I am blessed beyond measure.
I cannot even begin to count the wonders that have been added to my life by having these three outstanding young men as a part of our family. I am blessed beyond measure that they call me dad.
I began kicking this thread around quite some time ago, as I am the proud papa to these young outdoorsmen, and I occasionally run across posts here on this forum where we get to celebrate our children and their accomplishments. From time to time, usually in response to some other posted event, our membership here will post a quick photo or two of a recent adventure or hunt.
I am fortunate enough to contribute the first post within this thread of what I am hoping becomes thousands of posts wherein we get to celebrate, laugh, and cheer each other on in the growing and nurturing of our children. I also realized that a topic that continues to re-surface in many threads is the overwhelming need that we have as hunters and outdoorsmen - to pass all of our skills and passions on to the next generation.
This thread is, therefore, meant to be a celebration of developing outdoorsmen in general. While I am aware that we are on a relatively dedicated hunting site, this initial post will touch on many other elements of enjoying the world around us, from fishing, hiking, camping, and yes, certainly hunting. I would imagine as it rolls along, we will get to see an even broader variety of what our youths get to be involved in regarding outdoor activities.
Along those lines, I wanted to provide what I hope will become an "anchor thread" that allows for exactly that. I fully encourage you to post your latest adventures that involve youth in any way. I, along with many, many others here would love to see your exploits in the field with your children, grandchildren, neighbors kids, youth-group outings etc.
Continued purpose & motivation -
As I stated above, I am the proud father of three wonderful young men. I figured that I would break my posts/threads into multiple topics that include many of the facets of involving youth in outdoor activities such as: hunting, training, motivation, and possibly others. I simply cannot think of a better place to start than with what I am hoping you will agree is the most important of all of those - the smiles and the memories!
After having a chance here to post a significant portion of my own personal "smiles and memories," I plan on delving into the training and development of these young men that allowed them to get to where they currently are on their road toward being functional and accomplished outdoorsmen.
I'll also state upfront that I, and my family (like the vast majority of the membership here) do not base the success of our time together in the field on the taking of any particular animal! That is to say that our success is solely dependent on having spent time within any given endeavor - whether we harvest an animal or not!
So, I'll begin with some of our most significant adventures.
In sitting down to prepare this post, I became overwhelmed by the fact that I had to choose such a small portion of our outdoor time together from, what is now, some 20 years of wonderous experiences together in the field. Please enjoy the "Parks Boys Adventures!"
Bird hunting with family friends. Our family Dove hunts opening day of each year along the Platte river.
2021, was a good year for Dove
2021, was a good year for Dove
Various adventures along the way...
(Left photo) My oldest son, who has become quite good with a bow
(Center photo) Two wild-caught trout, both caught and landed by these wonderful, little (at the time) anglers - my oldest, left, and my middle guy, right
(Right photo) My younger two fishing from a flooded dock near our home
(Left photo) My oldest son, who has become quite good with a bow
(Center photo) Two wild-caught trout, both caught and landed by these wonderful, little (at the time) anglers - my oldest, left, and my middle guy, right
(Right photo) My younger two fishing from a flooded dock near our home
My littlest guy, on various aquatic adventures in different states.
In the right-most photo, he wanted to let me know that he had "made friends" with the ducks
My oldest guy, on various fishing and boating outings. This kid will fish for hours and hours
In the right-most photo, he is holding a large-mouth that was the result of his prodding me - "C'mon dad, just one more cast!"
He was not prepared to go in for the evening until he had completed that ten-thousandth "one more cast"
Boys, being boys.
Goofin' around somewhere in the wilderness. Making each other laugh
My middle guy, always wanting to be the pilot in command. He also enjoys pretty much everything out-of-doors
My oldest, with his first and second deer
My middle guy, with his first and second deer
My little guy, with his first and second deer
* A special note here, my camera completely conked out during the taking of his 1st deer. We had to wait until we got home to get any photos of his animal.
In the right-most photo, he wanted to let me know that he had "made friends" with the ducks
My oldest guy, on various fishing and boating outings. This kid will fish for hours and hours
In the right-most photo, he is holding a large-mouth that was the result of his prodding me - "C'mon dad, just one more cast!"
He was not prepared to go in for the evening until he had completed that ten-thousandth "one more cast"
Boys, being boys.
Goofin' around somewhere in the wilderness. Making each other laugh
My middle guy, always wanting to be the pilot in command. He also enjoys pretty much everything out-of-doors
My oldest, with his first and second deer
My middle guy, with his first and second deer
My little guy, with his first and second deer
* A special note here, my camera completely conked out during the taking of his 1st deer. We had to wait until we got home to get any photos of his animal.
A second post will follow this one immediately, as I am limited in the number of photos that one can attach in any given post. This secondary post will also contain additional summary information.
