Local Sports

What the old days got right

Every once in a while, a photograph stops you in your tracks.

I recently opened American Hunter magazine and found one of those old photographs in Editor-in-Chief J. Scott Olmstead's column that makes you stare. It was a faded black-and-white image of a young fellow sitting on an old steel-legged chair beside a wood-burning kitchen stove, a simple bolt-action rifle resting in his hands. Canned goods filled the shelves behind him, and a metal water bucket sat on the floor. The article was titled "Life Is Short, Buy the Gun."

No fancy lodge. No expensive clothing. No electronic gadgets. Just a young person, a rifle and the outdoors.

That picture took me back.

When I attended my first Boy Scout meeting in 1959, our scoutmaster encouraged us to ask our parents for a subscription to Boy's Life. My dad did, and I read every issue from cover to cover for the next several years. I quickly learned where to find the fishing and hunting columns. Next to my dad, Homer Circle and Raymond Camp became my heroes. There were practical lessons about catching fish, tying knots, marksmanship, and firearm safety, camping, being smart and simply becoming more capable in the outdoors.

The magazine reflected a different era, yes. There were illustrations and cartoons teaching safety rules, most of those published by the National Rifle Association. There were stories about conservation and outdoor adventure. Young readers were encouraged to learn by doing -- and, importantly, to learn from adults who knew what they were doing.

Looking back, I don’t think the magic was really in the magazines, the old rifles or even the more simple equipment.

The magic was in the mentorship. The dedication of the folks that showed us how, hands on.

Adults took time to teach. Kids listened (without cellphones), asked questions and practiced what they were taught. Families spent time outdoors. Clubs, Scouting organizations, conservation groups and volunteer instructors provided places where young people could learn responsibility and gain confidence.

We shouldn’t try to recreate the 1950s and 1960s. Times have changed, and some things rightly have changed. Today’s young and old folks fight with smartphone anxiety, social-media fatigue and a world filled with digital distractions that didn’t exist in my youth, but some of those old lessons are timeless.

Safety still matters. Respect still matters. Patience still matters. Learning from someone with experience still matters, and there is no substitute (today) for putting down the phone and getting outside.

That gives today’s volunteers an enormous opportunity.

If you belong to a hunting club, fishing club, conservation organization, shooting organization, Scout troop or outdoor group, please get involved and invite young people to participate. Teach them how to read a map, identify wildlife, tie a knot, cast a fishing line, build a safe campfire, understand conservation or simply sit quietly in the woods and observe. Listen to the beauty and sound of the wind, and the critters of the forest.

When firearms are part of the experience, make safety and responsible handling the foundation -- not an afterthought. Qualified instructors, appropriate supervision and age-appropriate instruction can turn an introduction into a lifelong lesson in responsibility.

The goal isn’t to make every youngster a hunter, angler or shooter.

The goal is to help them become confident, capable and respectful people who understand the outdoors and their responsibility to it and each other.

Many of today’s volunteer instructors are from my generation. We have an opportunity -- and perhaps an obligation -- to pass along what worked.

So volunteer. Bring a youngster fishing. Take a kid hiking. Help with a hunter education class. Support a conservation project. Teach a kid to tie a knot or identify a bird.

We may not be able to bring back the old days.

We can bring forward the good stuff.

Perhaps someday, a young person sitting around a campfire will remember an old-guy volunteer who took time to teach them -- and realize that was where their love of the outdoors really began. Then they can do their part. Its evolution, we can share time to help shape that.

Gotta love the outdoors.

CALENDAR

Aug. 20-22: Turtlebox Bassmaster Open, Buffalo Harbor State Park (Small Boat Harbor, Sunlife Marina), weigh-in open to public; info: 877-227-7872.

Aug. 22: Chautauqua Lake White Perch Challenge (fishing tournament), Chautauqua Reel Bait & Tackle at Ashville Bay Marina, 25-fish basket, 6 a.m. to noon, $20 entry fee, kids under 12 free, shore or boat, see Mike Sperry, call 716-763-2947, register at the bait shop.

Aug. 23: Ellington Rod & Gun Club, "Don't Know Partner Trap League," 1045 Hagerdon Hill Road, Ellington; Info: 716-287-3987.

Aug. 24: Adult Learn-to-Shoot-Archery, 6 p.m. start, West Falls Conservation Society, 55 Bridge St., West Falls. $5 fee/week, equipment provided (bows, arrows, targets). Register with Mike Cummins, 716-655-5030.

Aug. 27: 3-D Archery, 20 targets Bear Lake Rod & Gun Club, 4 p.m. start, $10 fee, open to public, 4391 Stockton-Cassadaga Road, Stockton; 716-397-9717.

Aug. 28-30: NYS Conservation Council, Fall Conference, Hancock House/Catskills Fly Fishing Museum, visit: www.nyscc.com.