Opinions

In our increasingly sanitized world, people are less curious, and less aware of their surroundings

Recently I made a trip to Valdez to pick up some fish. The weather was Valdez-esque for October. The night was spent at a generic motel. The offered breakfast was ... interesting. The eggs may have never seen a live chicken, nor had the sausage likely seen a pig, unless one had walked by when it was being manufactured. Don’t get me wrong, the taste was OK, but that may not have been real either.

This is from a guy who eats stuff that has never been cooked. The food we accept from the places we now choose to spend the night is not good food. The motel itself was clean and sanitized. What happened to personality? This is our society today and it is creeping — rather racing, into our outdoor recreational activities. Outdoor recreation has no business being “canned.”

But — it is — in many instances. We hike on trails with signs. Trails should have signs, but they should not be man-made. Instead of looking up to spot the next directional or informational signpost, hikers need to be looking down to see what creature has been there before them. What kind of plants are in this part of the forest? Are there berries? Is there food for any type of wildlife?

Looking down might give one an indication as to the safety of the trail. Are there bear tracks? Baby bear tracks? Lots of big bear tracks? Should the answer to either of the last two questions be yes, either turn around or pump a shell into the chamber of the shotgun. Don’t speak to me about bear spray. Bear spray doesn’t stop a crazy human. Only the naive will believe it will slow a sow protecting cubs.

Also ... bear spray comes in a can. What is written in the snow is not in a container and will tell you a lot about the country one is traversing. Predators travel far and wide searching for food. Voles and hares are the primary Alaska food sources for most winter predators. Lots of fox tracks and soft snow usually means voles. In the high country, it means ptarmigan.

Less and less recreationalists are aware of their surroundings. As a society we depend more and more on what government entities tell us. “Park here, walk this way, don’t get off this trail, no running, don’t feed the squirrels.” Much of this is good advice. My point is, if we are old enough to lock our truck and hike off the highway, then all of us should already know those things.

Who is supposed to teach about the outdoors? Parents. Not government officials. Not the Department of Fish and Game — they are hired to manage game and fish, not neophytes. Parents who don’t know? Learn before you teach your kids. Learn prior before you pick up a gun or even a walking stick.

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Especially before picking up a gun. Guns are not toys. They are designed to kill things. Rifles are for food, unless one is in the military. Pistols are for protection. Not from bears — from people.

Alaska requires a hunter education class for kids who wish to hunt. A hunter education certificate is needed for anyone born after 1986 in many roadside units. That is a sad turn of events, but a necessary one. Canned hunter education is provided by good, well-meaning folks. However, hunting is not a one-size-fits-all activity, no more than hotel scrambled eggs are a fit for every palate.

We are becoming a generation of non-achievers. The “easy button” is replacing base knowledge. Hunters use an electronic range finder instead of learning what 300 yards looks like. Hunters go where they can drive their ATV. Why walk? What’s a packboard anyway? The minimalist now rides a 350 Honda rather than a side-by-side — should I have a hotel sausage patty or a link?

The thought that if a generation of knowledge is lost, we can’t get it back — is true. But — we aren’t losing the knowledge, we are giving it away through laziness and the pointless rush to get to the final step.

Folks, I have news for you: the final step isn’t the top of the mountain, it’s the journey.

As Robert Service wrote in “Spell of the Yukon”: “It’s not the gold I’m wanting, it’s finding the gold.“

John Schandelmeier

Outdoor opinion columnist John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest.

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