Texas Youth Weekend

[Buckman82]

Youth Season 2009

By Scott R. Patton


This year, on October 31st, kids all over Texas will be heading to the woods, hoping to cash in on the youth only weekend. It is their last chance to get out there, and catch that big buck slipping, before the big boys hit the woods. For many of these kids, they will be looking to harvest their first whitetail. This is a moment that they will cherish forever. I know that I can still close my eyes, and picture my first deer like it was yesterday. This is an excellent opportunity to spend quality time with your children, doing something that you all love. Be sure to take plenty of film,(or in this technologically advanced world, memory cards). Also, take a video camera if you have one. A child harvesting their first animal, will be a moment that you will want to relive over and over again. Be sure to make it fun, and not take it too seriously. After all, we want them to do this with their kids in the future. It is more important now, than ever, to pass on the tradition of hunting. I hope all that are able to, and are planning on taking a young one into the woods. You will find that mentoring a young person in this great sport will give you more satisfaction, than any animal you have harvested yourself. I believe Cotton Cordell said it best: "First, teach a child to love God, teach them second to love their family, teach them third to hunt and fish, and by the time they reach their teens, no dope peddler under the sun, will ever have a chance to teach them anything." To all of the youth out there, I hope you have a great time out there, and harvest the deer of your dreams. This is your weekend, make the best of it!