Colorado Mule Deer Association

Young Hunters Take Advantage of Private-Land Archery Hunt

By DAVE BUCHANAN
Dave.Buchanan@gjsentinel.com

Under a bright, early October sun, surrounded by oak-covered hills blazing with the colors of autumn, a line of archers plunked arrows into life-size deer-shaped targets. But this wasn't your ordinary deer camp. This was a camp dominated by youngsters, ranging from 12 to 15 years old, preparing for a weekend of private-land deer hunting sponsored by the Colorado Traditional Archers Society and the Colorado Mule Deer Association.

Among the six youth hunters were four from Grand Junction: Josh Thompson, 13; Alice Kerbein, 15; Tyler Seacrest, 16, and Jared Guillory, 13. The other participants were Isaac Evans, 12, of Crested Butte and Owen Clyncke, 12, of Boulder. Most archers will recognize that last name. Owen's grandfather is Marv Clyncke, one of the dozen or so parents, mentors and volunteers who were carefully monitoring the youths' activities. His presence at the hunt is the archery equivalent (but infinitely more low-key) of NBA star LeBron James slipping into a high school gym to offer a few pointers.

Marv Clyncke of Boulder helps his grandson Owen Clyncke, 12, sharpen a broadhead arrow Friday in preparation for a deer hunt near Molina. Clyncke was one of the founding members of the Colorado Traditional Archers Society, one of the sponsors of the hunt.

Clyncke, a bowhunter since 1954, was instrumental in developing Colorado's first bowhunting season and is a founding member of the Colorado Bowhunters Association and the Colorado Traditional Archers Society. Among many other honors and firsts, he is credited as being the first hunter - rifle or bow - to take all eight species of big game in Colorado.

Bowhunting continues to be a fast-growing segment of the hunting sports, with elk hunters alone increasing from 11,700 archers in 1986 to more than 38,000 in 2008, according to the Division of Wildlife. Add in roughly 10,000 archery deer tags and 500 or so bear licenses and more than 49,500 archers were hunting last fall. However, most archers today shoot compound bows, which use a series of pulleys or cams to ease the strain of drawing back the string and aiming the arrow.

The Colorado Traditional Archers Society was founded to perpetuate the techniques of traditional archery equipment, including regular or longbows and sometimes recurve bows, although even the latter sometimes are more modern than strict traditionalists prefer. This meant many of the young hunters at the weekend event were shooting equipment much older than they, including Owen Clyncke, who was pulling the string on a recurve bow more than 50 years old.

Hunters had their choice of a half-dozen or so blinds scattered around the ranch but youth being young, many of the hunters preferred to spot and stalk. Among the stalkers were Teddy Evans and his son Isaac, 12, of Crested Butte. A firm believer in the lessons hunting imparts to everyday life, Teddy said he had his two sons involved in hunting early.

Isaac and Teddy Evans of Crested Butte step out while scouting a deer-hunting area Friday during an archery hunt on the Parker Basin Ranch south of Molina.

Teddy Evans of Crested Butte talks deer-hunting strategy with his son Isaac, 12, during an archery hunt Friday.

"I started taking them out when they were 3," he said. "I'd take them out duck hunting and it would be freezing and I'd be carrying all these sleeping bags in my pack to keep them warm." Sam Evans, 15, this year killed a bighorn sheep with his bow. Isaac proved a resourceful and ardent hunter, sneaking to within 20 yards of a cautious doe after a 45-minute crawl through the oak on hands and knees. His hunt went awry at the last minute when the doe's approach was interrupted by two adults concerned that shooting hours were about to expire. "She was within 15 feet but she was behind a tree," said an obviously disappointed Isaac. "One more step and I would have shot."

Most of the Grand Junction youths at the hunt attend Redlands Community Church and received their introduction to traditional archery when Behrens invited Redlands youth pastor Jeff Seacrest to the CTAS High Country Shoot in June.

"We usually attend a summer youth camp and this year I was thinking about doing something secular," said Seacrest. �"When Denny told me about the CTAS shoot, it seemed like a natural." For Alice Kerbein, the weekend was a chance to test her newly developed archery skills. "I really enjoyed the camp and when I heard about the hunt decided to try it," said Alice, who dressed in a bushy camouflage suit for her hunt. She didn't harvest a deer but it wasn't for her lack of enthusiasm or skill, said hunt mentor Billy Johnson, a member of the Colorado Mule Deer Association board of directors. Johnson, a science teacher at Fruita Monument High School, spent a day with Alice and came back impressed with her stalking ability.

"She had me belly crawling and tiptoeing along boulder fields," Johnson said. �"I told her she needed to be carrying a camera, too, because she is going to see so much more game than other people."

PHOTO DEANNA JOHNSON/SPECIAL TO THE DAILY SENTINEL Alice Kerbein, 15, of Grand Junction, suitably well-camouflaged in her bushy field outfit, proved to be one of the more-skillful stalkers during a weekend archery hunt on a private ranch south of Molina.

The hunt is part of an outreach program by the CTAS and the Colorado Mule Deer Association. A plan to do some habitat manipulation on a couple of private ranches included an agreement to host a youth hunt, and this archery hunt was the first of two hunts set for this fall, Behrens said.
A rifle hunt is scheduled for November.

Dave Buchanan
Outdoor Writer
970-256-4313
dave.buchanan@gjsentinel.com