MARINE ON ST. CROIX — On the eve of Minnesota archery
deer season, Travis Stewart addressed a room full of mostly teenage bowhunters
with his version of tough love.
"Listen up!'' boomed the seventh-grade biology teacher. "You will do as exactly as I say. You are using equipment that will put a 1½-inch hole through your buddy."
After running through a list of bowhunting safety rules, Stewart, a teacher at John Glenn Middle School in Maplewood, offered an unequivocal warning to the young bowhunters: "If I see (a rule broken), I'm throwing you into the truck and taking you home."
No one questioned Stewart's safety lecture nor his authority. On this night, the members of the John Glenn Archery Club — boys and girls ranging in age from 12 to 18 — were sitting in a cabin in northern Washington County without running water and electricity because they wanted to. They wanted to hunt.
"Everybody respects him,'' said Colleen Royce, 16, a second-year bowhunter from Forest Lake. "He has to be tough. In hunting, there are dangers."
As the wind whipped the trees outside, Stewart finished his speech with gentler reminders. The goal of hunting, he said, is not to shoot the biggest deer in the woods but to make a humane shot.
"I'll pat you just as much on the back if you've shot the biggest buck in the woods or if you saw three deer in the woods and passed them up because you didn't have an ethical, clean shot,'' Stewart said.
Finally, Stewart assigned deer stands to each hunter, excitedly describing the pros and cons of each stand. "There are a lot of cool things to see out there other than deer,'' he said.
After evening chores, the propane lanterns were turned down, and the young hunters turned in for the night. Some were nervous; others were excited. The chatter of teens finally gave way to the snoring of the adult mentors.
Outside, the wind strengthened, and a storm threatened rain.
POPULAR PROGRAM
The John Glenn Archery Club is an anomaly in public school systems. Children are encouraged to practice shooting a weapon — a forbidden item on most school grounds — and become skilled enough to be able to take down a full-grown white-tailed deer.
When Stewart's program was first profiled in 2003 in the Pioneer Press, the program was 4 years old and had grown into one of the most popular at the school. Local sporting groups were donating money — upward of $15,000 — to help pay for equipment and travel to local archery ranges. Scores of kids were signing up.
Parents hail Stewart, calling him an innovative motivator for the kids, some of whom had never shown interest in sports or other activities.
Today, the program's popularity is as high as ever. Archery is now taught as a physical education class at John Glenn, and the after-school archery club still exists, but Stewart has reorganized the hunting part of the club into a nonprofit organization. Money for the club has become an issue. Some sponsors have dropped out, but a major archery manufacturer is interested in taking the youth archery club to a national level.
"I'm talking right now to a national manufacture and trying to put together a proposal for them to create a program in exchange for fully funding the program,'' Stewart said. "We would design the program around their equipment."
Stewart said the club still has ties with the school, "but I have accepted that bowhunting is not going to be a politically correct activity done within the confines of a public school district.''
Yet, the hunting club remains hugely popular.
Stewart has 65 young bowhunters participating this year. They hunt on property provided by the Wilder Forest and the Wildlife Science Center, a wildlife research facility near Forest Lake.
To participate in the hunting club, youths strive to become "cadets." Participants have to volunteer 32 hours of outdoor chores to the Wilder Forest or the Wildlife Science Center. The work involves pulling buckthorn brush or chopping wood.
The program hinges on three values: community service, ethics and responsibility.
Stewart explains: "It's a willingness to have integrity in the face of peer pressure, a willingness to give service to their community and responsibility to the club and to the hunting community as a whole."
Responsibility is often linked to proper behavior, as Stewart often reminds his charges.
"Your behavior not only reflects on you and the club but also on the hunting community as a whole,'' he told his bow-hunters.
SUCCESSFUL HUNT
The opening morning of Minnesota's archery deer season, Sept. 16, was cold, wet and windy. In darkness, the young hunters left the cabin at the Wilder Forest and, using flashlights, found their tree stands. Deer were seen but none shot.
Dani Waskosky, 12, of Maplewood, saw one deer and followed instructions perfectly. She didn't shoot because she didn't have a good shot.
"It all happened in less than 30 seconds,'' she said.
Her father, Bill Waskosky, said Dani's road to hunting hadn't been easy. A wisp of girl, she hadn't been able to pull back a 40-pound bow, the minimum needed to kill a deer. But she practiced all summer and strengthened her arms until she could complete the task and shoot accurately.
Bill Waskosky gives high marks to the program and to Stewart. "Since the time we met him and talked about the program, we've always felt comfortable. We have no doubt that our kid would be safe around Travis Stewart."
By Sunday afternoon, a storm-filled opening weekend had turned warm and sunny. The hunters had taken four deer. All were antlerless does or fawns, a good sign the hunters were helping reduce the herd size. Michael Schultz, 13, of North St. Paul, had bagged his first-ever deer and was thrilled.
"I saw, like, 10 deer,'' Michael said. "It was exciting."
In the seven years since the program has operated, 600 kids have taken up archery shooting, and 250 have become bow-hunters, Stewart said. Some of the first participants are still with the program, acting as senior mentors to younger hunters. Others have moved on to other activities or sports.
That is just fine with Stewart.
"The kids find that the (hunting cadet) program has a lot of things in common with activities that take integrity, service and a work ethic. It's a good steppingstone for kids to drop into student council or other activities.
"Our primary goal is simply to develop good kids."
Chris Niskanen can be reached at [email protected]
or 651-228-5524.