HOW TO ATTRACT YOUNG PEOPLE TO US—AND KEEP THEM

When children are very young, they go where their parents take them. To those who are fortunate enough to be taken to a Buckskinning Rendezvous, life must seem good indeed. What child would not love the freedom of Rendezvous, the fun activities around the campfire with Mom and Dad, the adventure of learning to throw a tomahawk and knife, and later to learn to shoot a muzzleloader?

It has been my experience, both with my own three sons, and by observing the children of friends and acquaintances, that young people generally tend to begin to lose interest in the rendezvous life about the time they reach their early to mid-teens. Ever so slowly their enthusiasm wanes and their reduced enjoyment of the rendezvous becomes painfully apparent. To those of us adults for whom our Buckskinning experiences have become one of the high point of our lives, this transition can lead us to ask ourselves how we can keep our young people active, interested, and excited about the hobby that has changed our lives and motivated us to go to great lengths, effort, and expense to enjoy a lifestyle that many of us have been pursuing for many years.

First and foremost, I do not think it is possible to force anybody to enjoy something they simply do not enjoy. Many parents become puzzled as to why their children have lost interest in something that remains vibrant and fun for themselves. I have seen parents become sad and wondering what they did wrong to induce this lack of interest in their offspring. I got my spark through the Disney Davy Crockett and through reading the adventures of George F. Ruxton, Francis Parkman, Bernard DeVoto, and many other authors. For me, the seed was planted and it remained only for me to find the venues to exploit the fire of interest that had been ignited by my reading. I have noticed that most mountain men and Buckskinners love to read. Kids today tend to read what they have to and not as much as we did for enjoyment. I have sponsored several junior members, both into the NAF and similar organizations, and one of the central commonalities of the boys is that they nearly all loved to read for enjoyment.

A second point is that as kids grow older they gain insight and interest in doing thing right. At that point, parents, mentors, and adults who are authentic and endeavor to “do it right” keep the respect and admiration of the young ones better than ones who cheat and/or try to cut corners. This seemingly minor point can turn idealistic young people off.

If they are interested enough to be at an event under their own steam, they are probably interested in doing it “right.” So, the idea is to set a good example and not cut corners or to do things the easy way.

Thirdly, I have seen teenagers and young people who are given hand me downs and ill-fitting clothing and gear to use at rendezvous. Pride in ones outfit and equipment is integral to us adults and should be to those who we wish to retain their interest.

Last, get out on the ground as often as possible and do things as correctly as possible.

You are lucky enough to take road trips, stop at forts and other fur trade places of interest. Keep your enthusiasm and interest high. A good attitude, enthusiasm, and a sense of fun is contagious and will go a long way in keeping young people interested. Don’t talk down to the youngsters, but attempt to educate them and engender the ideas of adventure, fun, friendship, and camaraderie that is important to the enjoyment of Buckskinning. Don’t forget, the bottom line for keeping young people interested is the idea of enjoyment through learning and doing.  



See you on the trail.



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Good words, Buck. They apply to all things, really, not just rendezvous and buckskinning.

~Kees~

A true and well written article that most need to re-read ......




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Kids are kids and will be who they are at the time. I always hope/ hoped whoever I tryed to mentor, if not "now" perhaps later in their life's path. At least they saw and did for real the hunting, shooting, casting, loading SAFETY, in all things and that includes fishing and all skills in the out of door activities. Bout wraps it up for me. Uffda.

Good article guys, thanks Buck.

Good article Buck, see that damn Uffda is still kicking too.



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Tom, didn't know you could read, I still have your glasses you left here several years ago ....

As a youngster (young enough to be young, old enough to be able to start buying gear anyway!), I think you have it figured out pretty well. I won't add much but I'll say that you're spot on about reading. Throwing hawks may have been what hooked me when I was little but it was the books that kept me interested. Books about John Colter, Jim Bridger of course, and Hugh Glass and all of the challenges they faced but also about all the reasons they kept doing it (okay, maybe money was the big'un but you know what I mean). I think that film a while back about Hugh Glass "The Revenant" did a lot to get folks' interest. And I liked it, sure, but it can't compare to reading a book and getting to experience some of that adventure yourself. And by the way if you haven't read the book of the same name that the movie was based on, I'd recommend it - still has some inaccuracies for the sake of telling a good story but they are much less severe than the movie and to the author's credit, I think he actually goes into what actually happened and what we don't actually know for a fact at the end of the book in pretty good detail which I appreciate.

There you got me rambling about books, but anyways you're right, gotta get those kids to read. And hey, it's fine if kids lose interest in rendezvous, as long as they're reading they'll find themselves some much better hobbies than staring at screens.

Bear,

Nothing wrong with books mentioned, today we see our teachers trying to change our history about those that made and built this country.

What in the hell is wrong with this picture, all of a sudden our forefather's are wrong, they weren't fair blab, blab, blab ... "Our founding ideals of liberty and equality were false when they were written. For generations, black Americans have fought to make them ... ".  Good example of fools trying to change our Nations History.  Wake up folks and do your research ...

Buck Conner wrote:Bear,

Nothing wrong with books mentioned, today we see our teachers trying to change our history about those that made and built this country.

What in the hell is wrong with this picture, all of a sudden our forefather's are wrong, they weren't fair blab, blab, blab ... "Our founding ideals of liberty and equality were false when they were written. For generations, black Americans have fought to make them ... ".  Good example of fools trying to change our Nations History.  Wake up folks and do your research ...

I must have gotten through school in time to avoid all of that stuff, or maybe just in a rural enough area that people haven't gone completely off the wall yet. Well either way, all the more reason to make sure kids read and do the thinking themselves.

Collect all the old books, they are true to the Times it was written. The young people need to have that access also, when they are old enough to care about the truth. The internet cannot rewrite history when it's on the printed page copyright before the internet. Although one must always consider... History is written and interpreted by the victors. Therefore one must also engage in critical thinking. Just rambling, this stuff gets me going.

A big part of it is that people are judging the past by the mores of the present. What was normal and expected in the past may not be the same as it is now. When Jefferson's wife Martha died and he took up with Sally Hemings, he couldn't publicly take her for a wife. It would have been the end of his public career. That was the morality of the times. To judge him by what is now considered proper is an attempt to rewrite history. The same with Washington owning slaves and all the rest of what was appropriate in the past.

These revisionists had better remember that the same can, or probably will, happen to what is done today.

How fast we forget .....

Buck Conner wrote:How fast we forget .....

Buck, I don't think they forgot. I think these new millennials raised by liberals with communist ideals, want everything for free, and have the work ethics of their lazy parents, and healthy welfare recipients.