Why I Mentor: Dr. Mark Schneider
This Is Why I Mentor Series
A series to share, educate, and inspire others with mentoring stories.
We have all had one in our lives…. Someone we look up to. Someone we call when we have questions, concerns, and frustrations. Someone who provides sound and nurturing wisdom. Someone we can expose our true selves to and still feel supported. Someone we can hunt with. Someone we can fish with. Someone we can spend time with. A mentor.
This series is meant to be a way to educate and motivate you to give back to others. It is designed to inspire you to become a mentor. It is a reminder to thank your mentor. Hopefully the advice and stories shared here will leave you nothing short of empowered!
Mentor: Dr. Mark Schneider
OCCUPATION:
Dentist at Schneider Family Dentistry
THOUGHTS ON MENTORING:
Sometimes it comes in a formal setting, like Outdoor Mentors facilitates, and other times it comes when informal mentors take adult onset hunters, friends or kids out to the woods for adventures with nature.
Going out with a mentor to get some nature experience can make those first experiences easier to enjoy, as you can count on the mentor to think about things that inexperienced adventurers would overlook. A mentor can help bring "newbies" up to speed on rules/regulations, ethics, animal behaviors, strategies for fishing/.hunting, as well as most likely have gear that new adventurers might not have acquired.
HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN MENTORING?
I have fished in Kansas since our family moved to Manhattan in the 70's, and I took my Hunters Safety course in the early 90's, and have been chasing turkeys, waterfowl, upland game and eventually deer in Kansas since then. Most of my time afield is spent using public lands such as Public Wildlife Areas, or Walk In Hunting Areas, which are private lands with landowners allowing public access, but I also treasure a few parcels of land that special friend/landowners have granted access for me to recreate.Over the years I have taken my own children, other family members and friends out for first experiences in the woods. As I am prepping these folks for our adventures, I try to set reasonable expectations for what might transpire while we are out in nature. I also remind them that weather and nature can be wholly unpredictable, so we should be well prepared for our time outdoors.
WHAT DOES MENTORING MEAN TO YOU?
I find a greater enjoyment when I help someone get their first fish, duck, turkey or deer, than if I had been the person getting the harvest. And because this is a "first" for them, I get to see nature and success through their eyes.....eyes full of wonder, while it might have let it become more routine for me.
WHO WAS/IS YOUR MENTOR?
My first mentors in the outdoors were family members. My father and Uncle Dutch were Wyoming natives, and well versed in the ways of nature. I was taught to fish small trout streams, and I developed a strong liking for catching and eating trout. My family also lived in East Africa when I was a youngster, and we went on "safari" often. Camping, photographic and hunting safaris were taken all over Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
WHAT IS YOUR ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO BECOME A MENTOR?
Mentoring requires me to plan ahead more compared to when I go out myself, or partner with a more experienced hunter/fisherman. In general I have to remember that new outdoorsmen or women are less likely to be up for tough outings (time spent out, temperature extremes, and even the amount of walking required). I also need to temper expectations as far as successful harvests are concerned, as rookies haven't yet learned how to remain still, be stealthy while moving, or become proficient in casting or shooting.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MENTORING MOMENT?
I had a nice time last Sunday acting as a deer guide for Outdoor Mentors. My hunter had experience with shotgun shooting, but he had never shot a scoped rifle. He proved to be a crack shot, and a quick study when it came to become familiarized with the hunting rifle that I had brought. We had a nice time in the blind with the young hunter, his father, and myself enjoying the waning hours of a beautiful Kansas day turning into twilight. We saw or heard multiple species of birds, and finally a young buck slipped out of the cedars and played hide and seek with his shadow. Coming back to the "cabin" for a barbecue supper, I was happily surprised to see that a Kansas Wildlife Game and Fish officer was there to do a license check on the young hunters, which I think drove home the idea that it is very important to know and follow the game laws..
