A Natural Escape
Column by Hunter Redfield
*Editor: Jenna Seigworth
An avid hunter and fisherman, Hunter is passionate about being in the outdoors. He is a senior student at Cranberry High School and a second year student in Journalism.
"I find my passion not from just being in the outdoors but from just how amazing it can be, the brutality and yet the sheer beauty of it. Also the way a trout stream can cleanse your mind but challenge it all at the same time. That is where I get my passion."
-Hunter Redfield
Last Light Limit
3/6/20
After an exciting morning of watching and shooting snow geese, a nap was extremely desirable. However, we had work to get done to prepare for the afternoon hunt.
After returning to the house, we took a little break to grab some lunch and gain some energy before the work began.
Once we were done with lunch Ben, James and I went out to the shed and began to tackle unboxing the stack of new Specklebelly decoys that we needed for the afternoon hunt.
Snow Filled Skies
2/13/20
After the first day in Missouri, where everything was cold and wet, I was more than anxious to enter a pit and not have to be covered in rain gear.
However, the wind could be heard howling outside the house from the time we woke up, and we knew it would be a challenge to hunt in. read more
The Full Body Pit
1/24/20
Fourteen hours after Keith and I left my house, we were finally able to step out of the car, knowing we were not obligated to get back into it for a while.
As we began unloading the car, a snow goose feed could be heard in the background while snows and specklebellies could be heard drifting into the feed through the darkness. read more
Goldeneyes
1/2/20
After Thanksgiving dinner and a couple games of pool we went home and to bed.
Hoping the weather would be good for a duck hunt, I went to bed and slept through my alarm, so when I finally woke up I was rushed to leave and get set up before shooting time. However, I somehow managed to be set up fairly close to shooting time. read more
Sleep is for the Weak
12/5/19
With senior trip coming to a close at 10 on Thursday night, I went to school on Friday and drug myself through the day. I was completely exhausted and wanted to go home and take a nap. However, I only had three more potential archery hunts and there was absolutely no way I wanted to rifle hunt. read more
The Little Ku
11/14/19
After waking up and going through the normal morning ritual of dragging myself to the guide shack to eat breakfast, 6:30 AM strikes the clock, and it is time to load the rafts into the planes and kick off another day of work. We sent the first group of clients out, and while standing on the dock waiting to catch the plane, Joey and I were told to very promptly put our waders on because we were going fishing... read more
Opening Day
10/24/19
".....Excitement was starting to set in as we talked to another guy launching in the same place we were, and finally everything was rounded up and in the canoe ready to go. So we slip it down the bank and into the water and we take off. We weave our way down the channel while trying to avoid as many weeds as possible and end up at the first obstacle. A giant white oak that had fallen into the channel blocking it off...." read more
Quest of the Pike
10/10/19
3:00 came, and I hear the steady thump of a Beaver prop pounding the air. As the plane makes it down the runway and glides onto the lake, my boss looks at me and says “You ready to go pike fishing?”
Startled and at the same time curious, I ask what he means, and then it hits me that one of the clients in the plane wanted nothing more with his week than to catch a pike...read more
A New Home
9/26/19 (published in the Derrick 9/28/19)
*Post written while spending this whole past summer in Alaska.
It is funny to me how many times I’ve forgotten I’m in Alaska.
Every morning, I wake up and crawl out of my sleeping bag in the glorified tent known as a weatherport and make my way to the guide shack, getting coffee and breakfast and then catching and launching planes all morning....read more
first time for everything
8/15/19
My morning started out as usual, waking up at 5:55 AM to make it to the 6 o’clock serving of breakfast in the guide shack. After eating and drinking a cup of coffee, one of the guides hobbled into the guide shack in immense pain, as he tells us he is unable to take his clients out and therefore needed replaced...read more
The Journey
8/1/19
The last day of school came, and although there was nothing to get ready for school, I woke up half an hour earlier than normal, and after getting a last day of school picture, I got into my truck with a bag filled with two cleaned rainbow trout and made my way to my great grandma’s house to give them to her since she loves fish so much... read more
the last weekend: part three
7/18/19
Once again, alarms at 5:30 went off in the cabin, but water dripping onto the new tin roof allowed me to slowly close my eyes and go back to bed with no intent to wake Jacob.
At around eight I re-awoke and tapped Jacob. Soon we got ready and stoked up the fire to make sure it was ready to cook breakfast on before we left for the stream...read more
The last weekend: Part TWO
7/11/19
Alarms set for 5:30 met their mark and went off as planned, but for us it seemed way too early.
Seeming to drag the tiredness behind us, we made our way to the kitchen and soon had our waders on. We crawled into the truck and endured our short car ride while listening to the voice on google maps tell us every turn till we reached the destination we had both been waiting to fish....read more
The Last Weekend: Part One
6/27/19
It was a weekend we had been waiting for since the year prior when our days were spent trekking around small wild trout streams while mornings and evenings were spent at the river stripping streamers for smallmouth.
We talked about it all day at school, and upon arriving home, I gathered my things and ...read more
dynamic duo
6/13/19
Jacob and I have talked about killing a turkey together before school since 7th grade, each time occurring closer and closer to when we could drive and hunt together.
So when turkey season started, we were more than ready to find turkeys, so every night I drove around checking all the spots I figured we had a chance at killing a bird quick...read more
A Day at the Hatch
5/29/19
As a fly fisherman, nothing seems to be more amazing than fishing a hatch.
Fish are rising everywhere and bugs are all through the air. These were the moments I was picturing in my head as I drove to Oil Creek with word that grannom’s were hatching and trout were devouring them. [read more]
The Triple Trophy
5/16/2019
Every night, I go to sleep and three bright red empty 3 1/2” Kent shotgun shells stand next to each other on my nightstand.
Each stand there to signify the completion of a triple trophy, yet they all have different stories behind them. [read more]
Triple Trophy valley
5/2/2019
It all started with mouth calls and an owl hooter sitting in the cup holder of the truck with my sister in the passenger seat. We made our loop every night, checking all the spots we knew turkeys were roosting and had one spot where we consistently heard them. [read more]
Hook, Line, and Nothing
4/18/19
From the time I pulled out of the school parking lot, time moved like a snail. Every tick of the clock seemed to barely creep by, and as I sat and drank my afternoon coffee like an old man, excitement seemed to enter me with every sip. [ read more]