Kicking Beards II for Kicking Bear Kicks Back!

When I won the spot at the Kicking Beards 2 Pro/Am event in Kansas, I really didn’t have a clue what it was about. I thought it looked like a good organization to donate to and if I should win, it would be fun to go turkey hunting. Boy I had no clue what I was getting into.

First of all getting to “hang out” with the awesome Pros that were there was an absolute hoot. Guys like Heath Painter, and his camera man Chris Dyer a.k.a. “Catfish” a.k.a. “Flathead” who hosted in my first turkey kill, Mike Miller a.k.a. the “Assassin” who called in and filmed my second pinch, Tom King, Trevon Stoltzfus, Jimmy Big Time, J.T. Harden, Ryan Litwin, Casey and Chris Keefer, Matt Burtin and David Langston just to name a few. Meeting new friends like Thad Pool, Jodi Smith, Doug Gilmore, Maria Dupertuis, Durk Stark and the other winners and volunteers, well that in itself was more than worth the donation. I know I am going to ruin a bunch of macho egos, but you couldn’t find a bigger hearted, giving group of people that like to have fun. Add in Kevin Blake Weldon, who put on a concert, and the Locked Horn Outfitter owners Jared and Lizzie Crider and things were rocking.

We put down 25 turkeys total and I shot my first and 2^nd turkeys on film. I hunted hard and made great contacts, but that was not what I really want to tell you about today.

I want to help get the word out about Kicking Bear One on One. This program was started by Ray Howell whose dad abandoned him, as a young child. Ray proceeded in life getting into trouble and eventually someone took the time and introduced him to hunting. It changed his life.

Ray has a much higher calling in life. There is a love for people that simply oozes from his gentle giant. You feel it the first time you are near him. Ray started Kicking Bear to give kids the chance to be mentored in hunting and hopefully change their lives for the better also. My favorite movie is Pay it Forward and that is exactly how Ray Howell lives his life. In the movie each person had to pay a kindness forward to 3 people, Ray has long surpassed that number. His program is one that will continue to breed a “pay it forward” attitude, while changing, and in some cases healing, the lives of not only our youth, but the people that surround them.

The following is the philosophy behind the Kicking Bear program.

Impacting the children of tomorrow… Showing youth a better way of life while providing them with a weekend of fun to experience new things and meet new friends.

Nothing we do is as important as the impact that we have on the youth community.

1. 1. Engaging activities develop values, skills and relationships. Activities are not seen as ends in themselves, but as vehicles for creating values, building skills and solidifying peer and adult relationships. An engaging activity is one that holds the youth’s attention, awakens their imagination, and inspires them to want to learn more.
2. 2. All youth have equal rights to be accepted, respected and valued by others. Youth are viewed as individuals to be developed, not problems to be solved.
3. 3. Youth should be involved in decision-making and program design. If children get to choose how, when, in what and with whom to be engaged, they are far more likely to enjoy themselves and behave cooperatively.
4. 4. When we listen for understanding everyone learns — youth and adults alike. We are constantly able to learn from the youth as well as each other. Everyone is a learner.

Kicking Bear also follows up by providing free hunting and fishing experiences for kids that cannot afford it. That pretty much says it all.

I went to Kicking Beards thinking about what I could do for myself. I left Kicking Beards thinking about what I could do for others. I had someone that taught me in the beginning (thanks dad) and there are so many kids, (and adults) out there whose lives could be changed by having a mentor.

Kicking Bear holds camps all across the country at no cost to the kids. Please take the time to find out more about the Kicking Bear program and how you can help. Volunteer your time, donate your resources, or simply put out the word. No gift to this program will go unused. If someone taught you, please “pay it forward” it could change a life.

For more information about the Kicking Bear Program click here.

Kids go Shed Hunting!

With spring weather upon us and the recent snow melt these boys had a very successful shed hunt. What a great way to get kids involved in the outdoors in the late winter when there is nothing much to do.

I had talked to their dad earlier in the week and he told me they had Friday off of school and were  looking for sheds. They stopped by in the late afternoon, on Friday to fill me in on the exciting stories about each shed they found. Some where under the apple trees, others along fence lines or roadsides where the bucks had jumped to cross. With each story there was oodles of enthusiasm.  They took what started out to be a rainy drizzly winter day and turned it into a memory of a lifetime!

Kudos to Brett for getting not only his kids out but their friend also!

August’s Woman of the Wild-Tammy Ballew

Tammy Ballew is a court reporter by profession and a huntress by passion. She has spent hundred of hours over the last 30 years hunting deer, turkey and several small game species, in addition to fishing in her home state of Missouri. An avid outdoorswoman in many respects, Tammy’s love of hunting and fishing has enabled her in her outdoor writing career also. She currently is a member of WOMA, Women’s Outdoor Media Association, and is the field staff editor for the “Women in the Outdoors—Gals with Guns and Fishing Females” section of the West Tennessee Outdoor and Michigan’s Hooks and Bullets Magazine. Tammy also writes for The WON, The Women’s Outdoor News, and contributes to their “In the Bag” reviews. Tammy recently joined the Pro Staff at HuntingLife.com

Tammy started hunting in her early 20s, and although deer hunting was her first experience, she soon grew equally as excited about turkey hunting. “I loved the vocalness of the turkeys and the amazing transformation of Mother Nature during the early weeks of spring turkey season.” She admits she knew nothing about turkey hunting, but she bought a couple turkey calls and a training tape, and read as many articles as she could on the subject, and was soon on her way to chasing gobblers. In fact, the first turkeys she called up, she was so shocked that she did it, she didn’t even shoot. Lesson learned, she has since been successful on several toms.

She and her husband have five children, and most of them hunt at least some species. One of her fondest hunts was with her son, Travis, a Marine currently serving in Iraq. They doubled up on a couple gobblers after a morning of whatever-could-go-wrong-went-wrong hunt.

They also have five grandchildren, which Tammy holds a Kuzin’ Kamp each summer where she teaches the kids to fish, shoot BB guns and .22s, catch-and-release frogs and any other critter that comes in their path.

Tammy’s goals are to pass down the traditions of hunting and fishing to her children, grandchildren, and anyone else that wants to share in the experience.

See the original article at CampWildGirls.com