since my last post I have formed a youth activities committee with another woman at my club and got funding and our own youth bulletin board. She and I got our NRA shotgun safety instructor certification and will be forming a scholastic trap team. I planned an intro to trap event for 12-18 year olds and although it won't happen till end of May, it is already wait listed. We have 10 boys, 5 girls and one of each on the wait list. Yesterday we did a monthly youth breakfast tour of the club and we had 3 girls and 2 boys, all between 13 and 16 learning what we have to offer and telling us what their interests are. we're organizing a boating safety course, a fishing intro, archery intro and will do the youth pheasant hunt again in the fall. I'm making arrangements to have 3 additional youth game bird hunts per year at a private preserve which ordinarily costs $1000 to belong - the owner wants the tradition passed down to youth. I discovered hunting late in life but get a real kick enabling teens to shoot trap and hunt. I love watching how responsible teens will behave when it is demanded of them and how gratifying it is when they succeed.
At my club we were losing the teens, as they were lured off by organized sports like soccor/etc. Nobody was organizing shooting, hunting, fishing and archery events for them. This other woman and I are building it and they are coming. So the answer to the question is Hellyes, anyone can pass on traditions - and truthfully it doesn't even have to be a long term tradition for the mentor as Kim and I both came to shooting and hunting only a few years ago. We are planning to run with the kids, as far as they want to go - into acquiring and training a bird dog, orienteering, trapping, whatever they want, we'll just find people who know what they're doing and make the connections.
GSPgal
"Hunt beside kids and over dogs."