If you were to ask any 4-Her that attends camp more times than not they will say it is the best time of their life. However, one young man did not have this experience. On Wednesday night of camp, a counselor approached me regarding a camper in his cabin. The young man was inconsolable wanting to call his mom and go home. He revealed to the counselor and I that he recently lost a father figured to a drug overdose, and he was having a hard time being away from his mom. Normally, I do not allow campers to speak with parents/guardians unless under extreme circumstances. I felt that by talking to his mom it might ease some anxiety he was having. After speaking with her and was calmed down a little we hung up from her. The remainder of the night he, his counselor, and I spent time talking about hobbies and such. Turns out that this young man loved the outdoors and especially hunting. However, he said no one ever came through on taking him hunting. When I told him I hunted and if I had permission from his mom, I would take him deer hunting in the fall his whole demeanor changed. For the rest of the week, he had the time of his life.

Fast forward to November of 2019, I reached out to the young man’s mom and told her what we had talked about at camp. She started to cry on the phone and said that no one ever followed through on taking him deer hunting. On the morning of our hunt we ventured out on my farm. When daylight broke out stepped a buck, nervously shaking he pulled the trigger. It was a hit! However, it was not a fatal shot and the buck escaped. The young man was instantly let down. I told him it happens to the best of us and that we would try again. After grabbing a quick breakfast, we relocated to a different stand. After setting for what seemed like hours, out steps a buck. This time it was a fatal shot. This young man just harvested his first deer!  As we walked up to the down deer, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and stated that I helped make one of his dreams come true. On the weekend we hunted, our deer harvest event was happening at the extension office. This young man chose to donate his deer to help feed the hunger people of our county. The work did not stop at just the harvesting of the deer, we (my husband and I) also taught him how to properly field dress a deer and he learned how to skin it. Needless to say, I have gained a forever-hunting buddy and we are already making plans for next year.

Now some may wonder how this is a success story…you see this young man who had witnessed so much devastation in his life was suddenly given a chance to live out a dream. He was confident in his shot and made the decision to harvest the deer. These are all things that he can utilize in this life to grow into an adult which will provide positive inputs to society.