experiencing the great outdoors

By Rod Haxton, editor

Back Country stars
share love of outdoors
with area youngsters

As youngsters growing up in western Pennsylvania, deer hunting was as natural as eating and sleeping.
“When deer season opens they let out school for a week,” says Casey Keefer.
He, along with his brother, Chris, grew up walking the countryside and stalking big game, just like their fathers and grandfathers.
So it was no surprise that the brothers developed such a passion for the sport that they began conducting guided hunts throughout the U.S. and Canada.
What could be better than getting paid doing what you love?
How about getting paid to do what you love for a television series? The Keefers are featured each week in “Back Country Quest” which is aired on The Sportsman’s Channel.
“It’s kind of hard to believe,” admits Casey with a huge grin. “We travel around the world and we get to hunt with some great people and share some pretty amazing experiences.”
Despite their success, the Keefers certainly haven’t forgotten where they came from and they are willing to share that with the next generation of hunters.

They were at Lake Scott State Park on Saturday for the annual Southwest Youth Program sponsored by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
This was the biggest turnout yet for the program which attracted about 90 youngsters from throughout Western and central Kansas.
Participants had an opportunity to experience a variety of outdoor activities which included shooting clay targets at the shotgun range and archery which was taught by the Keefer brothers.
Brian Bartels, an educator with the Sternberg Museum, Hays, offered a session which featured snakes found in Kansas.
And another popular venue provided youngsters an opportunity to learn how to use a duck call along with different types of hunting blinds.
“The main thing is to get kids to experience the outdoors, whether it’s hunting, fishing, hiking, bird watching or something else,” says Manuel Torres, regional wildlife officer with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
Through this program and others offered by the KDWP, Torres says they also encourage parental involvement.
“It’s so easy for a parent to say ‘no’ and have their kid stay at home and play video games or be on the computer,” he points out. “But as soon as you get a parent involved, then you start the bonding process that I feel has been lost between adults and kids for quite a while. I hope we’re starting to get that back.”
Torres is also excited about the program’s ability to attract nationally-known presenters, like the Keefers, which they have done for the past two years.
“All the credit for bringing in presenters of this caliber goes to Mike See and Patternmaster. He’s the one who has the contacts and is able to bring in guys of this caliber to speak to our kids,” adds Torres.

Passion for Archery
Brothers Chris, 31, and Casey, 27, started out as hunting guides, taking hunters all across North America to hunt whitetails. Along the way they developed a number of contacts within the industry, which eventually led to an opportunity to have their own show on the Sportsman’s Channel.
The show is aired throughout the United States and Canada.
“Our show is about 90 percent archery hunting because that’s what we enjoy,” says Casey. “But we’ll do a little black powder hunting with muzzle loaders.”
As for game, “if it has four legs and it’s legal to hunt, we’re hunting it,” he says. “We do a lot of turkey hunting, but for the most part we’re hunting whitetails. That’s our bread and butter. We’d like to think we’re pretty darn good at it.”
However, the Keefers are introducing the thrill of hunting a wider range of game into their weekly program. They love to hunt elk and are gaining more experience with mule deer. They’ve also traveled to New Zealand for the opportunity to hunt Red Stag, Chamois and Tahr.
“Of course, we travel to Canada every year and hunt black bear in the spring,” Casey says. “That’s given us some pretty freaky encounters.”
One trip to the Yukon for a spring grizzly bear hunt they were floating the Yukon River and, at night, staying in a wall tent on the side of the river. The outfitter had a blue heeler which was the camp guard dog and would alert them to any trespassers.
“If the dog barked you knew something was wrong. We were laying in the wall tent, about 2:30 in the morning, and out of nowhere we heard a snap, some rustling and lots of barking,” Casey says. “It was about 10 or 15 feet away from our tent.
“When that’s happening just outside your tent and it’s pitch black, you keep your rifle or your bow close by and every single hair is standing up - not just on the back of your neck.”
Obviously, experiences of that sort come with the back country hunting. As Casey acknowledges, “You’re in Mother Nature. You’re in their hands. That’s one of the things that we thrive on, being in the bush, being in the back country on their turf.
The Keefers also bring their program to Kansas on occasion and, in fact, were in eastern Kansas making preparations for whitetail hunting just prior to their trip to Western Kansas. They were hanging tree stands, setting trail cameras and laying the groundwork for a return trip later this fall.
Chris admits they have a dream job, making a living while doing what they enjoy most. However, both emphasize they never forgot their hunting background as kids growing up in Pennsylvania and they make every effort to share their time and knowledge with youngsters.
“We try to be as involved as possible when it comes to encouraging kids to experience the outdoors,” Chris says. “There are some TV personalities who expect to be paid for things like this, but that’s not what Casey and I are about. If we can get kids to learn more about the outdoors and enjoy the experience then the time we’ve spent has been well worth it.”