The rewards of mentoring-youth deer hunts

I know there are hundreds of avid bow hunters in WI that have a sense of entitlement to have the woods all to themselves. For those that are that selfish and greedy, well, probably won’t get the emotions that are experienced as a mentor to these kids.

Had the pleasure of sharing my land with a great young guy Travis. He had plenty of range time and no problems with responsible handling of a firearm. What he quickly learned was the difference of punching paper and harvesting a deer. No doubt the “fever” got to him and we had to call off a few shots on some old does.
As a mentor, I don’t think there is much that compares to sharing what you know, and coaching a youngster to make good decisions. Seeing Travis go from a nervous wreck to a well disciplined marksman in just a few hours was incredible.

By the late afternoon, Travis settled in and was treated to some of the greatest shows on earth. Took a yearling doe with a perfect heart shot. Dropped in its tracks.
Constantly having deer rotate between bedding, feeding corn, and feeding in a field, there was almost no break in the action.
The highlight was having “Twisted”, enter the field. This was a buck that had half it’s rack growing into its jaw. Well, 6 other bucks came out and kept a clear shot impossible for Twisted. Within minutes, the fights broke out. On and off for over 20 minutes we just watched the bucks fighting. Every time Travis had a clear shot to Twisted, the fighting bucks would make their way into the line of fire and I had to call off the shot. The coolest part of the show was something I never saw before. 3 bucks locked up and fighting at once. Probably will never see that again in my lifetime. Eventually, Twisted moved further into the field and gave Travis a clear broadside shot.

20 minutes later, a mature doe came out of the standing corn, and presented a perfect shot and a perfect way to end the day. 3 shots fired, 3 deer down, 3 hearts blown up. Great ethical shots that were very well executed. Just needed time and patience to get him to understand time and breathing. Well done Travis

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Thanks for sharing Randy. Maybe next time. Will have to share with the kid your story as I would like for him to experience watching the live action of nature at it fullest. Harvesting is just a bonus!

Derek

Great times there Randy. Kid looks pretty darn excited. Congrats to both of you.

Congrats to him and you for taking time t take him. I took my next to the youngest grandson out the last 3 years. He shot bucks the first 2 but none this year as the one we saw would not give him a clear shot. The second day at daylight a bear came into the clearing at about 50 feet and that set him off big time. He had his mind made up that each year he would shoot a bigger one that the year before. The one he got last year was a point shot at 210 yds with one shot and it was down. I had a lot of fun watching him and sitting with him. He wanted to shoot something so the last day I let him shoot an ear of corn the deer knocked off. I was kind of proud as he hit dead center using my rifle which was my grandfathers left to me in 1963. I have used it every year and missed a few years when I was overseas in the miltary

Quite the haul! Congrats to him, and thanks to you Randy. Hes lucky to have someone like you around. Once I’m done teaching and sitting with my kids (it’ll be a bit yet)I would love to do the same.

We need way, way more of this in the hunting/fishing community!

Great job Travis!

Tip of the cap Randy. Thanks for taking the time to share.

nice job Randy! that’s great to see!!! I wish I woulda been taught patience from the get go!

Thanks Everyone. It really bugs some that all my neighbors call me and gripe about the youth hunt and “gun hunting” during THIER HUNT.
Bottom line is if we don’t get kids hooked and taught to be responsible, ethical hunters, we risk losing out on a lot.

I really miss the teaching aspect of having my girls out. They are paving their own way and putting to use the years of abuse I gave them lol.
So, I vowed as a personal quest to get 1 kid hooked on fishing or hunting each year till i drop dead. The last few years have been very rewarding and also had its challenges. Unfortunate, but many kids have crappy parents and taught their kids some awful poop. Need to have a lot of patience and find a way to talk them at a level they grasp and respect. Im sure the day will come that i will need to call off a hunt part way through, and im preparing mentally for that. Hope it never does. But, this is a small part of how i want to contribute back and encourage anyone that cares, to do this at least once. Never know, you may find your next passion.

You are a good man!

Well done Randy! Thanks for being a true sportsmen!

Randy, thanks to you and all the others who mentor youth hunts. My 2 oldest sons have benefitted from Youth Mentored Turkey hunts. I have never hunted turkeys before and I sat in the blind with my boys and the mentor. It was an absolute blast! Something we probably never would have experienced if not for this opportunity.

Way to go Randy! It becomes all to easy for us to get greedy and want a spot to ourselves. I am glad to see this young mans success and for him to have a mentor that is teaching him the right way to go about it with good shot placement and all the other lessons learned on a hunt.