Opinion: Weekend of firsts
Phil Taunton
Friday, December 5, 2008
Thirteen-year-old Lane Ikerd, an active member of the Lyon County Rinker 4-H Club for the past six years, relayed a fantastic story to me where he recorded a weekend of “firsts.”
I haven’t heard anything like this since we carried the Youth Outdoor Experience (story writing) contest in the Gazette for a couple of summers in the late ’90s.
Lane writes that hunting and the shooting sports, rich in American heritage and tradition, are valued activities his family holds dear to their heart. Lane participates in shooting sports disciplines of BB gun, air rifle, small bore rifle, small bore pistol, shotgun, and archery — all offered through the local 4-H Extension Service. Through his participation in 4-H, he has attained a wealth of knowledge of the Great Outdoors that many youth of today don’t get the chance to experience. Lane’s love of the outdoors was instilled in him when he was very young. His parents and grandparents are very avid hunters and fishermen and he would tag along in the woods walking with the coonhounds or watch them hunt whatever game was in season. And as a family they would fish just about anywhere. Hunting and fishing clearly bonded them together.
It was Lane’s grandfather who bought him his first .22 rifle. Grandpa wanted to buy his grandson his first gun, though the firearm was longer than him at the time! Lane was with his grandfather when he harvested his first goose and rabbit. Under Grandpa’s guidance, it wasn’t long before Lane developed a love of the outdoors and a passion to learn all about what nature has provided.
When Lane was 9, he got all the certifications he needed from the state of Kansas in order to hunt with a firearm and to bowhunt. He also got certified in furharvesting and trapping at that time.
Because Lane enjoys spending time in the woods with his father, he chose to do a trapping project for one of his 4-H programs. For the last two years, notebooks from their adventures won him purple ribbons at the state level and, through this endeavor, he has been chosen to take part in the “Citizens in Action” program at the state capitol in Topeka this coming spring.
Lane has qualified for the Kansas State 4-H matches in shotgun and archery the past two years. Through practice, practice, practice, competition and hard work, he has improved his confidence and score. The weekend of Nov. 22-23 will be something Lane will remember for the rest of his life. I and my pointing dogs, Brewster, Sassy and Blue, feel privileged to be a part of this memory.
For several years, I have helped Roger Wells, Lane’s 4-H shotgun shooting sports instructor, put on a youth hunt. During this hunt, we teach the kids how to take their firearm safety lessons from the range and apply them in actual hunting situations. Plus, some kids have never seen a bird dog in action. We teach the kids how to approach the dog on point, to be sure of their target when the bird flushes and know where the dogs and everyone are before they pull the trigger.
The kids are also given a lesson on how to clean the game they harvested. During this hunt, Lane was able to harvest his first chukar, quail and rooster pheasant. Oh, to be a kid again!
Saturday’s bird hunt was just the beginning of Lane’s memorable weekend. Early Sunday morning, when checking his string of traps, Lane found his efforts had been rewarded and he had caught his first coyote.
But the best was yet to come. Sunday evening, with his father accompanying him, Lane went to the woods to go deer hunting with his bow. A buck approached their stand and Lane’s patience, concentration and many hours of practice allowed him to make the perfect shot and harvest his first deer.
Lane will be the first to testify that through 4-H Shooting Sports he has learned to be a safe hunter, to be responsible, to take care of his equipment and has gained self-confidence. Lane’s grandfather had a theory and felt if you take the curiosity out of something by introducing kids to it, the kids will learn respect and stay out of trouble. Where young Lane Ikerd is concerned, I think Grandpa really had it going on!
Some of the other projects in 4-H that Lane participates in are meat goats, swine, woodworking, and cooking. Cooking will be very important once Lane meets that significant other, especially if she is a golfer.
An Outdoor Adventure “Tip of the Hat” to Lane, his weekend of firsts and his contribution to this story.
logical (anonymous) says...
Congratulations Lane!! Great job!! Keep up the hard work!
December 5, 2008 at 9:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )