What gets you outdoors?

   What gets you outdoors? Lately, I've decided if I want to begin to make more of an effort to not only be more consistent with my writing, but to conduct a major overall of my little "brand" in order to reflect not only what my true goal is, but to also be more methodical and professional in my approach. In the past I've been all over the place, trying to figure out what niche I had to use, what my target audience is, and overall how I can accomplish my goal of becoming a major name in the industry. In this recent "re-branding" effort, I've discovered my soul purpose for wanting to be a part of the industry, and it took a logo questionnaire to find it. I want to portray hunting in a positive light, I want to be the example for new hunters and help show anyone who's interested what it is that draws us to the outdoors. I want to have my audience feel the emotions along with me. I want y'all to laugh with me, cry with me, and basically have a front row seat on the emotional roller coaster these animals put me through. In finding this new goal, and with some help from my lovely wife, I've found myself asking what is it that draws me back, what got me into this in the first place, what is it that gets others into wanting to try their hand in the woods? In asking these questions, I've decided that this would be my topic tonight.

   Most people that begin hunting do so as a child, watching their dad go out and come back with magnificent critters that turn into delicious food. They become enthralled in the hunt camp, getting to ride around and look at deer, turkeys, or any other critters that they happen across. These little moments spark something in their soul that draws them back. I believe it's essential to take a child out hunting or fishing and to teach them not only a value for life, but the value of all of God's creation. My focus however, is on the adult that never had those opportunities growing up. It's hard for me to imagine not growing up chasing armadillos, or being told to go slap that cow on the butt; but that's the reality of most adults nowadays. No one ever took them outdoors, so they truly have no idea what they're missing. So how can we get these people outdoors? The easy answer is to take them ourselves, but taking them out late season in freezing temperatures or bringing them to a hunt camp where deer are hanging upside down with blood everywhere and a good ol' boy shoulder deep in a chest cavity probably isn't the best way to introduce someone to our beloved culture. Obviously everyone is different, and what may work for some won't necessarily work for others, but the way I introduced my wife into the outdoors was to ease her into it.

I realize hunting is not for everybody. Some people just don't like to think about the idea that they will be killing an animal. However, if a person is willing to try, then you could be the reason they come back, or decide hunting isn't for them. My wife was terrified of guns. On our second date, she came over to the house and I unloaded and took out every single gun I had. I showed her that the gun
itself is not to be afraid of, its the motives of the individual holding the gun you have to worry about. You could tell she understood, but all of her senses were screaming "Run!" After easing her into getting over that hurdle, I began watching hunting shows with her, primarily focussing on the season ahead, turkey season. I figured turkey isn't as strange as a deer might be due to it being more readily available in the grocery store. I taught her about the birds themselves, about how gobblers would strut and have spurs and beards. How there are certain seasons and bag limits for every animal, and regulations in place to help protect those animals. Then I began to transition into shot placement, explaining that with every shot you take, you want to be as ethical and efficient as possible so the animal won't suffer and dies humanely. Finally, the time came. I took her up to a friend's property where I would try to kill my first gobbler with a bow, and hopefully get her a chance at a bird as well. The first morning was spectacular, I had the decoys set out, and gobblers hammering off from all around us. I thought for sure it would be a quick hunt, then, silence. We weren't hearing any birds, so we began watching and laughing at the little red squirrel that was running across the roof of the ground blind. I let out a yelp sequence only to get an immediate response from a big gobbler right next to the blind. He had come in silent and began to strut the second he saw the decoys. She could see him all lit up in the sunlight, she heard him spit and drum as he made his way through the trees towards the decoys. As he entered my shooting lane I drew back, and made my shot. To my pleasant surprise, he dropped immediately, no flapping, no running off, just immediately fell over, dead. I couldn't have asked for a better kill. We ran out and got to my bird and she got to see the adrenaline dump and feel the emotions I felt as we all celebrated my first bow bird.

  I asked my wife, what made you want to start hunting, what was it that made you decide "this is for me" and she said, "I saw how passionate you were about it, I got to feel the excitement of it all and just fell in love with everything". That answer alone was a good enough indicator that I was successful in introducing a new hunter to the outdoors.

   It's easy for us to take for granted all the experiences we had growing up, but if you can, take a friend out to the woods, take a relative, a co-worker, or even a complete stranger; get them interested, and try to have them jump on that emotional roller coaster with you. At the end of the day, what's the worst that can happen? They decide it isn't for them and you're right where you started, but for them, they'll have a memory that will last them a lifetime about "the one time I went hunting" and hopefully have a greater understanding and appreciation for what we do.

-Chris Johnson