MY OUTDOOR HERITAGE

By Craig Bowen, Account Manager - Hill Country North

I was standing over a human cadaver performing an academic autopsy when I realized I wanted to devote my career to rural land and the associated people. I will admit this is a curious situation in which to reach such a decision, but a little background information will help in understanding.

I grew up surrounded by rural land management, primarily ranching and farming, at the base of the Llano Estacado region of Texas. As many young people in my position do, I took for granted the freedom of hunting and fishing whenever I wanted, solitarily roaming the pastures and fields at my discretion, and learning about rural land culture from experienced elders.

My maternal grandfather taught me biology and ecology, and I can remember effortlessly sitting in his considerable lap very early in life pouring through volumes of outdoor encyclopedias, learning about everything from animal identification and behavior to flint knapping; my paternal grandfather took me fishing frequently, and we wandered around various farms and native pastures for hours on end; my father took me hunting in every season, and taught me about the work involved in rural land, from hoeing cotton to breaking ice in livestock water troughs; and my mother made sure she, my father, and I went on frequent camping trips, inhabiting state parks on school-year weekends and even longer jaunts during the summer.

Academically, I was most interested in science. During high school, I attended two science-based leadership camps which changed me forever. The first chronologically was the Buckskin Brigades, a leadership camp designed by the Texas Wildlife Association focused on wildlife management. This camp is 100 rigorous hours of everything from drill-style marches complete with cadences to classroom debates. The second, which my AP Biology teacher recommended me for, was the NYLF/MED (National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine) which is a pre-medical school camp designed to teach high school students what it takes to become a doctor. This camp is what brought me to a well-lit basement in Chicago's Loyola University Medical School standing over the aforementioned cadaver.

The day before the autopsy, I had visited the Chicago Field Museum as an elective event associated with the Forum. As I stood over the dead body, an elderly female whose chest plate had been removed by my partner - who, given her exuberance towards the subject, is almost certainly a surgeon today - I stared at the internal organs and appreciated the fact that I was much more entertained the day prior gazing upon the awe-inspiring maneless, man-eating lions of Tsavo and full skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. The realization floored me because I had thought of nothing more in the last few years than medical school and all which follows. I enjoyed the rest of my time at Loyola, but my sights were now set on much different things. I eventually attended University and earned degrees in Wildlife Ecology and Agricultural Economics, all the while searching for ways to earn a living serving landowners and helping native Texas wildlife.

Today, I have many outlets directly related to my outdoor heritage: my career, which takes me from property taxes to real estate sales, and my hobbies, which range from shooting sports in arenas all over the country to casting for redfish on the Texas coast. At the Buckskin Brigades when I was 16 years old, Dr. Dale Rollins, who eventually found himself on my Master's committee at Texas A&M University, said to me, "Let your vocation be your avocation," and both are now without question rural land and the outdoors in general.

For most, outdoor heritage means teaching young people to enjoy outdoor sports or simply spend time outdoors for recreation. For me, outdoor heritage became a life full of rural land and the outdoors, and encompasses the way I make my money; the way I spend it; the food I eat; what I teach my son; the time I spend with my wife; the way I process my surroundings; and how I relate to my fellow humans. My friend Justin Dreibelbis, who serves as the Conservation Programs Coordinator with Texas Wildlife Association, put it this way: "Hunters, anglers, and other outdoor sportsmen are the original conservationists, and they pay for conservation across the country. Moreover, I wouldn't have near the relationship I have with my father or grandfather if we had not hunted together."

So, the next time you are enjoying your property and the outdoors, think of others who may not be so lucky, particularly our young people, and make every effort to teach a child something about the outdoors, or take your own children on an open-air adventure.

You never know, it just may define their entire life.

A young Craig Bowen celebrates the outdoors.

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Plateau Land & Wildlife Management helps Texas landowners protect and enhance their greatest asset -- their land -- with wildlife management plans, wildlife tax valuation assistance, qualifying wildlife management valuation activities, and more.