Can we go home?

There’s a four-word phrase I dread hearing when I spend time outdoors with my 12–year old stepson.   If there’s a sudden lull in the wildlife action, inclement weather begins making conditions less than ideal, or perhaps some other life distraction occurs, I brace myself for the inevitable request:  “Can we go home?”

Last Saturday duck hunting was a perfect example.   The waterfowl action was slow, he hadn’t gotten to fire his gun yet, and 75 minutes into the season he turned to me uttering that sickening request.   I’ve heard it now during deer hunting, duck hunting, fishing, trail hiking…you name it.   Just about every outdoor activity is fun at first, but eventually boredom sets in with distractions pertaining to something else he’d rather be doing.

I’m going to be honest in saying I’ve struggled with this dilemma.   When I was his age you couldn’t pull me out of the woods.   But that was 35 years ago and times have most certainly changed.   There weren’t nearly the number of distractions in life then that a kid now faces today.

Cell phones, computers, instant messaging, video games…these are all distractions of an electronic age that are not consistent with enjoying the realistic solitude of an outdoors lifestyle.   Take, for instance, the Cabela’s Big Game Hunter video game.   Sure, it’s a great video game in its own right…but when a kid starts up the game how long do you think it takes before a trophy animal appears?  Three minutes?   Maybe seven minutes tops?

It’s easy to see how society has conditioned our youth to yearn for immediate gratification.   Waiting three minutes to start whacking at a duck that appears on a video game is acceptable.   Waiting an hour or more for that same real-life experience in the duck blind begins to push a youth’s tolerance for being patient.

We live in a world in which we expect things to happen almost immediately.   Hungry?  There’s a fast food lane over there which will begin satisfying an appetite in minutes.   Need an oil change…there’s a quick lube!   Need a doctor’s diagnosis…there’s a walk-in clinic.   It seems no matter what we need in life there’s an option that fits our fast-paced lifestyle.

So, how do we keep our youth “engaged” in the sometimes slower-paced outdoors lifestyle when life circumstances can so quickly “disengage” them by their looking for other more exciting options?   Frankly, there’s no simple solution.   I suspect, however, the first step is to realize that how each of us spent our younger years does not necessarily parallel with how today’s youth is apt to enjoy the outdoors.

Sure, it gets frustrating as a parent to provide the opportunities to be outdoors and then not always witness their enjoyment derived from the experience as we would expect it.   Yet, when you choose to take a child along outdoors I firmly believe the primary goal ought to be simply exposing them to the experience.   As hard as it may be to remember, when you hunt or fish with a youth it’s their experience that matters…and not necessarily the one you as an adult were hoping to fulfill outdoors.

The way I see it, many facets of our cherished outdoor heritage are now at a pivotal moment.   If we hope for future generations to carry on the same level of spirit we've put forth toward hunting and fishing we need to involve more youth by getting them outdoors and involved.

Even if it means occasionally hearing the words— “can we go home” —at least it reminds us of one important thing.   We succeeded at getting the youth outdoors experiencing nature and those moments will never be taken away from them.   What matters is not the length of the outdoor experience, but rather that the outdoor experienced occurred at all.   Plant the seeds and eventually good things will likely grow.