Teaching Our Youth

Teaching my sons and daughter about the wonderful outdoors has been a wonderful experience for all of us. Over the years we have spent numerous hours learning about wildlife through books, walks through the woods with one another during all seasons of the year, learning different calls each animal makes and how we can replicate them, working on blinds together, putting up stands, shooting BB guns, shooting bow, learning about the importance of the food chain, and even sharing a hunt or two together along the way. But, what does this all mean and what purpose does it ultimately serve?

Bringing a youth into the outdoors and giving them the opportunity to hunt serves many purposes, both immediate and into the future for our children. To easily sum up everything that our youth gain from such experiences simply cannot be done, but here’s a number of recognizable points that I have seen that the whole outdoor experience brings with it:
• It teaches them to respect the delicate balance of nature and understand how we, as humans, can not only coexist with nature, but can help it thrive.
• It teaches them man very basic skills and behavioral traits that are often overlooked in today’s society for whatever reason. Some of these include respect, patience, work ethic, dedication, humility, self-discipline, and that there simply is no substitute for hard work.
• An understanding that everything in life is not simply at the snap of a finger and that many times more than naught the best things take time to develop.
• Stewardship.
• Gives them an opportunity to “wind down” from the fast-paced world many of us so frequently get caught up in and spend more valued time with people who share the same passion.
• It teaches them to respect and the safety with firearms and bows, and likewise provides them with the opportunity to learn how to use them as a lifelong skill.
• It provides an understanding and ability to survive off the land.

The bottom line is that it is vital that we continue to educate our youth as this is our future. Take time to teach as it is possibly the most rewarding time you will spend in the outdoors yourself.

–Good Huntin’!

The Pete Buck

The rifle season of 2013 was particularly cold. Following an opening weekend with an arctic blast blowing through that had winds gusting over 30 mph and temperatures hovering right around zero there was only one buck put on the ground in our deer camp and very few deer sighting overall. Monday afternoon I found myself heading out with Pete Pavloski, one of my deceased father-in-law’s very best friends and a good friend of mine. For those who have not met Pete, he is one of the most jovial men I know, is always upbeat, and I truly look forward to hunting with him at least an afternoon or two each rifle season. –If we see deer, great… If we don’t, no big deal… He doesn’t care too much and we always have a good time.

This particular afternoon we were specifically hunting for a certain six point buck that was not only old, but was very respectable by all standards. This buck had been on the official “shoot” list now for three years and he always managed to elude us one way or another. –I cannot recall anyone ever actually having a legitimate shot at this door during rifle season as he would always miraculously disappear mere days before the season and would show back up on camera at an obscure hour sometime after season was complete and the threat of becoming sausage had passed.

We arrived at my father-in-law’s old stand, forever named “John’s Stand”, at about 1:00 in the afternoon. Pete was all set to use John’s old rifle, a sharpshooting Jarrett .300 hand crafted by Kenny Jarrett. This was John’s favorite rifle through the years as it busted more than a few nice whitetail bucks at long distances and was also used in New Mexico on a couple occasions to knock down some fine elk. Pete had shot this gun in prior years with one miss and a kill to his credit. Of course he always talked about the perfect shot he had with it and would usually forget to add the perfect miss he had with it! As I unpacked the vehicle for the afternoon I noticed that the .300 Jarrett was absent. Apparently, Pete had forgot to load the gun into the truck when we left the cabin. With no hesitation I grabbed the “Black Beauty” from the back seat of my truck. Black Beauty was the name my wife had given her Baby Jarrett, another Jarrett that was a bit smaller as it was a .280 Ackley Improved. –This gun is capable of shooting ticks off deer at long ranges! I elected not to even tell Pete that he would be shooting a different gun if it came down to it as I didn’t want him thrown off his game.

We began seeing quite a few deer moving in all directions less than an hour after we arrived in the stand, which was a very welcome sight from the experience that we had over the first two days of the season. I glassed a small hill behind us and I saw movement. Upon further viewing I quickly knew that this deer was the infamous six point even though I had never actually seen him in person, but had seen 100s of shot of him over the years from trailcams. Was it all going to come together this evening? I told Pete to grab the gun and get ready. The buck was going to present himself with a perfect shot at exactly 285 yards. Pete grabbed to the .280 Ackley Improved and asked me where to hold the scope. –I told him to put it exactly where he wanted the bullet to hit as I had the scope zeroed in at 250 yards. Mere seconds later Pete gently squeezed off a round and the buck mule kicked and was gone into the pines. I was not 100% certain of the shot due to the range and the fact that I didn’t have a good rest myself to steady the binoculars while Pete shot. –Nonetheless, I told him it sounded like a hit as I could hear a bullet slap. Pete was worried that he had missed though.

I took the rifle for a walk to where Pete had shot as Pete has a bad hip himself. I told him I would be back after I found the buck. As I approached the spot where the buck was standing when Pete had shot I saw “peel-out” tracks from the buck, but no blood or hair. I then glanced up in the woods and less than thirty yards away the six point was piled up. –A beautiful 100”+ plus seven or eight year old six point buck! Pete was absolutely exctatic as he not only shot a great buck, but had put a perfect heart shot on him. I am sure that the story now is something like, “The buck was 450 yards away and on a dead run when I put him down with a perfect heart shot.” I can certainly go along with that story, Pete! I am sure John was up in heaven laughing his butt off at you while watching you fret about the possible miss you had in your mind.