Mentoring kids serious job for hunters

“Our Kids, Our Business” is a new campaign running through Spokane this month.

For sportsmen, however, it’s a century-old tradition.

Hunting and fishing are sports that depend on adults taking kids under their wings. Schools don’t teach these ageless activities or the ethics key to the future of the sports.

Adam Morrison recently suffered a $25,000 fine for flipping off a fan. He said he learned a lesson and that’s probably the end of that particular ethical miscue on the basketball court.

But a fisherman who doesn’t know better than to drive across a farmer’s field without permission can end sportsman access to thousands of acres for years.

And a hunter who doesn’t positively identify his target – and what’s behind the target – can end a person’s life.

The responsibility comes down to mom, dad, other family members and a village of landowners, state and federal agencies and sportsmen who share the work of wildlife conservation and youth outdoor education.

The work is being done all around us.

For example, the subject of kids came up numerous times at the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club meeting Tuesday night:

•Bill McElroy took the microphone to recruit the last few helpers he’ll need for the club’s annual commitment with Morning Star Boys Ranch for casting and fly-tying lessons followed by a day of fishing.

•Fred Shiosaki, an angler who’s on the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, mobilized volunteers to assist youngsters at the May 5 Fishing Kids event at Clear Lake.

•At a less official level, Dick Odell was mingling with club members and nearly wearing out a photo of his 9-year-old granddaughter posing with the feathered prize from her first wild turkey hunt. By his account, the Saturday hunt was an idyllic family moment near Loon Lake that young Elizabeth shared with her dad and grandfather after she’d devoted weeks this winter to completing her hunter education requirements.

These are examples from a single meeting of just one of the many sportsmen’s clubs in the area.

Like any other group in society, sportsmen are not universally perfect mentors.

For example, I drove to the Mount Spokane foothills before sunrise Saturday at the invitation of a landowner who’d told me that dads regularly brought kids to his place for the opening morning of the youth-only turkey hunt.

It thought it might make a good photo op for the newspaper.

I enjoyed the morning, using my pickup as a photo blind while the turkeys came down from their roosts and ambled close to the landowner’s house. The gobblers strutted and chased the hens around before dispersing into the woods.

The young hunters had not arrived by 9:45 a.m., so I thanked the landowner and left.

In an e-mail waiting for me Monday at work, the landowners said that not long after I’d left, a father brought his son out and the boy shot a turkey. The landowner, who is not a hunter, was happy for the kid, and he attached a photo of the boy’s big smile as he posed with his gobbler.

I was happy for the kid, too, while being disgusted with myself for not waiting a little longer and capturing the moment for a story.

Then I cringed at the last line of the e-mail in which the non-hunting landowner mentioned that the boy had an exceptionally productive season opener – bagging three turkeys in a single day.

Unfortunately, while a hunter can kill up to three turkeys in Washington during the spring season, no more than two turkeys can be taken in Eastern Washington.

If the kid didn’t know that, the father-mentor should have.

This is sad for several reasons beyond the obvious booboo of letting illegal activity permeate a youth-only hunting season designed to give kids a positive hunting experience:

•The adult should know the law and respect it.

•Whether he knew the rules or not, the adult was apparently going from place to place Saturday morning taking advantage of landowners who are stepping up to provide an opportunity for young hunters and their families.

•By not being satisfied with one or even two turkeys on opening day, the adult cheapened the value of a bird that most sportsmen prize as a trophy.

More often than not, however, hunters get the lesson right from field to table.

I still have fond memories of the day I walked out on my back deck and saw my neighbors gathered in their garage as the dad skinned his son’s first turkey.

The dad’s regular hunting partner brought over his turkey fryer for the occasion and I joined the flock of neighbor kids in the garage to hear the boy proudly tell his hunting story.

Everyone gathered around in the driveway as the dad tried something new by injecting Cajun seasoning in one side of the turkey breast and a hickory herb seasoning in the other side before easing the bird sizzling and popping into the hot oil.

Nobody could leave. One story led to another for an hour until the golden brown turkey was pulled from the fryer and whisked to the kitchen, where the entourage followed and gathered around the counter like groupies.

The family had intended to have the turkey for dinner. But after getting the first bite, the boy licked the hot, spicy juices off his lips with a huge smile and invited us to take a sample.

Everybody raved as we popped the steaming meat into our mouths. The dad kept carving. The boy kept smiling. The crowd kept feasting. The mom handed out napkins as we laughed, joked planned future hunts and licked our fingers.

It was the perfect ending to a successful hunt, and without any potatoes, dressing, gravy or cranberries in sight, it was the best turkey dinner I’ve had.