DALE SUNDERLIN
When you encourage a young person to try archery, you’re doing much more than simply introducing them to a new hobby or sport.
You alone have the potential to guarantee a thriving future for archery and bowhunting. You can give surety to the enjoyment and support of hunting for future generations. You’ll be instilling values and ethics and a sincere appreciation for the environment and the wildlife that inhabits it, as well as a wealth of information about hunting safety, laws and outdoor familiarity.
In today’s “urban” society, where a multitude of activities and extracurricular options are available for our kids to pursue, it is obvious that many of the “outdoor” traditional pastimes and experiences are feeling the pinch. Our highly computerized society caters to immediate, fast-paced technology and leaves little room for patience and its rewards.
It’s vital to our hunting heritage that we each take the time to introduce a young person to archery and bowhunting, to teach them, mentor them and show them the wonders of a life enjoyed in the outdoors. If we do it right, if we take the time to pass along our love for hunting, our care and concern for wildlife and the environment, we will be rewarded by knowing our efforts have impacted and affected another life, and that they in turn may do the same someday.
Make it cool, make it fun!
First thing to keep in mind about kids: they’re young.
Do you remember being young? What did you want to do? You wanted to have fun; and that usually meant spending time with friends. You liked to try out new things and you liked to imitate grownups.
It was great to get the grownups attention and even better to win their admiration for a job well done. Being able to master a skill that typically is tackled by an older person...hey, that was cool!
Guess what? Introducing someone young to archery will give him or her all of the aforementioned. Their new-found skills will instill self-esteem, respect and confidence. Archery teaches them excellent concentration skills and teaches them to have patience with themselves and, ultimately, with others as well.
First things first, keep it simple
Invite a young friend to your home or local archery club to try out shooting. Better yet, grab a group of youngns; the more the merrier! Of course, get their parents’ permission first.
Begin with teaching the basics about a bow. Keep it simple and keep it brief. The emphasis should be on the correct form and on getting the kids to hit their intended targets. It doesn’t matter where; just hitting the target at first is a starting point.
Begin with simple, short shots, five or 10 yards at the most. Keep them focused on the basics and on hitting their target and they’ll be happy and eager to shoot more.
Don’t frustrate them by overloading them with too much information. TMI can be a detriment. If you get too technical at the beginning, you will lose their attention and boredom will set in quickly. Once you have them hooked, there’s plenty of time to cover the “engineering” aspects and equipment “how-tos” along the way.
Hit the basics first
SAFETY is always No. 1! Expressly outline the safety rules involved while shooting a bow, while drawing, and when retrieving arrows
n Basic Parts — Cover compound bow basics: string, sight, arrow rest, knocking point, etc.
n Pulling the string — Discuss fingers vs. release.
n Drawing the bow — Explain and illustrate how to correctly draw a bow and warn them about dry-firing bows and the dangers involved.
n Anchor point — Explain anchor point and illustrate good form.
n Aiming — Explain aiming, the use of sight pins. Don’t get into how to adjust them just yet. Curtail that for more advanced sessions.
n Parts of an arrow — Pass around an arrow and point out its parts.
n Arrow tips — Briefly discuss field points and broadheads.
Hands on
Once a brief summary is given, let each child take the bow, hold it and become familiar with it.
Let them practice drawing and letting down, making sure no one dry-fires their bow. Do a simulated firing line as if shooting and run through the rules. If more than one child is shooting at a time, make sure everyone is aware to wait at the shooting line or at their designated shooting positions until a signal is given to retrieve their arrows.
Make certain everyone knows how to safely remove arrows without jeopardizing the safety of themselves or others. Show them how to carry their arrows back to the shooting line safely.
Without a doubt, you want them to have fun. Make sure they don’t focus on hitting the bull’s eye, but instead concentrate on shooting form and straight arrow flight to begin with. Be sure to shower everyone with positive feedback and constructive criticism, if needed.
The main intention is to have fun and enjoy themselves while learning the fundamentals correctly. If you lay the groundwork right, it will catapult them forward and leave them starving to learn more.
Targets
As they advance in their shooting, begin to center them more on perfecting their shot and sighting in their pins. But make sure it’s still fun.
Tack some balloons to the target. A great way to have fun with kids is to blow up balloons and use those for targets. Kids get a kick out of “popping” the balloons and they’re a cheap way to make shooting challenging.
Once they’ve mastered a bull’s eye, move them up to 3-D targets. Today, you’ll find a numerous amount of fun targets to use, from simple “blocks” to deer, bear, raccoons, turkeys, hogs, even dinosaurs! Just envision the glee of some young kids who get to take a shot at a prehistoric dinosaur!
Take breaks
Bring along some soda and snacks to enjoy after you’re done. If your protégé tires, let them take a break. Remember, this is intended to be fun, don’t be a taskmaster.
Later on
Kids love to learn when they find something appealing. As you pique their interest and your mentoring progresses, introduce them to other items you may have.
Bring along your bow, archery equipment and fanny pack or tackle box. Let them look through it and ask questions about the items you keep in it.
Bring along photos of hunting trips or trophies. Show them basics in maintenance and care of archery equipment. Maybe even bring along your treestand and safety harness and give them a demonstration.
Mentoring and clubs
If you belong to a club, recruit other parents who would like to help out. The more help you have, the easier it is to organize more sessions and the easier it will be to find mentors when the time comes.
However, make sure the colleagues you enlist understand your goals. There is no room in this process for pompous, self-centered, arrogant, self-serving individuals. It is crucial that someone help them continue to learn more as they grow and as their interest in archery and bowhunting grows.
On to the hunt
When it’s finally time to take to the woods, do so with enthusiasm and with all the focus on the child you’re introducing to hunting. It’s not about you, your hunt or your success — it's all about them now. In fact, leave your ego and your hunting implement at home.
Show them how to dress for camouflage. Enlighten them about the different camouflage patterns available and talk about dressing in layers for the colder climate. Make sure they know how to dress appropriately for the weather.
Explain to them about becoming “scent-free” and take turns spraying each other with scent suppressant products. If you use face paint, use it on them as well. They’ll love it!
If you prefer a head net, bring one for them, too. Make sure they stay warm and dry to increase their enjoyment in the field.
Bring along binoculars and a camera for them, some snacks and a notebook to record animal sightings and weather conditions or to doodle in if they become bored. Before either of you climb into the stand, discuss safety, and be sure you both wear a safety vest or full body harness.
Show them how to use a haul line to get their bow up to the stand. With your guidance, let them do it. Talk quietly with them while doing it and stress the importance of noise restraint.
While in the stand, point out wind direction, shooting lanes and any deer sign there may be. Identify different types of trees and discuss the food that’s available for deer.
Work out your own “sign language” to use in case a deer is spotted. Make a game out of guessing yardage of various items around you.
These games will not only make them more responsive to their surroundings, but will also make them become better hunters in the end. You’ll be giving them useful skills without them even recognizing it. Hopefully, your day will provide you with at least the sighting of some type of wildlife that will stimulate their desire to return for more.
Be human
While out there, make sure they understand not every outing proves successful. Tell them about some of your more memorable close encounters or misses. Let them know you’re human and everyone blows a shot every now and then.
Then let them know what you learned from your blunder. Make sure you emphasize it not about the harvest; it’s about the hunt, and becoming one with your adversary’s world.
My call
At any rate, whether a child’s interest centers on archery, bowhunting or any type of hunting for that matter, the child’s success and continued interest will depend largely upon the support and passion you as their mentor show them.
Do everything you can to include them and guide them through the years. The results will not only be rewarding for the youngster, but for yourself as well, and you’ll be doing your part to ensure the future of hunting is in good hands for many generations to come.
Last call
This is it, folks. It’s the last call for tickets to the Ashtabula County Wildlife Conservation League’s annual banquet on Saturday.
It’s being held at the Morgan Hose Fire Department in Rock Creek. Tickets are only $15 each and include dinner and admission to the event.
The guest speaker this year will be Dr. Angelo DeVivo. He will be speaking on “Hunting in Germany.”
The doors open at 5 p.m. Dinner will be served at around 6 p.m. FMI and tickets, call Ron Tusai at 440-563-3384.
Sunderlin is a freelance writer from Geneva. Reach him at djss@roadrunner.com
