By Jeff Moyer
I was on a secluded little ridge, working on a tree stand, when I started thinking about Bob. He’s a dear old family friend and like a second dad to me. My own dad wasn’t too enthused about hunting or fishing but Bob understood the importance of young boys knowing about those things and showed me the proper way to skin a squirrel, how to cleanly gut a deer, how to hunt fall turkeys, how to wade the river and fish for small mouth bass, took me trot-lining in a canoe on the Elk River, and probably is the one who first got me interested in bow hunting. Some might say those are things of no consequence in today’s hi-tech, everybody in a hurry world, and they would be wrong. Then I started thinking about some of the other folks thru my life who have mentored or guided me in things I either needed to know or wanted to learn more about.
There are several gifted carpenters in the area that I have learned a lot from and who have been quite generous with sharing their knowledge and experience with me. At every hunter education class I help to teach, I either think about or catch myself quoting the wise old conservation officer who helped me get started in the hunter ed program lo those many years ago. I still laugh to myself when I think about how he made me take one of his classes before he’d let me teach, even tho the district DNR office had record of me taking and passing the class in 1974. Later he would tell me that it was he who nominated me for district instructor of the year.
I know a couple of county extension agents today who are a wealth of information about planting food plots and similar matters and don’t hesitate when asked for assistance. I still remember the extension agent in charge of 4H camp when I attended as a kid and what a role model he was for all of us. I’ll always be grateful to the public works director who hired me and showed me the ropes of how local government works and was always available when I needed him. I told him once that while I might not always agree with him, I always trusted him.
Recently I’ve gotten interested in trapping and am truly grateful to those experienced folks who’ve taken the time to show me what they know and patiently answer my never ending questions. I’ve been blessed to know several true men of God who have nurtured me in my spiritual walk, whether they knew it or not, and if they did know, they did it in a most unassuming and modest manner. I’ll never forget a gentleman I worked with years ago. He had a position of authority, yet he treated us like we mattered, and most of us would have done anything for him. He taught me about values, integrity, and dealing with people.
Then there were those who taught me a lot about how not to do things. I’ve been around folks who treated their employees and staff more like servants than the valued assets to the organization that they were. I’ve been involved with those who think that the proper way to lead others is by coercion and aggression. I belong to several Facebook groups dealing with wood working and things related to the great outdoors, among others. It’s truly sad how many times someone asks for help or input about learning to do something, did they do this right, what do you think, etc, in one of these groups only to get sarcasm and stupid answers in return. What did that accomplish?
In the midst of all of this, I’ve become friends with a young man who shall remain anonymous who shares my passion for the great outdoors. Like any other kid his age, he is full of questions and sometimes incorrect answers, and keeps in regular contact with me, asking how or why I do this or that, what do I think about this gun or bow, or sharing what his latest adventure is. Recently it dawned on me that perhaps I’m giving him more well intentioned but ill timed teasing than support or answers and it bothered me. What would Bob have done?
From here on, I’m going to be more patient with my young friend and anyone else who asks me to share my experiences or perhaps limited knowledge and I would encourage others to do the same. We were all beginners at one time, wanting to learn, looking up to those who could help us. We should also strive to set a good example for those watching us so that they can one day mentor those who follow them. We need to remember that at one time, that was me. That’s what Bob would do.
