Mentoring

I had a very enjoyable deer hunting season this year and I only took 3 does.  You see, I was able to get enough meat for the freezer with my bow so that I didn't have that pressure during gun season.  But the enjoyable part for me of this year's season was the number of times I hunted with my nephew, Ben. 

Ben is 12 and loves to hunt and be outdoors.  He and I shared many days in the field this year and each one was special and fun!  While we sat side by side in a tree or on the ground - waiting and watching to see what would come, Ben would ask questions about various things.  It was fun sharing things I know with him and seeing how he wanted to take in as much about hunting as he could.   When he gets a little older, he will be a really good hunter...

It's fun to mentor someone!  After all, that is how I was introduced to the sport.  First remember going with my dad - to the very woods that I hunted last night.  When I was too young to go in the tree with him, I would sit in the van with my bb gun and watch while dad hunted.   Then over the years as Dad got more interested in Christmas Trees and couldn't hunt, I went hunting with my grandfather.  In fact I learned alot about hunting from him.

And now it is my turn to share what I can with my nephew Ben... the cycle repeats itself.   One day, Ben will get to share what he knows with someone else!

(photo notes - the top pic is Ben on our first hunt of the year in the very spot that I shot my first deer when I was 9 and the same place he got his first 2 years ago.... the second pic is of the white deer I got while hunting with my grandfather!)