I have been anticipating this story for quite some time and now it can be told to you.  I have just gotten back from one of the most memorable hunting experiences of my life.  You have heard and read about the United Wildlife Cooperative organization (www.unitedwildlifecooperative.org), I have mentioned it here before.  Well this past weekend, I spent with the guys from that organization and what a wonderful group of people they are.  I encourage each and every one who reads this to join that organization, it’s FREE, and if you are an outdoors enthusiast at all, this is THE group to join.  You will see as this story unfolds.

After getting the invite to attend and help wherever I could, the youth turkey hunt,  sponsored by the UWC and R and K Hunting Company.  I could see by the number of volunteers for this event that they could probably use another hand.  After all, more hands make lighter work.  I decided to ask Wapiti Dung if he would like to join me, if the UWC would agree.  Well, he did and they did and so off we went to the “party”.

Friday at 9 a.m. found us parked in the designated area of the camp.  A wonderful little place just on the outskirts of Peterson, Utah.  A place made from one mans dream and created for his family and friends to enjoy.  But it has become more than that.  It has become a very special place to many people and I believe this past weekend many more “friends” have found it to be included in their lives as well.  A place called the Whitear Recreation Center.

The Whitear family came into the area way back when (I could tell you but then it wouldn’t be a secret), became the owners of the land and as time went on, the family grew and grew and the Patriarch of the family decided it was time to take some of the farm land out of production and build this beautiful place.  I thank him dearly!

From the early days to the present and I think this marquee says it all.

As I toured Wapiti around the establishment, I could not help but notice the dedicatory prayer which was typed and framed on the wall of the building. 

While reading it I got a very warm and comfortable feeling about the entire place and the Whitear family.  But the one line of the prayer that really stood out for me read:

“We dedicate our lives and this building to Thee to be used in the service of one another”.

Later in the day we had the pleasure of meeting the man who made it all come to be,  Mr. Donald Whitear.    An aging man with the spirit of a much younger man, full of  p & v (if you know what I mean), a great spirit and humor galore.  It was a great experience meeting him.

As the day progressed, more and more people began to show up for this youth hunting camp and weekend event.  A lot of work had to be done and in rather short order as well.  And as we all know, people have interruptions and delays and such that cause things to not go quite as expected.  But it did get done and we did get on with the “show”.

Four kids were chosen to be at the event this weekend and when the powers of the UWC organization arrived, we found out one of the kids could not make it and had to cancel out.  That was sad to me.  But it made for an opportunity for another young person to come and play and it did not take long to find that person and get them on their way to the camp!

The UWC have lots of rules, and for this camp “safety” was pretty much number one.  Number two was to have “fun”!  So there was a meeting to explain the rules and to teach the youngsters a thing or two about turkeys and hunting them.

The kids were asked a lot of questions about turkeys, gun safety etc. and I must say, they responded with the right answers for the safety questions and had some interesting answers for the turkey questions.  Did YOU know the flap of what appears to be skin that hangs off the turkeys beak is called the “snood”?  Me either.

Next came the patterning of the shotguns the kids were to use.  Not only was it important to see how the shotgun patterns, but also to observe how the kids handled the shotguns and how safe they were with them.  All of the kids did an outstanding job in that category.

Well, the kids were ready to go.  And so they were next instructed on the guides that would accompany them and their guardian and to get themselves ready for the evening hunt.  They were quite excited at this time and quickly readied themselves for the hunt.

As for me and Wapiti, we had “jobs” to do.  And since our “boss” had not shown up yet, we took the opportunity to become “spotters”.  We had no idea what that entailed and so we winged it.  One of the guides offered us his pickup to drive to a vantage point and observe turkeys, if there were any turkeys around.  What we did not know was that if we saw turkeys we were to radio out our findings and the hunters would come “flocking” to the scene.  So as we proceeded to see turkeys, we enjoyed the view, thinking that when we got back at camp, we would tell them all about how many we saw.  I guess the important part was left out of our de-briefing.

Fortunately, one of the guides from the R&K Hunting company, was looking down into the same valley as we were, from a different angle.  He observed some of the same turkeys we were looking at and also, he saw two strangers about to cross onto his private property.  So he quickly dashed to capture these two strangers up and have them escorted off the property.  As he was quickly approaching me from behind, he realized I was “one of his own”.  He smiled and told me of his intent to punish me and have me thrown off the land.  He was a bit embarrassed, but quickly recovered.  He said he had radioed one of the guides and the hunter would be there soon.  NOW I get it.  When a spotter spots a gobbler, he radios out that he has one spotted and any hunter who wishes to try his luck at getting a shot at it is welcome to come and try.  That makes more sense than telling the group back at camp.  After all, the gobbler could be in the next county by tomorrow morning.

This is one of the views we had as “spotters”.

I loved being a spotter.  The guide and his young hunter soon arrived and took up a vantage point in which to “hopefully” bag this bad boy gobbler.  They snuck in quite well, set up and waited patiently.  This was the scene as it unfolded.

FirstNightVideo

The “kid” happened to be a young lady in this video.  She was so very excited to be so close to a live gobbler and was unfamiliar with the shotgun.  It had what is called a double pull trigger and she was thinking the gun wasn’t firing the shell and was too hard to pull the trigger to get the gun to go off.  Anyway, it was a complete miss and so she was able to continue to hunt the next day.  You can go on the UWC website, www.unitedwildlifecooperative.org and see the bird she finally did take.

What a blast Wapiti and I had.  Where else could you go and have the best of company around you, good food and smiles everywhere?  Everyone was helping out in any way they could to make these young people and their parent or guardian feel welcome and a part of it all.  Wapiti and I were to help out with the kitchen duties and cooking in general.  I think we did a pretty good job even though we tried to get fired, they didn’t fire us.  In fact they invited us back for the next weekend!  WOOPPPEEEE!!!!  This is the chef, Dan, and we all know Wapiti.

And to keep us all in order, they called in a woman to make sure everything went well.  I introduce Alisa.

And because this was all about the kids and them having a wonderful time, I think these pictures tell the story all by themselves.

Could it get any better?

Only if it was MY kid in the picture.  Remember this for next year when the UWC offers up a chance at a guided turkey hunt for a young hunter.  Join the UWC and help make a difference in our Utah hunting opportunities.  These guys and gals are really a boost we need here in this state.  Their cause should be your cause in assisting to help our wildlife, be it fish and or big game, prosper.

I can hardly wait until this coming weekend to do this all again!  Watch for the next posting probably on May 14th.

Until then!

Bears Butt

May 7, 2012