by Royce Jordan
The 2023-2024 hunting season looks to be about ready to wrap up with the conclusion of Spring turkey and squirrel pursuits with just a few special exceptions. The love of the chase, and the solitude of the great outdoors is a wonderful experience to enjoy and to share with friends and family.
New pursuits take over and it requires just as much time and preparation for those endeavors. Let’s not forget the fact that jobs and employment take up much of the scheduling that effect those endeavors. A person begins to believe that time is yanked away from them, as if they are forced to ride two horses with one saddle, and they have to act hasty-posty to get as much “me” time as is available. Even retired folks get in this mindset, and begin their plans and preparations to seek out their next hobby, project or great adventure.
Folks who love the great outdoors, whether its hunting and fishing, gardening, agriculture, individual or team sports, hiking, biking, camping … you get the picture, all have something in common which can’t be declared enough or be over-stated. You were introduced early in life to these experiences, or you wish you were introduced earlier in life to these experiences. A lot of this introduction responsibility has fallen by the wayside.
I think back to my earliest strolls down memory lane, the mid to late ‘60s and early 70’s on both my Mom’s and my Dad’s side of the families. My Grandaddy and my Pappy, along with my uncles, lining out a hunting or fishing adventure, or the preparations for the farmer’s Co-Op trips. This was always fascinating to this “husky” youngster waiting for his turn in the world. Even though I was too young to participate in the activity, I was not shunned away from the sideline viewing, for lack of a better term. “Watch and learn Bub” became my instructions until I was older, or big enough to to join in.
I’ve stated before, my upbringing in the hunting world began with small game and game birds. Before I was blessed to hunt by myself, I retrieved quarry and was taught how to care for and process birds, game and fish. To a boy, this was quite an education. Without a doubt, the best instruction for anyone to understand: meat is NOT made at the grocery store already wrapped in plastic. My brother and I, and some of my cousins who were present at the time, spent plenty of time at the processing tables while waiting our turn to harvest. The time was well spent, as our efficiency continued to develop game into what became delectible table fare.
I think about my Dad and our earliest fishing trips. I started with a cane pole, and graduated to the standard Zebco 202 outfit. Watching, learning, then baiting my own hook made me feel self reliant, and learning the different types of fish I would bring in and hold in my hand was something only a real mentor could pass on. I’ve seen way too many full grown men that don’t have a clue about this, but they are deeply embedded with their video games or TV shows and appear to be too lazy to scratch their own hind end. I think they are just bored, sad, and ugly. If they’ll get a fishing rig, they can just be ugly!
One of the best mentoring activities taking place is firearm safety and training. Safety is first in importance, above all, before the mechanics of shooting. The mentor, my Dad, stressed this with my brother and I. He stressed the Ten Commandments of firearm safety, and always reminded us you can’t take that bullet or shot string back once the trigger was pulled, so know where it’s going. Dad would show us how to break down the gun in order to maintain and keep it clean and lubed. He taught us to respect the machine. He knew when we were ready to train and shoot because he was present and was an active mentor to us.
The hunt and the experience of the chase was always mystifying, as well as possibly reaching every emotion the human child could possess. Following my Dad and Grandaddy in the fields and woods was magical. Having them teach us kids about animal sign: squirrel cuttings, feeding and bedding areas, tracks, and the scat piles long embedded in my memory for future success in the fields, woods and flooded timbers. Practicing as a child, the different sounds critters make as tutored by my mentors, usually only received knit eyebrow responses from Mom and others within earshot. Practice make perfect, just not all the time. Seems my turkey call practice now can receive the same response.
Men, as we know, are not alone when it comes to the proper upbringing and mentoring of a child in the this world, and don’t make any mistake about it, women, and I mean all women in the family, are important in the direction of our youth as well as men when it comes to our outdoor endeavors. Individual and team sports not withstanding, outdoor activity is the heart, soul, and heritage of our country. Everybody has the responsibilty of being a mentor when it comes to our children. Even if you don’t realize that you are teaching a kid, you are. They are always learning from the example of adults, so put forth a little effort and make sure you are a good example, not a poor one.
My Mom, Memaw, and Grandmother would actively participate in whatever their children or grandchildren would engage in, and teach whatever you showed interest in, especially in the kitchen. Many times Mom and Memaw helped in dressing birds, and preparing the harvest for meals. They let us watch and participate, and would let us know right quick if we were in the way, but never, ever, ran us off.
Women are efficient and successful hunters and mentors, and anyone who purports otherwise are not welcomed or needed in a constitutional, freedom loving society. “Luck of the draw”… some could say I fall in that category when it comes to the upbringing I was blessed with. Mentoring and teaching is not all fun and games. Sometimes other lessons need to be taught. The late John Wayne said, about todays kids … “The problem is simple. Kids today dont know the fear of hearing leather being rapidly pulled through seven Wrangler belt loops.” My folks didn’t fit in that category. Even my grand-parents had me pick my own “willer switch”, which was required to have the right diameter and flexibility. Education times … So shall it be written, so shall it be done!
Memaw and Grandaddy would have me out in the peach/plum orchard pickin’ before I could drive the old Land Rover, which took a full three rotations of the steering wheel to make the unit veer one inch. Learn, then teach.
My sons and grandchild are my pride and joy. I’ve tried my best to mimic my parents and grandparents in exposing my boys to the outdoor experiences I was blessed with. My boys, both full grown men now, started fishing for bream and crappie, and accompanied me on squirrel hunts and to the dove fields as little fellows. They completed their hunters education early, and know how to service and maintain their hunting tools. I sat with pride as I watched both my sons harvest their first whitetail bucks, by themselves, with no assistance from me to complete the task. They can clean and process any harvest they make, and prepare it for meals. They started early, and it stuck with ‘em. They know and relish the power and satisfaction, the history and heritage, of being outdoors.
My grandchild, even at his young age, is learning the efforts needed to plant a garden, work the soil, remove the insects, water the plants … everything needed for a bountiful harvest thanks to his Mom and Nonnie. He’s caught fish with the help of his Dad, and has enjoyed the taste of successful hunts and fishing trips. I’d say he is on his way to being a good steward of our great outdoors.
Some say “it takes a village” to raise our youth. It appears there are some sinister forces that are counter- culture to our American way of life and it’s doing it’s nefarious best to undermine that village. Becoming an active mentor for our youth in the great outdoors will be a long standing investment that places protection on our most precious and God given freedoms. It is as simple as letting them go with you and being a good example. Teach them what you can, when you can.
I’ve written this before, and it bears repeating. Our freedoms provided by our founding fathers are always on the verge of being compromised by forces not welcomed or appreciated in this country. The freedoms you surrender today are the freedoms your grandchildren will never know existed. Not on my watch!
I’m planning on being a mentor to the young ‘uns for the sake of my family, country and God. Hopefully you’ll consider it, too, as there are many young’uns who need a knowledgeable, kind-hearted, and patient adult to help guide them into adulthood.
