Syracuse.com - Adult mentors key to providing the spark for young hunters and fishermen

[HuntingNY-News]

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There usually was someone who took the time, who had the patience to pass on their specific love of hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, camping. It's about passing it on.

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<p>For many, passion for the outdoors started with another person.</p>

<p>It’s a father, a mother, a grandfather, a spouse, a friend — someone who took the time, who had the patience to pass on their specific love of hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, camping. It’s about passing it on.</p>

<p>In recent weeks, readers have sent in photos and short accounts of youngsters who’ve shot their first deer, caught a big salmon or walleye, shot their first duck or goose. In each case, there’s someone who got them started, who provided the spark.</p>

<p>Several examples follow:</p>

<div id="asset-10245759" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img height="285" width="380" src="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/10245759-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="trio.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="byline">Submitted photo</span><span class="caption">Three generations of Robert F. Neufangs.</span></span><span class="photo-bottom-left"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span><span class="photo-bottom-right"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span></span></div>

<p><strong>That first buck</strong><br />Robert F. Neufang Jr., of Fabius, send in a photo of his 15-year-old son, Robert F. Neufang, III, with his first buck.</p>

<p>“What really makes his truly special is that he was hunting with his father and grandfather ( Robert F. Neufang, Sr),” the father wrote. “The photograph is of three generations of Robert F. Neufangs.”</p>

<p>“Additionally, the buck he shot was enormous — a perfectly symmetrical 8 point that field dressed at 195 pounds. The deer was taken at our camp in northern Lewis County on Nov. 6. We went so far as to use baby wipes to clean up the blood on the mouth and body to make the photograph as presentable as possible. I am having this mounted for him and should be able to give it to him on his 16th birthday next April.”</p>

<p>The father added his dad is a “hunting and fishing fanatic” and that love has just been passed down two generations.</p>

<p>“My dad was almost in tears and my son was so excited. I hadn’t even field dressed it yet and my son was texting and sending photos to his friends, “ he said.</p>

<p>Neufang said he bought his son a lifetime sportsmen’s license when he was 2. When he was 14, he gave him a Remington 700 rifle with a Nikon scope, which the boy used to shoot the 8 pointer.</p>

<p>“I didn’t know if he’d get into it, but it’s been money well spend,” the father said.</p>

<div id="asset-10245767" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img height="640" width="374" src="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/duckjpg-b5b0169df9e90490.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="duck.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="byline">Submitted photo</span><span class="caption">James P. Fliedner and Anthony Palumbo</span></span><span class="photo-bottom-left"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span><span class="photo-bottom-right"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span></span></div>

<p><strong>Water fowl hunting</strong><br />Jim Palumbo, of Liverpool, talked about a close family friend, James P. Fliedner, formerly of Chenango County and currently living downstate, who took the time when he was younger to get him and his brother involved in hunting waterfowl (ducks, geese).</p>

<p>“He was dating my older sister. He was a neighborhood kid. He never married my sister, but we became best of friends,” Palumbo said. Today, Fliedner comes up frequently to a family farm in Pitcher and has taken the time to take out not only Palumbo, but his son, Anthony, goose and duck hunting. Fliedner loves to do, Palumbo said, because he “is loaded with all the gear” needed to hunt waterfowl.</p>

<p>Palumbo sent in a picture of Fliedner and his son, Anthony, holding a recent harvest of wood ducks from a Nov. 6 outing in Cincinnatus, N.Y.</p>

<p>“Anthony took two drakes. Both were perfect, overhead shots,” the proud father said. “At the age of 14, Anthony has really taken to the sport of waterfowl hunting and maintains a great respect for the outdoors.”</p>

<p>Fliedner has also taken the boy turkey hunting the past two years, and next weekend will be taking him deer hunting for the first (along with the dad) on his property.</p>

<p>“Thanks to friends like James Fliedner, who goes out of his way to provide youth with such great experiences and understanding of the outdoors, Anthony will also be able to some day pass on the American heritage of waterfowl hunting to future generations.”</p>

<div id="asset-10245764" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img height="296" width="380" src="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/10245764-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="walley2.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="byline">Submitted photo</span><span class="caption">Dante Piraino</span></span><span class="photo-bottom-left"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span><span class="photo-bottom-right"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span></span></div>

<p><strong>A memorable walleye</strong></p>

<p>In the photo, Dante Piraino, 14, of Baldwinsville, proudly holds up a 26-inch walleye he caught back in August on the St. Lawrence River using a worm harness.</p>

<p>His father, Mark, wrote, “He was fishing with his grandfather, Gene Conte. Gene and Dante have logged many hours over the years fishing on the St. Lawrence.”</p>

<p>Conte, a snowbird who splits his time each year between Florida and the St. Lawrence River near Massena, said it was his father who passed on his love of fishing to him at an early age.</p>

<p>Over the years, Conte has passed it on — taking his daughters fishing, along with neighbors and friends. Most recently, he’s focused on his four grandchildren.</p>

<p>The grandfather talked with pride about how young Dante has graduated from his Snoopy pole to a 5-foot Ugly stick pole with a Shakespeare reel.</p>

<p>“I’m trying to teach him how to fillet a fish. That will be the next step,” he said.</p>

<div id="asset-10245768" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img height="484" width="380" src="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/10245768-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="salmon2221.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="byline">Submitted photo</span><span class="caption">Matthew Miller</span></span><span class="photo-bottom-left"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span><span class="photo-bottom-right"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span></span></div>

<p><strong>A whopper chinook</strong><br />In a photo sent in by his mother, Matthew Miller, 14, from Brewerton, struggles to hold up a 37-inch, 22 pound chinook salmon he caught Oct. 11 at Trestle Pool on the Salmon River.</p>

<p>“The fish was landed after a 10 minute fight. It was caught using an artificial egg,” said the mom, Jeanann Miller, who credits her husband with infecting her son with the fishing bug.</p>

<p>The father, David Miller, has been taking Matthew out fishing since he was 3 or 4, she said.</p>

<p>“He taken him to ponds, they’ve gone to Oneida, little rivers around,” she said. “They’ve been going to the Salmon River for the past three falls. This is the first time Matthew has caught a salmon. He was so excited to finally catch one, we’re having it mounted.”<br /> </p>

<br /><br />View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog