Fishing For Love

For junior Parker VanDruff, hunting and fishing with his family has always been a part of his life. He’s gone fishing since he was 5 and hunting since he was 7.

“I remember as a kid, when I was hunting with my dad and little brother, I fell asleep and woke up to find out my dad shot a deer,” VanDruff said.

VanDruff shared a story about his biggest catch that was one of his most memorable moments from when he was younger.

“My favorite memory was when I caught my biggest fish with a bank line, and we broke our fishing net,” VanDruff said. 

He explained that a bank line is a single line with multiple hooks on it, and usually fishers use it from the shore or the bank. Part of what made fishing and hunting enjoyable for VanDruff was the time he spent with his brother. 

“I look up to my older brother,” VanDruff said. “We don’t argue that much, so it’s nice to hang out with him. We both do mainly the same things. We both like going outside, and we like to have competitions to see who can kill a bigger deer or get a bigger fish.” 

VanDruff said he found hunting fun because of the dedication it took. Hunting taught him patience because of how long he had to wait around, but the reward made it worthwhile. 

“Usually we wait until late summer, and then we head up to our hunting land to check out where we’ll sit at,” VanDruff said. “Then we cut trees and make paths for shooting lanes.”

After the preparation, they have to wait until deer season.

“We usually wait a few months until fall,” VanDruff said. “Then we start going hunting from there. The preparation takes time. Mostly we just hunt at the same place. We’re trying to go to some new places this year.” 

Spending time in nature with wildlife led to an interest in animals for VanDruff for his future. For many species, hunting keeps populations stable. They can help biologists transplant species and save them from extinction.

“I think I probably want to do something with animals when I’m older,” VanDruff said. “I’ve wanted to be a conservation officer because I like what they do, and it would be nice to help out with keeping the wildlife under control and making sure people follow the rules.”