Under Wing

Mentoring a new shooter or hunter is a key part of the long-term health of the shooting sports.

Teaching, all too often, is very much a by-the-book rote exercise with no explanation for the “why.” It’s an approach that frequently dulls the mind. But when a teacher truly engages with a student, the results can be life-affirming. One way this is accomplished is through mentoring. Human beings are wired to delve more deeply into a subject when another person takes the time and effort to truly share their personal knowledge. 

The skills required to be an ethical hunter or a competitive shooter can’t be mastered by books alone. For many of us, we entered this very special world because an older, more experienced hunter or shooter took us under wing, in some cases devoting considerable time and energy to help us gain the needed expertise. “Passing it on” is an important part of our industry, and it’s a major reason the shooting sports of which we are so proudly a part has a long and rich tradition of mentoring.

I firmly believe the core reason our industry is still around is that we are all part of a “mentored” sport where many knowledgeable, caring souls teach, share, and inspire others. The reason I found an interest in the shooting sports all those years ago was due in part to several folks who took the time to share their lives with a very young man—in the process showing me “how it’s done.” It was exciting to be invited into their world.

The shooting sports has so many wonderful and vastly different areas that there is a place for almost everyone to be a part. Here are just a few: casual shooting, also lovingly called “plinking,” precision bullseye, action pistol, 3Gun, long-range rifle, 4-H, sporting clays, skeet, trap, scholastic shooting programs, PPC, IDPA, IPSC, BSA, air pistol and air rifle (both Olympic events), modern pentathlon and biathlon (also Olympic events), Cowboy Action, Silhouette, Bench rest.  Then there is hunting: Small and big game, upland birds, waterfowl, and predators and varmints. Retailers and range operators are the front line of the industry, and no matter the customer’s interest, we can help those new to these sports find solid ground by offering sage advice and technical expertise.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, our industry saw the birth of places, now known as “shooting sports complexes,” that welcomed millions of younger shooters, many of whom were quite inexperienced. Mentoring became an important part of their business model. When Jayne and I started our business in 1981, we decided that we wanted mentoring to be a part of our business model. Today there are well over 1,000 such centers around the country, each a place where we can collectively grow the shooting sports.

Being a mentor can start very simply by just being aware of the folks in and around the range or store. Being open to answer any question in a respectful way is critical here. You are the face of the sport. Words, actions, and attitude all tell others “is this something I can, or even want to, fit into” or not. A snide remark will instantly turn off a new guest.     

Allow me to share a story on my introduction to hunting.  After starting the business, we were blessed to have a good following of shooters. One regular was also a hunter and invited me several times to go with him on an outing. Looking back now, I had sadly bought into the prevailing theme that hunting was no longer needed and was just cruel. He was, however, always polite and incredibly tolerant of my delay tactics. So, he went around me to my wife Jayne and found a date that was open. I was committed now. Our task was hunting crows that had roosted at Fort Cobb Lake. At the time, I didn’t even know what “roosting” was.

The night before he called and said, “Miles, I’ll be by to pick you up at four. I’ll have everything we will need, so no worries.” 

I responded by telling him, “Okay Jim, but isn’t four a bit late in the afternoon to hunt?” To which he laughed and said, “No, I will pick you up at four a.m.” I said, “Are the crows even awake at that time?” Which got an even bigger laugh out of him. 

Fort Cobb was about an hour-and-half drive, and the whole way he shared stories of how he started hunting. I found myself beginning to understand the “why” of the sport. He cracked the windows open so the early morning smells of the country could work their magic on me. Oklahoma has impressive sunrises; the ever-lightening eastern sky coupled with those sounds made the ride out captivating. 

I was told that “roosting” was bad for the lake area the birds had settled into. In fact, as we made the final turn I saw first hand another side of nature: a landscape that thousands upon thousands of birds had turned into a toxic sludge that looked like it came out of a horror movie set. We hunted all day. We shot hundreds of rounds between us, and hundreds of birds were eliminated. My arms were incredibly abused, but I had never felt so alive and accomplished. We bagged up the remains (more than 50 big black garbage bags) of birds. The lake folks came by and picked up all those bags at the end of our day and thanked us over and over for the help.

Jim’s mentoring went on until his passing a few years later. His persistence and willingness to share his knowledge with me turned me into a hunter. As such, over the years I have been able to enjoy many hunting trips and meet incredibly interesting people. None of this would have happened had I not been mentored. 

During these trips I would pick up on lots of things not officially taught but clearly important to the future. I think about these mentors so fondly now because they were teaching not just hunting but inadvertently so much more. The anecdotes about how and why something is done, often with a humorous aside, are something I treasure to this day. I was the recipient of decades of information passed down by people engaging in one of humanities’ oldest past times.

Over the decades we helped (in part) many thousands find a love for hunting and shooting. I say “in part” because our operation consisted of an army of mentors who welcomed and encouraged those new to the shooting sports. It was part of our DNA. The simple truth is that we are all on the same team, and we are all responsible for growing the shooting sports together.