Finding Joy in Mentoring Young Anglers and Hunters
By George Deibel
For John Groff, hunting and fishing isn’t about the harvest. It’s about helping others. It’s a lesson he first learned from his grandfather Clifford Aukamp when John was 5 years old.
“He took me to the mountains the first time in the Northern Tier,” John recalled. “I just got hooked on the mountains, and he introduced me to hunting. He took me to Chincoteague, Virginia, when I was 6 years old, and I've been going there to fish for 44 years now. He taught me everything I know.”
Now John, a Quarryville resident, is passing on what he knows by mentoring aspiring anglers and hunters. He started while volunteering for the National Wild Turkey Federation for 10 years and working for the organization for another year. John helped implement the mentor hunting program through the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“It’s just been a passion to get kids into hunting and fishing because it's what kept me out of trouble,” said John, who was born and raised in New Providence and graduated from Solanco High School in 1994. “I try to get the kids away from video games and TV and all that good stuff.”
John began with his own kids, Kyla and Chase. “I started them hunting right when the mentor program started, and they both harvested their first deer at 6 years old,” said John. “That got them hooked on it. It’s a family affair. We have a family cabin in Tioga County, and the kids love it there. They love to hunt there. We just come together, and that's what we do.”
John’s wife, Jessica, likes to joke that he is closer to their kids than he is to her. “It’s because we share that common bond,” John explained. “My daughter has moved out, and she's going to school for nursing and has her own house now. My son still lives at home. But hunting and fishing always brings us back together. We go down fishing together, and we go hunting together. It’s just that things that bring us back together. It's almost like Thanksgiving for us.”
John also spends time hunting with his nephews Caden and Owen Lock. They had a memorable moment last Halloween when Owen was 8 and Caden was 11. “Owen always had opportunities to kill, but when he's with his dad (Shawn), for some reason, he gets a nervous giggle and can’t ever pull the trigger,” John said. “I told him before we went out that morning, ‘I'm taking you out. Now, listen, you got to keep yourself composed.’ Well, this deer comes walking in, and I talked him through it: ‘Keep your composure. Don't look at the antlers. Just relax.’ And he made a 50-yard shot with a bow.”
John became emotional. “I was in tears,” he said. “Owen asked, ‘Uncle John, are you OK?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, I'm fine, buddy.’ I said that’s what it’s all about.”
When Owen called his dad, he learned Caden had killed a buck at another spot, and the brothers got to come together with their own bucks they got within five minutes of each other.
“When I shot it at 50 yards, I couldn’t believe I hit it,” Owen recalled. “I was so excited I cried, and so did Uncle John. It was the best hunt ever.”
“I get excited when I harvest a deer, but I've harvested so many, it's not the same,” John said. “I’ve always been that way when hunting with friends or family. I get more excited. I want to jump in and help right away. I think I enjoy somebody else's harvest more than I do myself. It's like when we're down fishing and kids that have never caught a flounder or never been on a boat and they're out there and they catch fish. I enjoy watching that happen.”
John has also mentored the three sons of his friends Tony and Hope Cox. The oldest, Gavin, is a fisherman and became a more active angler while attending college at Salisbury University. John, Jessica, and the Coxes recently went on a fishing trip together during a vacation.
Bryce Cox is a rising senior at Solanco High School. “Bryce was probably 13, and he came to me, and he asked if I'd introduce him to hunting,” John said.
Three years ago, Bryce was working as a ballboy for the Solanco varsity football team, which is coached by his dad. Bryce had been at every game, and didn’t want to miss a playoff contest, but his dad talked him into going hunting with John and missing a football game. “We went up early on a Friday, and we ended up seeing a ton of deer Friday night,” said John. “We went out Saturday morning, and I grunted a buck in to Bryce. It was about 40-yard shot, and he shot it. He was able to call Tony and Hope and tell them that he had killed his first deer, and I kind of felt bad because Tony wasn't there to experience it. Tony said to me, ‘There is nobody else that I would rather him be with than you.’” John has also taken the Coxes’ youngest son, Trey, on a couple of hunting trips.
John is a big proponent of Sunday hunting because it allows more time for families to become involved. “People that work a lot have an extra day to experience and get hooked to the outdoors,” he said. “People don't have unlimited vacations, so that extra day on a weekend gives you that extra time to hunt and spend time with families and experience the outdoors.”
John has been turkey hunting in South Dakota, Wyoming, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Virginia, but deer hunting in Tioga County remains his favorite location. “It's a family cabin, and my wife's stepdad owns the cabin,” he said. “I started dating her in 1992, and I started hunting with them in 1993. And there's only one year since 1993 I haven't killed a buck up there.”
Within the next year, John plans to obtain his captain’s license so he can charter fishing trips for flounder out of Chincoteague. “I want to eventually make that my retirement plan,” he says. “I've been fishing there 44 years. I know the waters. I know how to catch the fish.”
John and Jessica have no plans to leave Quarryville for good, but Chincoteague holds a special place in his heart. “There’s a causeway that goes into it, which is basically a road that they built through the marsh,” he said. “When I go across that causeway, it's the weirdest feeling. Every time for 44 years, it's like a sense of calming comes over me. And when I'm on that water, nothing matters. I just feel completely free. That's why I think I love that, and I'm so passionate about it. When I'm out with the kids and the wife and people that I take out, it is just a whole different world.”
He has found a new perspective since he started mentoring younger people and gained a great appreciation for simply being outdoors. “I love experiencing being out in nature, watching everything,” he said. “I'm in the tree stand an hour before daylight, watching everything come awake. You’re seeing everything that God made just come to life right in front of you. The biggest thing is spending the time with the people. Some of my fondest memories of hunting camp come after the hunt, when we get back to the cabin and we're all telling our stories and we're sitting there and we're having a good time.”
“He took me to the mountains the first time in the Northern Tier,” John recalled. “I just got hooked on the mountains, and he introduced me to hunting. He took me to Chincoteague, Virginia, when I was 6 years old, and I've been going there to fish for 44 years now. He taught me everything I know.”
Now John, a Quarryville resident, is passing on what he knows by mentoring aspiring anglers and hunters. He started while volunteering for the National Wild Turkey Federation for 10 years and working for the organization for another year. John helped implement the mentor hunting program through the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“It’s just been a passion to get kids into hunting and fishing because it's what kept me out of trouble,” said John, who was born and raised in New Providence and graduated from Solanco High School in 1994. “I try to get the kids away from video games and TV and all that good stuff.”
John began with his own kids, Kyla and Chase. “I started them hunting right when the mentor program started, and they both harvested their first deer at 6 years old,” said John. “That got them hooked on it. It’s a family affair. We have a family cabin in Tioga County, and the kids love it there. They love to hunt there. We just come together, and that's what we do.”
John’s wife, Jessica, likes to joke that he is closer to their kids than he is to her. “It’s because we share that common bond,” John explained. “My daughter has moved out, and she's going to school for nursing and has her own house now. My son still lives at home. But hunting and fishing always brings us back together. We go down fishing together, and we go hunting together. It’s just that things that bring us back together. It's almost like Thanksgiving for us.”
John also spends time hunting with his nephews Caden and Owen Lock. They had a memorable moment last Halloween when Owen was 8 and Caden was 11. “Owen always had opportunities to kill, but when he's with his dad (Shawn), for some reason, he gets a nervous giggle and can’t ever pull the trigger,” John said. “I told him before we went out that morning, ‘I'm taking you out. Now, listen, you got to keep yourself composed.’ Well, this deer comes walking in, and I talked him through it: ‘Keep your composure. Don't look at the antlers. Just relax.’ And he made a 50-yard shot with a bow.”
John became emotional. “I was in tears,” he said. “Owen asked, ‘Uncle John, are you OK?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, I'm fine, buddy.’ I said that’s what it’s all about.”
When Owen called his dad, he learned Caden had killed a buck at another spot, and the brothers got to come together with their own bucks they got within five minutes of each other.
“When I shot it at 50 yards, I couldn’t believe I hit it,” Owen recalled. “I was so excited I cried, and so did Uncle John. It was the best hunt ever.”
“I get excited when I harvest a deer, but I've harvested so many, it's not the same,” John said. “I’ve always been that way when hunting with friends or family. I get more excited. I want to jump in and help right away. I think I enjoy somebody else's harvest more than I do myself. It's like when we're down fishing and kids that have never caught a flounder or never been on a boat and they're out there and they catch fish. I enjoy watching that happen.”
John has also mentored the three sons of his friends Tony and Hope Cox. The oldest, Gavin, is a fisherman and became a more active angler while attending college at Salisbury University. John, Jessica, and the Coxes recently went on a fishing trip together during a vacation.
Bryce Cox is a rising senior at Solanco High School. “Bryce was probably 13, and he came to me, and he asked if I'd introduce him to hunting,” John said.
Three years ago, Bryce was working as a ballboy for the Solanco varsity football team, which is coached by his dad. Bryce had been at every game, and didn’t want to miss a playoff contest, but his dad talked him into going hunting with John and missing a football game. “We went up early on a Friday, and we ended up seeing a ton of deer Friday night,” said John. “We went out Saturday morning, and I grunted a buck in to Bryce. It was about 40-yard shot, and he shot it. He was able to call Tony and Hope and tell them that he had killed his first deer, and I kind of felt bad because Tony wasn't there to experience it. Tony said to me, ‘There is nobody else that I would rather him be with than you.’” John has also taken the Coxes’ youngest son, Trey, on a couple of hunting trips.
John is a big proponent of Sunday hunting because it allows more time for families to become involved. “People that work a lot have an extra day to experience and get hooked to the outdoors,” he said. “People don't have unlimited vacations, so that extra day on a weekend gives you that extra time to hunt and spend time with families and experience the outdoors.”
John has been turkey hunting in South Dakota, Wyoming, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Virginia, but deer hunting in Tioga County remains his favorite location. “It's a family cabin, and my wife's stepdad owns the cabin,” he said. “I started dating her in 1992, and I started hunting with them in 1993. And there's only one year since 1993 I haven't killed a buck up there.”
Within the next year, John plans to obtain his captain’s license so he can charter fishing trips for flounder out of Chincoteague. “I want to eventually make that my retirement plan,” he says. “I've been fishing there 44 years. I know the waters. I know how to catch the fish.”
John and Jessica have no plans to leave Quarryville for good, but Chincoteague holds a special place in his heart. “There’s a causeway that goes into it, which is basically a road that they built through the marsh,” he said. “When I go across that causeway, it's the weirdest feeling. Every time for 44 years, it's like a sense of calming comes over me. And when I'm on that water, nothing matters. I just feel completely free. That's why I think I love that, and I'm so passionate about it. When I'm out with the kids and the wife and people that I take out, it is just a whole different world.”
He has found a new perspective since he started mentoring younger people and gained a great appreciation for simply being outdoors. “I love experiencing being out in nature, watching everything,” he said. “I'm in the tree stand an hour before daylight, watching everything come awake. You’re seeing everything that God made just come to life right in front of you. The biggest thing is spending the time with the people. Some of my fondest memories of hunting camp come after the hunt, when we get back to the cabin and we're all telling our stories and we're sitting there and we're having a good time.”
John’s grandfather Clifford is 95 years old. He was still climbing tree stands at age 94. Two years ago, Clifford shot a buck in Lancaster County. John left work early, and he and his father-in-law, Darrell Roten, went to help. “It was just a great experience,” John said. “Because we’ve hunted together for so many years, the fact that all three of us shared that is priceless. I've always said that the harvest is just a bonus. It is about being able to be out there and experience the outdoors and spend time with family and friends. That's the experience.”
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