Joe — coincidentally, the closest thing I had to an archery mentor as a kid was a neighborhood fireman. The station was just 2 blocks away and of course I hung out there a lot. I’d been given a cheap glass bow for Xmas and one day I saw this new guy out back shooting at a hay bale. I stopped and we talked and he invited me to bring my bow back and shoot with him. I did, and as a joke with his fellow firemen who were watching us, he kicked their volley ball across the field and dared me, “See if you can hit that.” In an amazingly lucky shot I hit the speeding ball and suddenly I was being taken serious, even at only 8 or 10. In no time my new firefighter buddy was picking me up on Saturday mornings, when he wasn’t on duty, to attend the local weekend shoots. Thus did I become a competitive target archer before I even had hair in my armpits. I have since tried to return that great favor by mentoring others in traditional archery and bowhunting. It’s a good thing to do, not in my case because I agree that “we need more hunters,” but simply because … it’s a good thing to do. Good work, dave

I tell my all the students in my hunter’s ed classes that its not about the kill, its all about the hunt. No matter how unsuccessful the hunt is in regards to bringing home filled tags, a mentor can get a new hunter hooked for life by showing them all the wonders of the hunt, besides the kill, (IMOP the kill is the worst part of a hunt). Joe, love to hear that you mentoring, and a big thanks for mentoring a young service member.

Kudos to you, Joe. Hunting needs to be passed on and kept alive. We are all hunters deep down. My son is getting my grandchildren enthused about hunting. It is a great thing to keep are knowledge of hunting and woodsmanship alive in the younger generation.