We’ve all done it. Occasionally, the vows last and we garner the rewards of exercise, no caffeine, lost weight and no smoking, but more often our resolve, and the resolutions, crumble. Sometimes with age comes wisdom. And about a decade ago, I discovered if I was going to be foolish enough to keep making resolutions, they ought to be reasonable and rewarding. As outdoor-oriented people, each of us compiles a mental list over the years of things we need to do, things we want to do and few pipe dreams we really wish to do one day. Here are a few ideas that may improve your new year, and perhaps someone else’s, all without trashing your resolutions.
Introduce someone to the outdoors. Take a family member, a friend or just an acquaintance, especially a youngster or novice sportsman, and help them enjoy a new endeavor. A trip tossing bait or casting flies on a secluded stream with a shore lunch of fresh fried trout is an example. Many Aroostook anglers have never cast for bass, so an evening tossing top water plugs to acrobatic, aerobatic smallmouth might make memories for a lifetime.
Teach someone to shoot trap or skeet or simply let the kids plink balloons or targets with a .22. Take a woods walk and teach someone about types of trees and leaves, animal tracks and wildflowers, native birds and small game. Every veteran hunter and fisherman began their endeavors with the help of a caring and knowledgeable mentor.
One of the gratifying experiences of my fishing endeavors came from catching my first brook trout on a fly I tied myself. It only got better when I invented a streamer pattern of my own design and used it with success. My excitement and rewards improved even more when I caught Atlantic and Pacific salmon, bass, tarpon, bonefish and several other fresh and saltwater species on my own hand-tied feather and fur creations. Resolve to learn how to tie flies this winter, if you already know this hobby, teach it to someone else. It’s a personal gift that keeps on giving year after year and generation to generation.
Most sportsman keep putting off some hobby they’d like to try, perhaps this winter of a New Year is the time to start. If you’ve always been a long-gun shooter, maybe it’s time to try handgun hunting, or take a class to try out archery gear or even crossbow shooting. How about carving your own decoys, learning to reload shells, building a canoe or a pair of snowshoes, or even taking up the art of taxidermy. There really is a rewarding pastime for everyone and if not now, when?
I’ve also enacted some other resolutions that might interest other sportsmen and they haven’t interfered with my outdoor enjoyment a bit. I release most of the fish I catch and I no longer need a limit of ducks or partridge to make an outing a success. I take a camera on every trip afield and a lot of my cast and blast trophies are on film rather than my wall. Last fall, I helped four friends, including two first-time hunters, each bag a black bear, and I watched seven different bruin visit my bait, none broaching the 200 lb. size I’d set my mind on, so the only shots I took were with my camera. It was still a satisfying season.
A close friend and devout fly fisherman took an oath last New Year’s to keep his rod and gear in his truck all summer. Seems his work and household chores always took priority, but this past season he took a few minutes before or after work or even at lunchtime to visit nearby streams and enjoy a few casts. I’ve said for years that men lined up at heaven’s pearly gates probably aren’t saying, “Gee, I wish I had worked one more day.” Most were lamenting lost chances to hunt, fish, camp and revel in the outdoors. Maybe more of us better leave our fishing gear in our vehicle!
Promise yourself to get out of a rut. Locate a new duck pond to hunt, explore some new woods for whitetail sign or visit a remote trout stream or lake you have never fished before. Push the envelope and fulfill those lifelong yearnings of fishing salmon in Alaska, hunting elk in Montana or simple go hog hunting or largemouth bass casting in Florida instead of visiting Disney World one day of winter vacation.
For most of us, lost opportunities will be our biggest regrets during the later years of our lives. Ask anyone over 50 years of age and they will affirm that days, months and years pass quicker with each New Year! Every day there are folks a lot younger than me in the obituaries, and none of us know our “sell by” date, so don’t delay and put things off. Make your 2017 resolutions rewarding ones for yourself, family and friends, enjoy life in the great outdoors and have a healthy, happy New Year.
