09/19/2026
I will appreciate youth weekend a little more this year. I recently lost my Dad, and that adds perspective to activities like hunting that are passed down from generation to generation. I do it differently than my dad and grandpa did it. For his 14th birthday my grandpa was given a .410 and a dog for rabbit hunting. He excitedly went off and he shot the first thing that was flushed from the brush, it was his dog. Certainly memorable but not in a good way. My dad started hunting bigger game and was started out by a friend. I have to assume there wasn't much training involved, as when I was taken on my first hunt, I was told to "Stand by that tree, I've seen deer walk by here each night." Then my Dad walked off to hunt in his spot. Sure enough the deer walked by, I shot every arrow I had at the bucks, as you couldn't shoot doe back then. I missed every shot. It actually took several years and borrowing a compound bow to shoot a deer with a bow. I have no idea how many I got with sh****ns or muzzleloaders. I got too busy processing all of your deer to even try once ri**es were an option, though my kids use them. Which brings me back to youth weekend. I like the format, sitting with kids, teaching them how to be patient and present, even though nothing seems to be happening now, you might spook the one you were hoping to see with careless movement. Showing them that just because you missed the first one, doesn't mean that another won't show up mere minutes later, or you might sit there and just watch squirrels and chipmunks chase each other around while the Blue Jays yell, and a Piliated Woodpecker says "ca ca ca ca ca ca" while flying from tree to tree. Either way, go out and create some memories.
