Building Bonds in the Outdoors

By PJ Delhomme

USA board member Ryan Anderson is on a mission to share his passion for the outdoors with anyone willing to pick up a rifle or fishing rod.

Ryan Anderson discovered a passion for waterfowl hunting.

Growing up in Aurora, Illinois, Ryan Anderson spent countless hours hunting with his father, brothers, and uncle, learning the value of patience while chasing pheasants and rabbits. His uncle worked for a local dairy and picked up milk from farmers, who would let them hunt their property. “We would freeze our butt off and hardly ever see anything,” Anderson says. Even so, he wouldn’t trade that time spent with his dad, brothers, and uncle for all the milk on the farm.

As he got older, Anderson started waterfowl hunting with his buddies. They might have had a dozen decoys between them, but they had access to water. Even 30 years ago, if you had access to a place to hunt, it was a big deal, he says. In his early 20s, he discovered pheasant hunting.

When he had a son (Ryan) of his own, Anderson really got serious about hunting. By the time Ryan was five, he was going along on waterfowl and pheasant hunts. Ryan got his first bird when he was 10. He’s 19 now and going to college less than three hours from home. “He can finish his classes Friday morning, come back home, and be in a tree stand by evening,” Anderson says.

His daughter, Charlotte, will be 21 in February, and Anderson did his best to get her into hunting, too. He took her duck hunting once, but when she started clapping when the birds flew away from the blind, “we knew she wasn’t into it.”

Sharing With Youth

With both kids in college, Anderson and his wife, Emily, are adjusting to the proverbial empty nest. Life is still busy, albeit the house is noticeably quiet. As a board member of the Illinois Conservation Foundation and Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, and a day job as business manager/secretary-treasurer for IUPAT District Council 30, Anderson finds time to volunteer with the next generation of hunters and anglers.

At the 750-acre Torstenson Youth Conservation Education Center in Winnebago County, he helps with events like a recent youth deer hunt, which relies on volunteers to mentor young hunters (10-13)—many of whom have never shot a duck or a deer.

This past fall, Anderson shared a box blind with a young hunter who was scared to shoot a small deer. “He just had it in his head that he had to shoot a big buck,” Anderson says. They talked about that. “I told him that he has a lifetime of hunting ahead of him. All he needed to focus on was making a good, clean shot.” He shot the next deer that came into range. It was a little spike buck. “When everything lines up for the shot, you just have to be happy with the opportunity,” Anderson says. “In this case, everything lined up, and that young man was very happy.”

Youth hunts at the Torstenson Center are important for the next generation, Anderson emphasizes. Access to places to hunt is tough to find and nearly impossible around urban areas like Chicago. The days of knocking on a farmer’s door to get permission to hunt are disappearing. Outdoor events staffed with willing volunteers are key to keeping the hunting and fishing traditions alive. “That’s where USA really fills a need,” Anderson says.

“USA connects all the unions through a shared love of the outdoors. It can be work projects, dinners, hunts, shooting events, you name it. Being outdoors with adults and kids allows you to build a bond and a relationship around a common interest, like hunting and fishing. I prioritize my time to get people into it, so they can pass it on to other kids, maybe even their own kids. Plus, it’s such a great way to spend a day.”

Watch Ryan’s story…