Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting looking for knives for youth hunters - Pass it On! Outdoor Mentors

This past year I started volunteering time with an outdoor non-profit organization called Pass it On! Outdoor Mentors, a group that is working hard to provide quality opportunities and outdoor experiences to the next generation of hunters. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that enjoyed the outdoors together and we have tried to pass this love of the outdoors on to our kids, too. Our kids have benefitted from the guidance of other volunteers through the 4-H youth shooting programs, Pheasants Forever youth hunts, Kansas Governor's One Shot Turkey Hunt, etc., so this is something I have started to try to help pay it forward for other young hunters. (I serve as a volunteer coach for our school district's HS trap shooting team, too.)

Pass it On! Outdoor Mentors

Last month we started a new program to try to provide a nice skinning knife and a bone saw to youth participating in our Outdoor Mentors youth deer hunts. I put some of my own $ into this and thanks to the generosity of several members here (AH64guy, Steelruger22, boatboy), we were able to kick things off to help get some of these new young deer hunters set up for the future. As you can see from the pictures and comments below, this small start here at the end of the season went over very well, so we would like to build on this program in the year ahead. I will be reaching out to several companies and looking for sponsors, but if this is a program you would like to help support either through donations or knives you might have I would be interested in visiting with you. Some knives were donated this year and others were purchased at a discounted price to support the program. Any support you might be able to help provide is appreciated. Please send contact info. via pm. If you have any questions please let me know. Thank you for considering.

Some comments and pictures from the @Outdoor Mentors Facebook page this month:

Mike Miller hosted two youth hunters on a youth antlerless deer hunt this past weekend. Both of these youth were able to harvest their first deer! Thank you to our mentors, Mike, Josh, and Dan! Special thanks to Dan and the 24hourcampfire forum, these youth went home with a skinning knife and bone saw to help them get set up for more deer hunting in the future!









From her dad: “I can’t say enough good things about the whole experience!! I hope and pray that everybody that goes through this program is as blessed as we were!! Top notch program!!”

Some of the knives provided to the youth:


From another parent as relayed to Brittany, Field Operations Director for Outdoor Mentors:

"When we got back to town late last night Geno was excited to get the deer up in my garage, skin it, and get the back straps out. His mom told me today that when he got home after 11:00 last night, he spent the next hour talking non-stop about the hunt and his new knife that he broke in on that deer! This was the 4th Pass It On experience that Geno has been on, and he is looking forward to many more."



Special thanks to landowner Ed Markel and Michael Pearce for organizing and hosting this hunt. Thank you to Dan and the 24hourcampfire forum for donating a bone saw and skinning knife to each youth. Thank you to Maize South High Trap Coach, Will Moore for mentoring his shooting athlete Geno on the hunt. Lastly, thank you to all of the mentors who helped on this hunt.

I received this message from host Michael Pearce after the hunt:

Dan, These kids GREATLY appreciated getting their own hunting knives. It did mean something special, especially given then right after they came back with their first deer. I handed the remaining knife to a young woman Sunday morning. She said she might give it to her little brother since she had a hunting knife, and he did not. He shot his first deer a few hours later. I didn’t know he’d be actually hunting or I’d have given it to him, from the beginning. At least four of the six knives were used within minutes of acceptance. Three of those were on first deer. The knives were a great addition. The Markel Ranch Hunt had 13 participants (12 youth and a mom). 10 deer killed, one hunter missed. Two didn’t see a deer.



One last testimonial shared by a parent with youth involved in the hunts last weekend:

"Outdoor Mentors Staff,
As the parent of Carter and Easton that attended the hunt on Saturday, I wanted to express my gratitude to the Outdoor Mentors organization, staff, volunteers, land owners and anyone else that makes this possible. The professionalism of all mentors and volunteers who supported this hunt were top notch. And we had great weather which helps with the kids overall experience.

I grew up in Scott County and only shot a deer once. You spotted the deer from 1,000+ yards, drove to within a couple hundred yards, took the shot, drove to the deer and headed to the meat processor. I have never hunted from a blind at shorter distances and most of all I had never field dressed or processed a deer myself. Field dressing has actually been my biggest fear. Yes, I always dreamed of taking my boys hunting but the fear of failing at the field dressing part was enough to never take the chance and ruin what we had shot. I understand one of these pictures is a little gruesome but I think it shows where my fear stands at this point. By deer #2 I was all in!!!
Easton was able to take a shot during the morning hunt which put a smile on his face from ear to ear. Since you don't know Easton, these smiles don't come easily. Easton had a great time in the blind talking with his mentor about remote school, basketball and the outdoors. The mentor might have been preoccupied taking pictures of the wood ducks, which Easton said were very cool. When Easton says "I see a deer"! And then the fun began. They watched them work the location for 15-20 minutes before making a decision. Easton was using his Grandfather's 270WIN which he has used to take many deer in the past and the same gun I used to take my first deer.

Carter also had a great mentor that brought enough gear to outfit another couple hunters. We sat in the blind Saturday morning waiting for the movement to begin. Listening and watching the birds enjoy the morning sun, all a while thinking this is the perfect spot for a deer to graze. Cold was setting in and the minutes were ticking by and the thought of being out-smarted was increasing. Just then Carter saw movement ahead on the hillside but it was too small to be a deer. Carter says "it's a coyote". Then I finally saw the white coat flash by, it wasn't a coyote and it wasn't a deer. Later that morning we learned from Rick that he had seen a stray Great Pyrenees with a pup running the ranch. It all made total sense at that point, the deer were not near our blind due to the dog. Guess you could say "it is just luck of the draw".
Having woke up at 3:30AM I knew it would be a long day but life is short and you need to make the most of every moment. Michael was frustrated that Carter did not get to see a deer and asked if we could stay for the afternoon hunt or come back on Sunday. My boys and I discussed our options and they were both supportive of making a long day of hunting. We ran to town for a burger at and then right back to the blind. Carter and I entered the blind around 3:00PM and started to see movement around 4:00PM. We watched a couple deer work the area for 15-20 minutes. Carter was looking at me every 30 seconds saying "now". I made him patiently wait there for the right moment to take the shot. Carter cocked the hammer on his Grandfather's 45 Colt with iron sights and squeezed the trigger. At 60 yards he made a perfect shot and was grinning ear to ear. As for the 45 Colt, this was the same caliber his Grandfather used on his first deer and Carter was determined on using the same caliber for his first deer.
What a DAY!!!
What an AMAZING ORGANIZATION!!!
What a GREAT group of VOLUNTEERS!!!


Thank you for the opportunity for my boys and I to experience the hunt from blind to freezer."



On behalf of Director Mike Christensen, Field Operations DirectornBrittany French, and all of the mentors involved in hosting these hunts, I would like to say "Thank you!" for your support! As I mentioned earlier, we got started late with this idea of providing a knife and bone saw to these young hunters, but it really went over well and was appreciated by the youth and parents and we will be working to build on this small start in the year ahead. The staff and volunteers have been busy this fall and the Pass it On! Outdoor Mentors program has had a great year! We are at 156 hunts for the 2020 year and 420 youth involved for all of the hunting seasons combined and hosted 112 youth deer hunts this year!