25 July 2007
Sharing our Knowledge, Experiences, & Time is Extremely Rewarding
Posted by Darrell under: Rantings Of An Outdoorsman .
zach is proud of his first deer
A few days ago I wrote a post where I mentioned introducing a friend to spearfishing. The thrill of introducing someone to a new way of enjoying the outdoors is almost indescribable. Being there to share in someone’s first hunt or their first fishing trip is awesome. It also cements friendships and relationships that last a lifetime.
When you think about it, almost everything we do outdoors was introduced to us by someone. Most of us didn’t wake up one day and start fishing or hunting (or mountain bike riding or skiing, etc etc). Someone introduced us to it. We can probably remember that first time and who we were with. They probably can too!
A group of my friends first introduced me to spearfishing. To be honest, I probably would have never stumbled into this sport on my own. However, I now love to spearfish. I appreciate the guys that made the initial sacrifice of teaching me to spearfish. And yes, it was a sacrafice of sorts. They had to patiently explain what we were doing, take me out on the boat with them, and allow me to flop around and scare their fish off the first couple of times. But, they were patient and now they have someone that will likely drop everything and head to the lake with them anytime they want to shoot a fish.
As outdoorsmen we have the responsibility to share. Teaching or introducing someone to a new outdoor activity is just that - sharing. We share our experiences, we share our knowledge, and we share our time. By doing this we will increase the number of outdoorsmen and ultimately ensure that the activities we love are protected.
Unfortunately, as outdoorsmen, it is sometimes difficult to ’share’. This is especially true in hunting and fishing. It is easy to be selfish. We don’t want more hunters troming around on the public ground we hunt. We don’t want more fishermen finding and fishing our secret spots. It is sometimes hard for us to see that those additional hunters and fishermen are helping ensure that we have places to hunt and fish. They help generate more funding to support these activities. Plus, taking something away from a few people is easy. Taking it away from a mass of people is almost impossible.
Many outdoorsmen I know will readily share their experiences, time, knowledge, and even resources with kids. They will willingly sacrifice their own ‘outdoor time’ to help introduce a child to hunting and fishing. I applaud them all. It has been said millions of times - but, the children really are our future.
However, I’m suggesting we do more. In addition to taking the neighbor kid fishing for the first time - take his dad (or mom) too. Introducing a full fledge adult to the outdoor activities we love can be extremely rewarding - for both them and us. Plus, if you pick the right people, you might just find someone that will drop everything to spearfish with you - on your every whim.
5 Comments so far...
Kristine Shreve Says:
25 July 2007 at 8:27 am.
This is a terrific post. I’m so glad more people are writing about this issue. As someone who is just learning herself, I know how valuable it can be to find someone who is not only open to teaching, but is enthusiastic about doing it.
Phillip Says:
25 July 2007 at 9:10 am.
You’re dead on, Darrell!
I’ve been hunting for a lot of years, with mixed success. But what I’ve learned over those years includes the wisdom of a whole bunch of different mentors… from my dad and grandfather to a couple of crusty old boys in hunting camp… to some long discussions with students of wildlife biology…sometimes half my age. You can learn from anyone if you open your ears and shut your mouth sometimes.
Nowadays, I get as much joy out of introducing someone new to the sport as I do from my own participation. I get a kick out of seeing a novice hunter score a first animal, follow sign, or ID a critter before I even get my glasses on it. And it’s an incredible feeling knowing that I’ve brought one more person into the community.
Something I find almost as gratifying is the number of other experienced hunters who feel the same way I do. Sure, there are a few selfish schmucks out there who seem to think any new hunter in the field will somehow take away from their own experience… but those types seem to be few and far between.
Darrell Says:
26 July 2007 at 10:08 am.
Phillip, what you wrote started me to thinking about another angle on this whole thing. No matter how much we already know (or think we know) we can always learn from others. The more we learn, the better our experience. So, teaching and sharing goes beyond introducing new people to the sport. We can even help enhance the ‘experience’ of crusty old hands - helping to ensure that our outdoor brethren continue to enjoy hunting and fishing and stick with it.
Kristine, I have a feeling that yours will be a quick transition from student to teacher.
Zach Says:
27 July 2007 at 4:01 pm.
Darrell, I want to thank you for teaching me the art of hunting (although my wife thought I already had to many hobbies). Growing up my Dad never hunted, so I knew absolutely nothing about it. I think I only shot a gun once before hanging out with you. I remember this day like it was yesterday. You sacraficed a whole day of hunting so you could show me a few things about scouting, finding good places to set up and the tendencies of deer. After I took my first deer, I think you were as exited and happy as I was.
We have had alot of fun these past few years on our hunting trips and I know there are plenty more good times to come in the future. Thanks for the friendship and giving me something I can pass down to my son.
Darrell Says:
30 July 2007 at 1:55 pm.
Zach, it has been a blast hunting with you! It was so cool watching you take your first deer. Watching you roll in to camp last year with that nice 8 pointer was really, really cool too. I’m excited that you are looking at bows. We’re going to have a blast bow hunting this Fall.
Subscribe to Full RSS 
