The hunting car was a 1914 Model T owned by Gary's uncle Jack. That's a vintage trailer on the hitch and there's a forked horn buck inside taken by hunter Elizabeth Flaherty.

The most ambitious two-day hunt I ever organized was for blacktail deer with a bunch of young people. The hunting car was a 97-year-old Model T with a vintage trailer, and the firearms were old too, or at least middle-aged: pre-’64 Winchester Model 70s, an old Model 94 and a Model 54 Winchester and a Savage Model 99.

Paxton was 15 then and he’s 28 now. Alexa was 14 and she is 27. Paxton, Alexa and Lexie all have their own families now. My own daughter was there, along with a couple of her friends, Elizabeth and Victoria. We called it the Young Hunter Project.

It started when my friend Lonnie died and left two daughters and two sons who would never have a chance to go fishing with their dad again. Nolan was 10 and Sam was 9 when their dad passed away. At the same time, I knew another boy their own age who needed someone to take him hunting. That was Paxton. We started with ground squirrel and rabbit hunts and pheasant hunts. When Paxton and Nolan turned 12 they drew tags for deer. Sam claimed his first deer the next season. Their moms told me what a blessing it was to have the fresh meat. And the boys were proud to have brought home game.

My own girls were hunting too. We had a rule they had to tag a deer and catch a steelhead before they talked to boys. We found ways to bring other youngsters along when my daughters were hunting. There just seemed to be more and more children who didn’t have adults to take them.

I had ground rules. The hunts would be one- or two-day deals with a high probability of harvest. We brought plenty of snacks. The other rule — the young people had to want to go. As my friends saw how much fun everyone was having, they naturally wanted to help. Lee Sandberg, Jeff Aldrich, Joe Cullison, Jim Harris, Brian Engle, Jack Lewis, Zach Waterman, Sam Pyke, Larry McGlocklin, Flip Freeman, James Flaherty, Logan DeGree, Charlie Rowles and quite a few others stepped in to help. Kristy Titus was a fantastic dorm mom and hunting guide when we needed her.

Other partners in those years included Nosler, Warne Scope Mounts, Alps Outdoorz, High Desert Safari Club, Oregon Hunters Association, Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association and the Friends of NRA.

Traditions started. We would go to pizza if everyone filled their tags. And stop at a coffee stand on the way home.

Nolan’s first deer hunt lasted less than 10 minutes. We went through the gate, closed it. Stopped and glassed. Drove half a mile. It was probably Lee Sandberg that spotted the deer.

“How about that one?”

Nolan rested the rifle on a fence post and fired a small, fast Nosler bullet. After a nine-minute hunt, the 12-year-old notched his first deer tag.

Another favorite memory was of Emmett, who was the youngest of eight children and no one in his family had hunted for a couple of generations. Kristy Titus offered to hunt with Emmett and mentor him. She provided a cut-down rifle for him to use and Nosler donated the ammunition. On Halloween, Emmett walked in the house with a pumpkin on his head, carrying the carcass of his deer. I am sure no one in his family will forget that moment.

Then there was Abby, Emmett’s sister. We brought her on pheasant and duck hunts after taking her to the COSSA Range and shooting clay pigeons. The new hunter earned her wings when she managed to contribute pheasants and ducks to the family larder.

One of the best moments was when Paxton called me on the last day of deer season. He had been hunting by himself in the national forest and had logged nine days in a 12-day season. He found the tracks of a buck in light snow, followed it up and shot it, then dragged it out to his truck. He brought it to my house and showed it to me — a 4×5 mule deer.

We touched the lives of more than 20 young people at times when they really needed it. One day young Gus shot a white pigeon while we were hunting geese west of Burns. He was so proud of the pigeon.

He called last January before he went back to college.

“I want to take you chukar hunting,” he said. I dropped everything. The first time I had hunted with him he was 5 years old. And now he was taking me hunting. He shot a chukar. I missed one. It was awesome.