Don't brag, don't lecture but help other sportsmen

One beginner, one experienced angler and a beautiful spring steelhead.

A boast sometimes rankles other people, especially when two or more anglers are fishing together. Almost always, one of them is big on himself and wants everyone else to know what a great angler he is.

Most people could care less what people have done. The trick is to be courteous and helpful, and if asked, answer the question as well as possible without bragging yourself up.

For instance, I know how many deer I've shot over 60 years. It's really too many, and I seldom bring up the topic. I've been fortunate to have deer hunted in many states beside my native Michigan but choose not to constantly dwell on myself and my deeds.

On the other hand, I dislike being in a group that is being monopolized by an ego-freak who is determined to quote numbers, sizes, the width of a rack which invariably is larger than anyone else has taken. After a short time, the egotist discovers he no longer is preaching to the choir. They've gone home while the was running his mouth.

Mentoring outdoor writers

I mentor younger outdoor writers. All are making or have made many of the same mistakes I made when starting out, but in my case, there was no one who offered to teach me any of the things I didn't know. I struggled, made more mistakes, and trust me. When I tell people how to avoid making similar mistakes, there is not a word of a brag to it. I tell them about my mistakes and how long it took me to correct many such errors. They learn fast or struggle for a time before quitting.

A friend stopped by yesterday, and he is looking forward to drawing a turkey tag this spring. He wanted some calling advice, and I told him I am not a good turkey caller. I also told him that many, many hunters can call ten times better than me, but I can call turkeys. No brag involved when I downplay my miniscule calling skills, but others can associate with my lack of such because they have their own foibles. Some of these beginners are far better callers than me.

I showed him a couple of tricks I've learned, told him how I do it, and repeated what he'd been told before. Don't call too much, don't call too loud, don't move and be patient.

A quick lesson ...

Years ago, I gave my twin brother a five-minute lesson on turkey calling. I took my gent out, and the bird I tried to call came in behind us, stood there drumming and spitting, and we couldn't get a shot. My brother was hunting a mile away, and we drove over just in time to watch him call in and kill a gobbler with just five minutes of instruction.

He got a well deserved pat on the back. My gent was disappointed for a bit, but he shot his gobbler that afternoon.

The lesson to all of this is that bragging long and hard on oneself is boring to others. If I'm asked, I'll answer a question and quickly turn the conversation back toward them.

Beginning anglers and hunters need to boast a bit over their successes, and that's OK...up to a point. But if you've shot 100 bucks with a bow, it means that you've hunted far more than most people. It also means, if you dwell on that number without teaching, those people often think you are lying, boring or a game hog.

None of which may be true. I'm a good deer hunter and a good steelhead fisherman, and have spent six decadess at both endeavors. Unless a person is blind or stupid, it stands to reason that they should have learned something along the way. Share that knowledge with others but spare the bragging.

A guide teaches a gentle lesson...

Forty years ago I drove to New Brunswick to fish Atlantic salmon with a fishing guide. I sought his advice on which salmon flies to buy, and he pointed them out. I sought his advice on which fly to start with, and he picked one out for me.

Two hours into fishing, my guide said softly: "Begging your pardon, sir, but I suspect you've washed that fly long enough. I'd suggest changing to a brighter pattern."

He didn't have to dwell on the fact that I should have changed flies earlier. He offered a suggestion that I gladly accepted, and when I hooked a 10-pound salmon on a brightly colored fly, he didn't claim any credit. I'd been the one to choose the fly, and luckily, it produced a fish.

He could have bragged about his knowledge and skills, but instead, offered me a pat on the back for "choosing" the right fly. I had no clue what I was doing, and it was his suggestion that made that cast a success.

Even today, I enjoy giving credit to him for me catching my first Atlantic salmon. He poled the boat into position, told me where to cast, how long a cast to make, and all I did was manage to land the high-jumping fish once it hooked itself on the strike.

Stow the bragging, and if possible, share your know-how with another person without trying to make yourself look important. I labor in a business where there are more egotists than I ever believed possible, but I check my ego at the door when I leave home. Doing so works wonderfully for me.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

My Christmas wish for you

My daughter caught this big brown trout while fishing with me.

It's that time of year when folks make wishes. At the age of 71, it's been more than 60 years since I made a Christmas wish for some goodies I hoped Santa would dump under our tree.

Brother George and I both had bikes fairly early in our life. They were mostly rejects that other people were getting rid of when they bought their kids new ones. We clamored loud and long for a new bike, and Dad being a barber in a small town with too many barbers, told us if we'd work at it we could buy our own bike.

Such things seldom happen these days. The kids whine and their parents buy them what they want. We knew better than to whine, knowing it would do no good, and it might earn us a swat on the rump.

Don’t give kids everything they want. Make ‘em work for it.

Dad told us to grab out little red wagon, and go door-to-door and pick up old newspapers and magazines. We busted our backside knocking on doors right just after World War II, and once we collected the papers and old magazines, we'd bundle them up with baling twine and once a week Dad would take us to Flint to sell the paper for real money.

It wasn't much money, even in those days, but it we had a lot of newspapers and a bunch of slick papered magazines, we might make six or eight dollars each.

Week after week we worked hard, made money toward our bike while working at other jobs for spending money, and we finally bought a pair of new Schwinn bicycles with side-view mirrors, a horn, mud-flaps, fender feelers and go-fasters. Each bike was  top of the line, and back in the late 1940s, they cost over $100 each.

That taught us a valuable lesson. If you want something bad enough, work and earn the money to buy it. This story takes me slightly off the path of this blog, but it relates... trust me.

What I want now isn't something that money can buy. I can't work hard enough to make the things on my wish list come true. You see, what I want isn't what very many sportsmen are willing to give. I need people give their children time fishing and hunting,

My wish is that each of you daily readers must give of yourselves.

My goal for the last 30 years has been a matter of preaching to the choir, but in some cases, the choir isn't listening. I'm trying to help restore our beloved pastimes of fishing and hunting to the point where everyone cares about our natural resources and our children.

My Christmas wish would be for every one of the thousands of monthly hits which means at least one person has read my drivel, would take it upon himself (or herself) to teach a child about fishing and hunting. Children aren't learning these outdoor skills in school, and in some cases, some teachers are against hunting. They spend their time trying to influence our kids about their preconceived negative notions concerning hunting.

Children can learn from anyone, but parents who think they can start teaching their kids at the age of 16, are dreaming. Unless children get some positive reinforcement by the age of 10 years or age, or younger, chances are excellent they will never hunt and probably will not fish.

It's impossible to lay blame on all teachers because it's not fair and it's not true. Many teachers fish and hunt, and many work some positive thoughts into what they teach. However, I well remember a story I wrote after shooting a mountain lion in northern Wyoming with a bow.

This was a tragic wrong the teacher did to her young students.

This woman, who taught at a school in southern Michigan, made every one of her 40-some students write a personal letter to me. There were several themes, but every child wrote one of her prepared letters about why hunting was bad. I called the school, spoke with the principal, demanded an apology from the teacher or I wanted her fired.

My complaint was she wasn't being paid to push her anti-hunting beliefs off on students who were in the fourth grade. The principal agreed, and she reluctantly agreed to apologize in order to save her job. She told me she hated hunting, and I asked why she was sharing her personal hatred with the children instead of properly doing her job.

She had no answer. Sadly, there are many such teachers who are using some of their work time telling children that hunting is wrong. It's not wrong at all, and legal hunting is the best way to manage our abundant natural resources.

So ... my wish is for each of you who have children under 10 years of age to take them fishing or hunting. Spend time with them now in the outdoors, give of personal time to help educate them properly about fishing and hunting. Never make it difficult to learn, but it certainly pays to practice what you preach.

Folks, if all of you don't start doing your part soon, within 20 years you won't have to worry about it. The pastimes of fishing and hunting, as we know it today, will be nothing but a distant unpleasant memories of where we've been and why we've lost our way. It’s called apathy.

No one will do it for you. It's time for each of you to step up to the plate and take your swings. You'll know it was done right if the kids go out with youl but if the kids  are more content with their cell phone and computers, you'll know you didn't try hard enough.

Just don't blame others if this happens. I can lead you along this righteous path, but I can't make you or your children spend time fishing and hunting. That's your job.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

My Christmas wish for you

My daughter caught this big brown trout while fishing with me.

It's that time of year when folks make wishes. At the age of 71, it's been more than 60 years since I made a Christmas wish for some goodies I hoped Santa would dump under our tree.

Brother George and I both had bikes fairly early in our life. They were mostly rejects that other people were getting rid of when they bought their kids new ones. We clamored loud and long for a new bike, and Dad being a barber in a small town with too many barbers, told us if we'd work at it we could buy our own bike.

Such things seldom happen these days. The kids whine and their parents buy them what they want. We knew better than to whine, knowing it would do no good, and it might earn us a swat on the rump.

Don’t give kids everything they want. Make ‘em work for it.

Dad told us to grab out little red wagon, and go door-to-door and pick up old newspapers and magazines. We busted our backside knocking on doors right just after World War II, and once we collected the papers and old magazines, we'd bundle them up with baling twine and once a week Dad would take us to Flint to sell the paper for real money.

It wasn't much money, even in those days, but it we had a lot of newspapers and a bunch of slick papered magazines, we might make six or eight dollars each.

Week after week we worked hard, made money toward our bike while working at other jobs for spending money, and we finally bought a pair of new Schwinn bicycles with side-view mirrors, a horn, mud-flaps, fender feelers and go-fasters. Each bike was  top of the line, and back in the late 1940s, they cost over $100 each.

That taught us a valuable lesson. If you want something bad enough, work and earn the money to buy it. This story takes me slightly off the path of this blog, but it relates... trust me.

What I want now isn't something that money can buy. I can't work hard enough to make the things on my wish list come true. You see, what I want isn't what very many sportsmen are willing to give. I need people give their children time fishing and hunting,

My wish is that each of you daily readers must give of yourselves.

My goal for the last 30 years has been a matter of preaching to the choir, but in some cases, the choir isn't listening. I'm trying to help restore our beloved pastimes of fishing and hunting to the point where everyone cares about our natural resources and our children.

My Christmas wish would be for every one of the thousands of monthly hits which means at least one person has read my drivel, would take it upon himself (or herself) to teach a child about fishing and hunting. Children aren't learning these outdoor skills in school, and in some cases, some teachers are against hunting. They spend their time trying to influence our kids about their preconceived negative notions concerning hunting.

Children can learn from anyone, but parents who think they can start teaching their kids at the age of 16, are dreaming. Unless children get some positive reinforcement by the age of 10 years or age, or younger, chances are excellent they will never hunt and probably will not fish.

It's impossible to lay blame on all teachers because it's not fair and it's not true. Many teachers fish and hunt, and many work some positive thoughts into what they teach. However, I well remember a story I wrote after shooting a mountain lion in northern Wyoming with a bow.

This was a tragic wrong the teacher did to her young students.

This woman, who taught at a school in southern Michigan, made every one of her 40-some students write a personal letter to me. There were several themes, but every child wrote one of her prepared letters about why hunting was bad. I called the school, spoke with the principal, demanded an apology from the teacher or I wanted her fired.

My complaint was she wasn't being paid to push her anti-hunting beliefs off on students who were in the fourth grade. The principal agreed, and she reluctantly agreed to apologize in order to save her job. She told me she hated hunting, and I asked why she was sharing her personal hatred with the children instead of properly doing her job.

She had no answer. Sadly, there are many such teachers who are using some of their work time telling children that hunting is wrong. It's not wrong at all, and legal hunting is the best way to manage our abundant natural resources.

So ... my wish is for each of you who have children under 10 years of age to take them fishing or hunting. Spend time with them now in the outdoors, give of personal time to help educate them properly about fishing and hunting. Never make it difficult to learn, but it certainly pays to practice what you preach.

Folks, if all of you don't start doing your part soon, within 20 years you won't have to worry about it. The pastimes of fishing and hunting, as we know it today, will be nothing but a distant unpleasant memories of where we've been and why we've lost our way. It’s called apathy.

No one will do it for you. It's time for each of you to step up to the plate and take your swings. You'll know it was done right if the kids go out with you but if the kids  are more content with their cell phone and computers, you'll know you didn't try hard enough.

Just don't blame others if this happens. I can lead you along this righteous path, but I can't make you or your children spend time fishing and hunting. That's your job.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors