It’s no secret I’m a big proponent of getting kids excited about hunting. I take my own kids hunting whenever possible, and promote youth involvement in the sport on this blog and other outlets as much as possible. In that spirit, here’s a great story I’d like to share ...
 
A fervent elk enthusiast friend of mine, Randy Bomar, offered four kids the experience of a lifetime earlier this month. He invited the youth, ages 9 to 12, to accompany him on an elk hunting outing in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. His son Brock was one of the four, and is Randy’s official video photographer, while another boy ran the cow elk decoy.
 
Although it was early season with elk finicky regarding bugling bursts, Randy told the boys he’d shoot if a bull came in. Sure enough a spike bull came sneaking quietly along the tree edge looking for the maker of the calls and stopped in an opening 27 yards away. Randy let an arrow fly.
 
It connected, and soon after the woods erupted with the screams of excitement from the boys who were front row to one of hunting’s greatest shows. Randy’s an accomplished archery elk hunter with an impressive collection of big bulls, but pumping these kids up with an in-your-face encounter is commendable. And of course there was the bonus benefit—the boys helped him quarter and pack the elk out with the same enthusiasm. Randy’s own words say it best:
 
“I have been fortunate to harvest a number of elk bigger than this one, but I have not had a more memorable hunt than with my kids and their friends. We will share this story for many years to come.”