Essay Contest

I recently had a chance to meet some of my cyber friends in person on a special hunting trip in South Texas. These guys and I communicated back and forth for months on our website forum. On the forum their real names are rarely used. It was left to my imagination what some of these folks must really be like. These guys had names like Brax, El Lobo, Fishin Bum, Squiggy, Moondoogie and more. These cyber outdoorsmen and I had shared many of the same opinions and it was kind of weird to say the least that I actually had cyber friendships.

As I pulled up to the ranch lodge, I could only imagine what these folks would really be like. Soon I would find out they too had never met each other except on the forum. I had heard of horror stories about cyber relationships and still had a bit of doubt with this group of strangers. But the feeling of doubt must have been mutual.

In no time we put faces to names and started talking like we had known each other for years. These guys were great and they were even better than I had thought they would be. We spent three days on this hunt. Some of the hunters shot their bows while others carried their rifles. By the end of the long weekend, it was impressive to see a total of 5 hogs hanging in the cooler.

Even more impressive were the great ideas that came out of this get-together. While meeting, the group suggested we develop many new categories on the forum site, which has been done. But the best idea of all came in the form of an essay contest for young outdoor kids.

We now have an essay contest for young people between the ages of 8 – 15. The rules are simple. Contestants submit an essay titled “What the Outdoors Means to Me” in 100 words or less. Submissions must be submitted on-line and will be judged by other members of our forum. The winner of this essay contest (and an accompanying adult) will receive a hunting trip to the Double Arrow Bow Hunting Ranch for a Texas Dall sheep as well as a new Horton crossbow. In addition, this trip will be videotaped to broadcast on national television. For other rules on this contest and to find out more details on the hunting trip, log on to our website. By the way, if the winner doesn’t have any experience with a crossbow, I will be on hand to teach them the proper way to use it.

About a year ago, we developed this forum in an effort to provide a free service to all outdoors people. Virtually any question that anyone has in regards to the outdoors can be answered here. The response from the public has been overwhelming and as a result, we have helped more folks have a more successful time outdoors. The best thing about this forum is that it is free advice from expert outdoors people.

Log on and discover the fun of developing cyber hunting and fishing friends and get some great advice on anything to do with the outdoors. The website address is www.keithwarren.net. If you know of a child that loves the outdoors, suggest they spend some time writing and submitting an essay. They may just find themselves on television.