With the New Year having rounded the corner, most of us have a 2009 New Year’s resolution. What’s yours?  This past December during my college winter break, I was thinking about what my new year’s resolution should be. I had a bunch of thoughts scrambling through my head…but one in particular stuck out. That was to keep improving my knowledge about the outdoor world, but also to spread that knowledge to the next generation of hunters/huntresses. In most places deer season is coming to an end or has already come and gone. Duck season is over, but a new season is always around the corner; one being spring gobbler season. Every season is a new season, a new opportunity, a new adrenaline rush, and a new adventure. The generation we live in today is that of new technology, new video games, and more reasons to keep kids indoors. There nothing wrong with indoor games, but I hope to get kids outside, to learn about nature, and to enjoy what the outside world has to offer.

I had the chance over my Christmas break to do just that with three young, energetic girls. These three girls are friends of the family and are six, eight and ten. I went over to their house not far from mine, and they all came running out in there camo overalls and pink snow boots. They had already been around the hunting world, because their dad is a hunter and has already been introducing them to bow and arrows and shotguns. As I talked with the girls about the outdoors, they ran and grabbed their youth bows they have been given by their dad. He is so excited that his three daughters love the outdoors and sometimes it’s hard to even get them to come inside for dinner. We all took our bows to their back yard and I showed them some techniques about target shooting and we had a great afternoon with our bows. After I spent the afternoon with these girls I know these girls will be part of the next generation of women hunters. They have developed special bonds with their father and he is looking forward to the day they all go on their first hunt.

Maybe that will be someone’s New Year’s resolution: to bring your kids or anyone in the youth generation out hunting. They may get hooked on it like the rest of us huntresses, and that sure will be a good feeling knowing they have developed a new hobby to do with you. Memories will develop that will last a lifetime and hopefully they will want to go back into the woods for some more hunting adventures with you!