Alex4Outdoors
Registered: December 2014
City/Town/Province: Lexington
Posts: 1
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My project is an ongoing effort to educate others about wildlife and conservation and to give youth opportunities to experience activities that our outdoors has to offer. I’ve always dreamed of a career related to the outdoors because I’m an avid sportsman: I love to hunt, anything from deer to duck, dove, turkey, squirrel, rabbits, geese and quail. I enjoy training my AKC English Springer Spaniels. I love to fish…and living in South Carolina there are many opportunities… anywhere from my grandparent’s pond to Lake Murray and Santee, to the Pee Dee River or even on the coast in the inlets or on the piers. I enjoy both fresh-water and salt-water fishing, anything from bream, crappie, bass, catfish and stripers to spots, flounder, whiting and mullet. I like to set crab baskets and cast-net for shrimp. It must have been a prophecy that my parents chose “Fischer” as my middle name. Hunting is important to my family and me. My dad taught me about the sport early on. Hunting for me is not about getting a trophy; it’s about the respect for the animal, the outdoors, the family bond and the hard work that it takes to manage the land and be a seasoned hunter and conservationist. I help my dad manage 255 acres, surrounded by 700 acres belonging to a timber company and the Forestry Service. We plant food plots and feed turkey and deer year-round, not just to bait them. We let the young ones go and enjoy their beauty as they play. I’m always excited when I see turkey when I’m hunting deer; Dad taught me turkey is a sign that deer are close-by because they like to feed together. We have seen an increase in the turkey population on our property. We also made a flooded water area for ducks. We work to provide a habitat that is sustainable for the growth and development of all game. I love hunting because I appreciate all that nature has to offer and teach us and it’s a great way to spend valuable time with family.
I believe it is every young hunter’s dream to work for DNR, so my first instinct was to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and become a game warden or marine/freshwater biologist. With this mindset, I spent time training with the Explorer Cadet program for exposure to the law enforcement side of being a DNR conservation officer, and attended the American Legion’s Law Cadet Academy, a summer youth experience with DNR and SLED. I also participated in the DNR Carolina Coastal Discovery Marine Education Program at Ft. Johnson Marine Resources Research Institute. We went out into the Charleston Harbor estuary on the Discovery boat, tested water samples and collected marine life in nets, held and discussed many specimens and looked at life on the Oyster Reefs.
Then in my sophomore year of high school, I had a revelation. With my passion for the outdoors, I could make the strongest impact in preserving the future of our hunting heritage by becoming a teacher and educating youth about conservation and giving hunting opportunities to those who may not otherwise get the chance. This epiphany came to me the semester I took an Outdoor Living class. We talked about conservation, hunter and boater safety, studied the SCDNR Rules and Regulations, cooked over campfires, planted trees and maintained the school’s landscape. I had my first experience with archery in this class, which led to me joining the Archery Team. My most memorable part of this class was when our teacher, Mr. Counts, arranged a field experience at the National Wild Turkey Federation. I registered to become a JAKES member that day. We toured the museum, fished, and shot archery and sporting clays supervised by DNR officer, Sgt. Brown. She had visited our class a few times, but in this setting, I was able to talk one-on-one with her. We discussed my interest in the clay target programs, which led to me joining a local 4H club and competing around the state in sporting clays, skeet and trap. I shoot competitively in tournaments sponsored by 4H, DNR, the Scholastic Clay Target Program, the South Carolina Youth Shooting Foundation, the National Skeet Shooting Association, the National Sporting Clays Association, and the American Trap Association.
The activities that I enjoy most now would not have been possible without Mr. Counts introducing these experiences, but what changed my life forever was a comment I overheard him saying to someone that day. He spoke about the joy he felt from seeing the students having fun experiencing some of these activities for their very first time. It was my first time realizing many youth have never had the opportunity to give hunting, fishing or shooting a try, things that I take for granted. A light bulb went off inside my head; I had never considered before that I could do what I love doing in the outdoors and at the same time give someone else the joy of those experiences through teaching. Although Mr. Counts has moved on from my high school to be the QDMA Regional Director, I continue to stay in contact with him.
Since that day, I have focused my attention to educating others about hunting and fishing, wildlife conservation, and how to have fun and be safe with outdoor sports. I began volunteering with SCDNR, being an ambassador for their Education Outreach programs such as Take One Make One (TOMO), SAFE Archery (Students and Families Experiencing Archery), and Youth Shooting Sports. At various public events, I teach youth about archery and talk to the public about DNR’s education programs designed to introduce hunting and fishing opportunities to youth who have no previous outdoor experience. As a member of the Archery Team and representative of the National Archery in Schools Program, I was asked by DNR to teach youth about archery at their SAFE Archery exhibit at the Palmetto Sportsmen's Classic. They also asked me to represent the Youth Shooting Programs at their exhibit at the FLW (Fishing League Worldwide) event at the Columbia Metro Convention Center.
I took the Level I Shotgun Instructor Certification Training through Clemson University Extension Service to become a Certified Instructor for 4H Shooting Sports, enabling me to coach other youth athletes and squads in the shooting sports programs. I have become an advocate for offering more outdoor living, wildlife management and natural resource conservation curriculum in our public schools. I support the initiative to recognize archery, clay target sports, and bass fishing state-sanctioned sports. I’m excited to be a Teacher Cadet this semester and will pursue my teaching degree at the University of South Carolina. I plan to stay in state to teach and to be involved with coaching after-school activities such as the National Archery in Schools Program and the Youth Shooting Sports. These activities build self-esteem and confidence. They also teach respect, ethics, responsibility, sportsmanship, focus, dedication, teamwork and commitment. I believe that through teaching others about hunting sports, I can provide opportunities for youth to learn about the dynamics of competition with all its life lessons in sportsmanship, but also teach them about the ethical treatment of wildlife resources, care for the environment and the value in creating long term partnerships to preserve our hunting heritage.
Teachers have the ability to influence and shape lives. As Henry Adams said, “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” I want to introduce more youth to the fun of the outdoors. The future of our hunting heritage begins with the recruitment of new hunters. Without hunters, there will be no wildlife or habitat; Hunters fund the budgets for state wildlife agencies through license sales and excise taxes on guns and ammo, which drive the research and work to restore essential quality wildlife habitat. I will promote hunter education, ethics and safety, wildlife habitat conservation and management principles, raise awareness of the Take Aim, Take One Make One, and Save the Habitat/Save the Hunt initiatives, and provide opportunities for those who may not otherwise get the chance. I am committed to educating youth and providing an investment for future generations to enjoy the outdoors as much as I do.
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