For continued support, a separate integration curriculum is offered through a partnering organization, Co:Here. More details will be made available about this during your curriculum.
“I’d recommend this platform to anyone. It is humbling. Rewarding. Challenging. It’s everything I needed, and I can presume it would uncover some soft spots in your armor, test it, and coerce you to contemplate the challenges that it brings to your attention. It’s not just about the hunt of an animal, but the hunting for who you truly are beneath it all.”
Matthew M.
“My yak harvest and the Sacred Wyld curriculum shifted my understanding of the animal kingdom and the human spirit. We are all connected. With gratitude and love, it’s a privilege to honor this animal to the fullest.”
Lyndsie P.
“There’s a certain kind of presence required to be ethical in this space — to know when it’s right to release an arrow, to honor the animal, and to be still enough to listen to the land. Wes and Joanna have been an incredible part of that journey. Their mentorship, encouragement, and belief in me made all the difference.”
Eric S.
This Mentorship is for you if...
🏹 You feel drawn to learn how to harvest an animal and want to approach that experience with care and integrity.
🏔️ You want to develop practical skills that increase your confidence and capability in the natural world.
🤲 You value personal responsibility, curiosity, honesty, and meaningful growth.
🦬 You are willing to be taught, challenged, and supported.
🌀 You want an experience that engages your body, mind, emotions, relationships, and spirit.
You don't need to arrive knowing how to hunt.
You simply need to arrive willing to learn.
You Don't Need to Know
How to Hunt
You don't need a hunting background. You don't need a family legacy. You don't need to have grown up outdoors.
Sacred Wyld was created, in part, because many people never had access to those teachers or experiences.
You can begin where you are.
We'll build the skills together.
You belong because you are here on Earth.
The investment
Sacred Wyld Harvest Mentorship
$3,500
This is a highly personalized, one-on-one experience that includes months of preparation, training, field experience, and ongoing support.
There are other costs and add-on opportunities to be aware of. These will be outlined on the application.
Ready to find out if we're a good fit?
If cost is an inhibiting factor for you, please see the community organizing option on the application.
faq
Do i need hunting or outdoor experience?
No, the Sacred Wyld Harvest Mentorship is specifically designed for beginner hunters with little to no experience.
We walk you through all the initial steps to meet a harvest moment that will prepare you for your continued journey in the outdoors.
what kind of equipment do i need?
This will depend on your weapon of choice. You are encouraged to invest in your own weapon that you can develop a relationship with for the rest of your life.
Bow hunters will likely need to invest in their own bow, given the ergonomic specifications of the weapon.
Rifle hunters can use their own weapon or use a Sacred Wyld rifle to complete the harvest.
where does the harvest take place?
Most harvests we facilitate happen on the Chokurei Yak Ranch in Crestone, Colorado. However, if you are interested in developing a relationship with a specific ranch or animal, this can be part of your curriculum discussion.
We have other harvest opportunities for Bison and various heritage bovine breeds on other ranches in the states of Colorado and Texas.
what animal will i be able to harvest?
We have a longstanding and generative relationship with the Chokurei Yak Ranch in Crestone, CO. The Yak are a great beginner animal because they carry a wild DNA while being domestically stewarded in the United States.
We also have options to harvest Bison and other heritage breed bovine on other ranches in Colorado.
For a more “wild” experience, opportunities for private land hunting are available in Texas (and Colorado, depending on season, tags, and other factors).
what if i'm not successful at the harvest?
One of the things that sets Sacred Wyld apart is the opportunity for you to explore your “yes's” and “no's” all the way up to the harvest moment. Meaning, if it doesn't feel right in the moment - you are allowed to say so.
Typically, though, given that we are working with animals in a pasture that cannot escape, success is imminent - but sometimes the timing and agreement with the animal does not align with the “plan.”
If you are unsuccessful for an unforeseen reason, the option to discuss a secondary harvest opportunity is available.
is this a spiritual program?
Sacred Wyld welcomes people who recognize that the human experience has physical, emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual dimensions.
That being said, Sacred Wyld is not associated with or sanctioned by a spiritual organization or lineage.
Rather, we welcome your personal spiritual lens and aim to engage with the animal kingdom with reverence, respect, conscious awareness, and the underlying idea that we are all interconnected.
can i participate if i don't want to harvest an animal?
You are welcome to participate in the Mentorship curriculum if you do not want to harvest an animal. Although the intentions and content would shift considerably based on your ultimate goals.
If you are interested to attend a harvest without being in the harvester role, there are opportunities for you to contribute to and participate in the curriculum alongside a preparing harvester.
how does payment work?
After you fill out an application and have a discovery call with us to determine if we are good fit, we will ask you to put down a deposit of $2,000 or pay in full to begin your curriculum.
This payment can be made through this sales page or via another payment method (Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal).
Additional costs and add-ons will be outlined on the application form and discussed in our discovery call.
what happens after i apply?
After you apply, we will reach out to set up a discovery call to determine if we are good fit.
From there, you will send payment and we will begin your curriculum by outlining the relevant content for your journey and setting up a schedule for calls, in-person training, and a harvest date.
What you'll carry forward
a deeper trust in your own ability to meet challenging moments
grounded decision making, confidence in your skills, and willingness to participate directly with life
positive shifts in how you relate to food, animals, nature, responsibility, relationships, and yourself
knowing that you made a difference, fed a community, and can step into the outdoors with a sense of belonging
Connection to an animal that will be with you for the rest of your life
There are things we can learn by reading about them…
And there are some things we can only learn by living them.
If you feel drawn toward this experience, begin the conversation.
Tell us where you are, what you're seeking, and what has brought you here.
We'll take it from there.
"Because Wes and Joanna had taken care of several typical distractions that I would normally take on, such as cooking or setting up camp, I was able to focus on myself, on the intent of being there, and staying calm in the moment when I was ready to harvest the animal through meditation, visualization and prayer, and this definitely led to the success of the moment."
Cherine S.
sacred wyld
Wes & Joanna
Wes Atkinson has over 25 years of experience in the hunting world as a professional hunter, outfitter, guide, and outdoor cameraman. His journey has taken him all over the globe, investigating the relationship between humans and animals, and the conscious connection that can be developed between them to support personal growth, remembrance of our true wild nature, and the reclamation of responsible stewardship. His experience with Family & Systemic Constellations work, ceremonial space holding, and mentorship with esteemed teachers has supported his ability to assist all kinds of people through a meaningful rite of passage experience.
Joanna Kraft has experience as an organic vegetable farmer and restaurant manager with a special interest in developing sustainable food systems for communities invested in reclaiming sovereignty and intimacy with their food sources. She has studied herbalism, yoga, music, and nervous system healing practices that support her multi-faceted approach to creating curriculums and providing a nurturing space for clients going through rite of passage experiences. She holds the conviction that our deepest healing as a human species lies in our remembrance of our bodies as Earth, which includes restoring reciprocal relationships with plants, animals, and each other as unique parts of one whole.
Learn more at sacredwyld.com