About this time last year, I wrote a column titled, “Need a resolution? Introduce someone to the outdoors” about hunter recruitment. While I still stand by making that a resolution every year – you can never recruit too many hunters – I’d like to take a look back at 2020 and think of what the outdoors mean to the larger group of folks.
Naturally, this revolves around the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 21, I posted another column, aptly titled, “Nature is our final safe haven.” That one got much more attention than the resolution column, and while many different factors could have led to that: Our paywall, revolving around the pandemic, more interest in hiking, etc. Mind you, that was at the beginning of the pandemic for West Virginia. People were panicking, toilet paper was still out of stock in many stores and our canned food stockpile increased substantially. Throughout the last year, we’ve seen guns and ammunition fly off the shelf, and as of yesterday it was difficult for me to find .22 LR for target practice and squirrel hunting. The 9mm, 5.56, .223 and other popular caliber cartridges were gone, too. Luckily, my #2 steel shot was in stock!
As vaccines are beginning to roll out, I hope we’re able to return to normalcy at some point this year. I hope the fear falls by the wayside, though we remember exactly how this all felt. And with that, I hope those that discovered our state’s outdoor assets – or maybe rediscovered them – continue to take advantage of them.
Though I was unable to find stats, just go do a quick search on any outdoor media site and you’ll see story after story about how the coronavirus pushed people outside. Common sense says the same thing. If you’re able to leave your house and go on a hike, run or bike ride, socially distanced and away from the television for an hour or two, it seems like a no-brainer. I know while working from home I’ve been able to hike, hunt and fish more in between stories, or even turn those forays into stories.
I also got back into backpacking this year. I did it a few times in college, either with friends or alone, and rediscovered my love for sleeping in our wilderness areas. With that, my girlfriend and dog had their first backpacking experiences, and it’s something we enjoy doing together. It’s also something we plan on doing much more in the future.
And I know if we’re one case, that’s likely the case for many folks. So, instead of writing two columns about the great outdoors, I’ll roll it into one point: Resolve to do more outdoors. Whether you teach someone new to hunt, hit more wilderness trails or simply go fishing every weekend, make it worth it. Some good came out of 2020, but overall, it sucked. Let’s make 2021 great for ourselves.
Onward!
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