The 2nd annual Deerassic Kicking Bear event proved to be an event where 300+ kids were involved. As with other Kicking Bear events that are totally free to everyone, many of these kids have never had the opportunity to participate in all the outdoor activities that Kicking Bear does. Dean Ziegler, founder of Deerassic Park Education Center, and his assistants Jerry Snapp, Susan Jividen and Mark Meeker and the whole Deerassic team put together an incredibly well-run Kicking Bear event. This took place near Cambridge, Ohio on June 22 and 23

On Friday afternoon when I saw the numbers of kids being registered for this event, it was very humbling. From registration—right to the fun and games—there were all sorts of activities for the kids to do along with their parents and mentors. At the same time, there were hundreds of tents being set up throughout the woods in shaded areas. There were tents for families—tents for kids—and even odd-shaped tents that looked like someone was sleeping in a car!

Even the Army was there with their laser gun shooting booth. Numerous kids were lined up as they were taking turns shooting at various types of scenes on the big screen. They had ducks, deer, and even one of my favorites—the prairie dogs to shoot at. What a hoot! Those little varmints can really move! Just as fast as you pulled the trigger—a beam of light would hit the screen. Every time you hit your mark, the crowd would yell and every time you’d miss—they’d even yell a little louder.

There were two large fishing ponds on the property stocked full of various types of fish. From the minute the kids had a fishing pole in their hands, some of them never left the fishing hole. There was even an area for kids just to learn how to cast with help from the mentors. But I don’t know who was catching the most fish or smiling and laughing the most—the kids or the adults!

In one of the areas that was set up for teaching the kids new skills was one of the oddest weapons I’ve ever encountered. It was called Atlatl. It was a wooden handle launcher over a foot long that you held in your hand with an arrow-like spear that was over 6 feet long that fit into it. There was a small upright peg in the one-foot long handle that held the spear in place until you threw it forward. The instructors worked with the kids individually until the kids learned how primitive man hunted with this weapon. A great many of the kids became very accurate in a short period of time. They even had instruction on how to build these weapons which the kids participated in. There were even kids learning how to throw tomahawks and stick them into a large section of tree that had been cut for this purpose. It didn’t take very long for the instructors to show the kid how to get the proper rotation in order to get it to stick. A great many of the participants got so accurate that they were able to hit a playing card stuck to the large log.

There had to be 60-100 people on the hayrides going through the wooded areas, hooting and hollering enjoying the old-fashioned hayride. With Mark Meeker at the helm of the tractor, I don’t know who was having the most fun—him or the passengers. One of the stops they made throughout their route was to look at and feed the deer that Deerassic is so well known for. These monstrous, majestic whitetails have been growing their antlers since they had shed their old set just a few months ago. I couldn’t believe the growth and the size of them in just a short period of time! They were only partially grown for the year—still in velvet—incredible!

Another really neat activity they had was that Dean himself taught these kids how our ancestors used to make arrowheads from flint rock. They actually got to physically participate in how to do this with Dean. He had a crowd of not only youngsters but also adults around him at all times learning this ancient craft.

There were areas set up for learning firearm safety, shooting pellet guns along with separate areas for crossbows and archery.

Also on hand was Chris Dyer, the Cat-fish man. What an incredible character! His whole life evolves around catching monstrous catfish. What a great inspiration to all these kids. He not only mentored kids at the fishing hole and showed them pictures of the giants that he catches, he was also involved with all the games—man did we have fun!

There were gunny sack races, rope pulls, kick ball, dodge ball, and there were kids hooting and hollering and having fun from one end of the 138 acres to the other. One of the most impressive things I saw was watching the catfish man running after he had kicked the ball. You would have thought that everything in the world pivoted on him getting to home base! I never laughed so hard as I did when he slid in hands first to make a home run! I was seeing stars I was laughing so hard! In the rope pulling, the competiveness was incredible! There were boys against girls—adults against adults—kids against adults. It went on for hours. Several times there were over 200 people on the rope at one time. On one particular occasion, Greg Hawkins who is built like a bull was right next to me and we were pulling but we were starting to lose the battle and all of a sudden Greg makes this unbelievable noise and turns right into a human tractor and with each grunt he made, the whole rope started to move in our favor. I couldn’t believe the difference that one man could make with 200 people on a rope. I witnessed it firsthand because I was right there with him. The laughter and excitement that came out of that particular pull because we had defeated the other team will be something that I will not forget. The camaraderie will be stuck in my mind forever.

As darkness started to fall in on us there were numerous kids coming up and asking me about a marshmallow fight. There were several disappointing looks as I gave them my answer. I told them I was going to give them proper instruction this year on how to roast a marshmallow and that they shouldn’t be trying to instigate trouble. With as many new adults and kids that came to participate at this Kicking Bear event, they really had no idea what they were in for. Tammy was there with her megaphone keeping the crowd focused on me so that I could talk and everyone could hear me. One of the things Tammy does using her megaphone is to teach the kids and adults how to hoot like an owl. It’s incredible to hear 400-500 people hooting like an owl at one time—man the laughs don’t quit! I stood in front of the crowd and told them how I was going to show them the proper way to roast a marshmallow. You couldn’t believe all the moaning and groaning and the long faces on the kids. I really had them fooled. As I was showing them how to properly open the marshmallow bag, you could have heard a pin drop. Previously there were 5 cases of marshmallows that had been handed out to everyone in the crowd. There were actually people following step-by-step how I was opening the marshmallow bag. It sounded like the roar of a jet plane when I reached into my bag, pulled out a handful of marshmallows and threw them at everyone. Before I could reach in for a second handful, there was a catastrophic eruption much like a volcano going off. That’s the only way I can describe it. The sky and everything in front of me looked like an uncontrollable blizzard—a complete whiteout! No matter which way you moved, the marshmallows were coming in. The ground was turning white! For over an hour kids and adults alike were having an absolute time of their life! There were a few bags that were saved for their true purpose. Later, we sat around the campfire re-energizing ourselves for the games that continued on throughout the night. What a blast!

At one point I thought about all the parents throughout the world who are wondering where their kids are at 1:00 o’clock in the morning and here we are at Kicking Bear having the time of our life in the outdoors for the purpose that the good Lord had given it to us for. Around 2:00 am, I couldn’t take it any more. I was physically drained—so it was time for me to retire. Isn’t that incredible—that you can get that many people together having so much fun that they don’t even want to go to bed at night! But you have to go to bed because you physically can’t take it anymore. The lights over the open fields where all the games were being played were finally turned off close to 3:00 o’clock in the morning!

I didn’t get much sleep that night because, like so many others, I was so excited about what was going to go on the next day that at 5:00 am I was standing underneath the open shelter getting ready for breakfast. They had two giant barrel grills that they started making pancakes on along with sausage and eggs. There was also cereal and fruit that made for one of the most incredible breakfasts anyone could eat. I actually was trusted with making pancakes. I couldn’t believe the number of pancakes that the crowd was going through. Within a short period of time, I became an expert on how to pour the pancake batter onto the grill, wait for the bubbles to look right on the cakes and then flip them. The fun part was tossing them into the pans after they were cooked. I was getting a little swolled up in the head with my tossing ability until I got caught missing the pan completely which the team wouldn’t let me forget. I realize now if you’re going to mess up, you’re better off not having anyone watching you or you may acquire a new nickname without really wanting one.

The 9:00 o’clock safety meeting was called to order by Tammy using the megaphone and getting everyone together after breakfast. When I asked how many kids had never shot a bow before, you couldn’t believe the number of hands that went up. So we formed lines to the practice bunkers and one by one we instructed the kids how to release their first arrows. As an arrow hit a target, the rest of the crowd cheered. It didn’t matter if these kids were 3 years old or older. Everybody was having fun learning a new skill. Eddie Coston, another outdoor celebrity, was in charge of pairing the kids up into groups. Then each group headed out to the 3-D courses. The Deerassic team had done a great job in getting the archery range and all the activities ready for Saturday. There were three different courses set up. When you finished with the A course you could go to the B course and then on to the C course. When the C course finished, they could go on to the A or B course. It was incredible to have that many kids shooting at one time. Throughout the whole valley, the sound of laughter could be heard from the different groups.

The new Kicking Bear bows from Diamond, the Cutter and the Edge, were the perfect tools for me to use with kids of all sizes from 3 years old to 80 years old! All morning long kids were having a blast. You can only imagine what it’s like for a great many of these inner city and under-privileged kids to be able to walk through the woods and release arrows at life-size animal targets.

The competition in the groups was fierce. One of the most fun things to do is walk up to a group with a bag of candy and let them know that the closest arrow to a Gander Mountain gift card is going to win the card and the rest of the group is going to have to “suffer” by eating candy! At several of the Kicking Bear camps this year, we’ve had celebrities who have been blessed with great talents and most of all a big heart. Five-time world champion, Joella Bates, was on hand having as much fun as everyone. She was teaching proper form and how to release an arrow. As in all events—it’s about 50-50—girls and boys. Many parents also got instruction on how to properly release their first arrows that day. Heath Painter, a well-known outdoor celebrity and his family, experienced Kicking Bear for the first time. It was great to have him there for all the kids to meet.

I truly believe that if the dinner bell had not gone off, that the kids and adults would still be on the course as I’m writing this. We actually had to go on the course and pick people up with 4-wheelers and the hay wagon to get them back in time for lunch. Nobody wanted to leave the course. But when they got to the shelter their eyes were as big as mine—there was a mountain of pizzas! I’ve never seen so many pizzas in one place in my whole life. What’s incredible about eating that much food is that normally you just want to lie down and take a nap afterwards but there was no time for that. There were too many other fun things to do and not enough time to do it all.

Later that afternoon, we gathered everyone together to give away all the prizes. Just before we did, I had the opportunity to talk to the whole crowd and in short, I let the kids know that no matter how tough it gets in life—whether in sports, in school, or especially with their family—that they should never, never, never give up! I also let the kids, parents, and mentors know that because of one man taking me hunting four times in my life—he changed my life forever and they have the same opportunity to change a kid’s life and their family’s life to come by becoming a mentor. Because of what Tom Poulky did for me, I’d chased my boyhood dreams all over the world with a bow and accomplished everything I had wanted to accomplish in sports and in business. And when I thought I was at the “peak of my game”, had everything I had dreamed of going my way, my wife looked at me and said, “the Lord put me into your life to help save you”. At that point I realized that the Lord had been working in my life long before I knew He was and it’s what we do here on earth in His glory that really matters. I told them that they have a Heavenly Father, and with a “coach” like that—they can do anything. I let them know that even though there were thousands of dollars worth of prizes to give away, that they had already received one of the best gifts they will ever receive and that is—time being spent in the outdoors with someone who cares.

There were several kids at that camp who were old enough to hunt who needed mentors to get them through their hunter safety course and into their first hunt for the Ohio youth season. Every kid that wanted a mentor got one for this hunt. Greg Hawkins, alias the human tractor, member of the Canton, Ohio sheriff’s department will be heading up the group youth hunt. If you ever want to experience first hand a life-changing experience—be a mentor and take a kid on a hunt. I guarantee it will be an experience that neither of you will ever forget.

For info on the Deerassic Park go to their website Deerassic.com

For info on Catfish Chris go to his website CatfishChris.com