News

What a whirlwind of an event we experienced on Saturday, April 16th at the Fluid Events Center in Champaign, IL. We had a fun night and all who were in attendance were blessed to see how God is continuing to lead Cross Trail Outfitters of Illinois. This year we celebrated over 5 years of ministry here in Illinois. We shared about our strong ministry here in Champaign County allowing the young men in our community to minister to each other through CTO. 

The Highlight of the evening was listening to the testimonial Video which included CTO Sportsmen Hunter Loschen, Tyler Bialeschki, and brothers Austin and Collin Downen. The video shared how these young men were able to learn about Jesus as one friend shared with the next and then another friend shared with the next until Colin was able to see the change in his brothers life and wanted that for himself too. We were privileged to witness how the boys have come to know Christ, but also how they answered His call to share the Gospel with their friends and have seen many of their friends come to know Christ through this simple Hunting and fishing ministry.

Another aspect we shared was how God is equipping CTO in 2016 by adding new CTO Outfitter Todd Williams, who has taken responsibility of the Champaign Co. Chapter, God is now calling us to go out to the other communities within our state to bring CTO to all of Illinois 102 counties. The first to answer the call has been Jo Daviess Co. Chapter with CTO Outfitter Paul Hansen.

As part of the live auction experienced auctioneers John Rawdin and Robert Yoder competed to see who could bring in more money as they auctioneered off items such as a Deer Shoulder Mount, a camouflaged recliner signed by Jep Robertson, and even a chance to shave Bear’s head & beard. The evening also included a silent auction and the conclusion to our 20 Gun Raffle. Winners of the 20 Gun Raffle were contacted, but if you missed the fun, check out our website for a list of the winners.

We were privileged to hear Mark Johnson, CEO of the Stephens Family YMCA, speak about the importance of mentoring. He shared with us how he was mentored and coached from the time he was a child through his college wrestling career. This experience was important to him and these years helped him develop as a man. The mentoring Mark received also shaped his coaching style while head coach of U of I wrestling program. He emphasized that through Cross Trail Outfitters the young men of this community can receive this type of mentorship and that those in attendance should financially partner with this ministry to make sure they have the means necessary to be successful.

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by Jay Creek, NASP Central High School Archery Team Coach & CTO Parent

The Central High School Archery Team was supposed to be an underdog.  We were expected to be somewhat competitive, but not a threat to win anything.  My how things have changed.

When Central Archery started at the beginning of the season last November, our goal was to be better than the year before; both individually and at team competition.  At our first practice, we had over 80 kids show up.  We did not have the space, the targets, or the equipment to handle a group so large.   When we reached out to groups like GSL and CTO for help, they willingly donated equipment that allowed us the flexibility that we desperately needed.

Ramping up to the tournament season, the team leveled out at 60 archers.  We worked with archers individually to maximize their potential by working on their form and mental toughness.  We reinforce the thought that every shot counts, so shoot one quality shot at a time.  We work them hard while they shoot, but we also want to keep practice light-hearted and fun.  We want kids to enjoy shooting, so our team laughs a lot.  It helps create those team bonds and support that most teenagers need.  After more than 6 weeks of practicing, the tournaments begin in Mid-January.

Our first tournament, a 10-Meter Shootout in Armstrong, Central Archery pulled off the upset and won the high school division!  We went on to compete in 6 more regular season tournaments; winning the GRF Stampede, placing 2nd at 2 tournaments, and coming in 3rd at 2 other tournaments.  We have had at least 1 male and 1 female shooter end up in the top 10 at every tournament.   As a comparison, last year's team never finished higher than 5th place.  With the regular season coming to a close, it was time to focus on the State Tournament.

The NASP State Tournament is a huge event.  All of the NASP archery teams from around the state compete and there are some really good teams.  The Central Archery Team took 2 teams to State - 48 archers.  We knew going in that the competition would be strong and that anything can happen.   Depending on how you score at the State Tournament, you can qualify for the NASP National Tournament in Louisville KY on May 12-14.  Our goal going in was to win State and to qualify both teams for Nationals.  Last year, we did not place at all and we missed qualifying for Nationals by 11 points (out of 3600).  It was a long day, but our archers shot well, they stayed focus, and more importantly, they had a blast!  After the tournament was over and the scores tabulated, the officials started reading off the results.  Individually, Central had the #2 male shooter overall and the #2 female shooter as well as the #4 female shooter overall.  As a team, Central finished in 2nd place at State out of 23 teams!  We also shot our high score for the year!  It turns out we only missed first place by 12 points (out of 3600).  Congratulations to Danville's Schlarman Academy for their 1st place finish and to Champaign Centennial High School for finishing in 3rd place.  We would also like to congratulate Champaign's Jefferson Middle School for their 4th repeat State Championship win in the middle school division.

In addition to placing 2nd at State, both Central teams qualified for Nationals.  In total, Champaign Unit 4 Schools had 7 teams qualify for Nationals (168 archers).  On Thursday, May 12, Central's White Team will be shooting in Louisville KY.  On Friday, May 13, Central's Maroon Team will be shooting.  This is the first time that Central will ever be represented by full teams and it is the first time that 90% of our archers will have ever competed at Nationals.   We could not be more proud of the way our archers have performed.  

NASP Archery is one big family.  In Illinois, we encourage, support, and interact with other teams every week during the tournament season.  We learn from each other, happily recognize the other's accomplishments, and we try to have fun competing at a sport that we all enjoy.   In fact, at the Roberto Clemente Tournament in Chicago this year, all of the archers from all of the schools gathered in a big circle on the gym floor and danced to "Stand By Me".   I have never seen so many kids smiling, laughing, and having a good time.  If you are not having fun, then you are doing something wrong.

 So much time and effort goes into an archery season and this would not have been possible without the help from a lot of people.  We must recognize groups like GSL, CTO, WhiteTails Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, generous parents, our families, our friends, and Unit 4 Schools and Administration for providing equipment, funds, and additional support.  We could not have done it without you.   Thank you!

To see more photos from throughout the year, visit our Facebook page:  Central High School Archery - Champaign IL.   

You can also send us an email:  CentralArchery@gmail.com. 

by Chloe L. Wendell, Staff Writer

CTO State Director, Bear St. Pierre, was invited to an Upland Bird Hunt by Pheasants Forever Chapter 69. Along with Bear, Pheasants Forever also requested one of the CTO youth be in attendance. Based on his long time commitment to CTO, Sportsman Cole Paceley was invited. When asked about Cole’s service to CTO Bear had nothing but glowing remarks. 

“I wanted to choose a young man who has been faithful to the program. A young man who is always available when I need help setting up for a Sportsmen’s Night, Family Night, or an Outing; a young man who is available when we need him to work the booth at a gun show, or the table when doing our archery shoots. Cole has earned this opportunity because he has learned how to be a servant.” 

With CTO Hunting Dog Luc in tow, Bear & Cole were off to Green Acres Sportmen’s Club. They arrived to a feast and time on a beautiful pond prior to being out in the field. Once on the hunt everything seemed to click. Luc’s nose was excellent as he was on point for every bird that crossed their path (including a pheasant he harvested all by himself, but that’s a story for another time.) They were able to hit close to their quail limit thanks to the shooting skills of all in attendance. Cole was by far the biggest harvester of the day as he hit his limit early leaving Bear & their guide to clean up the remaining birds. The only thing that could have made their day better was to see more pheasants. Overall they had a great time and have a good amount of quail and pheasant breasts to eat when they get together again.

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The JoDaviess County Chapter of CTO is still in the start-up and organizing stages.  I have presented the CTO program and philosophy to several groups of men and have received many positive comments and offers to help in a variety of ways.  We are looking forward to gathering up some Godly men as mentors and Christian youth as CTO Guides and disciples.  We will be doing some training and outdoor activities with them to prepare them for doing God’s work in reaching out to boys who join us in our CTO events.  You can help by continuing to pray for guidance and willing partners to come along side us as we seek to do God’s work here in Northwest Illinois.

Paul Hansen

JoDaviess Outfitter

Our new Champaign County Outfitter Todd Williams has been shaking up Sportsmen’s Nights One of the newest adventures the CTO Sportsmen had was going to Urbana Boulder.  “We had a great time at Urbana Boulders! The kids got to run around and try their strength of climbing from different angles and altitudes. We had new kids show up that night and they had a blast,” Todd shared. 

It was amazing to watch others as they soared to new levels each time they took the chance to reach farther and farther. It is like wanting to get to the top of the mountain but realizing there are many different paths. Only one path can get you to the top, but right one can be difficult. If we keep our eyes on the prize we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

In life we sometimes do not want help, but those that watched others, learned from their mistakes and then went farther by choosing wisely. Choose this day whom you will serve!

Fun was had by all as the CTO Sportsmen tried to stomp balloons that they had rendered into the likeness of CTO State Director Bear St. Pierre with markers and ribbon. Each Sportsman had to tie his balloon to his ankle. Then they were off. The Sportsmen found out that by drawing Bear’s face on their balloons they made their balloons, like Bear, indestructible! The game went on for several minutes without one balloon being popped. Then Kevin, game chairman, asked the parents to form a circle to keep the Sportsmen in a tighter group, but still no balloons were popped. After another few minutes we gave up and decided that Bear balloons would not be used in the future because the game doesn’t work well with indestructible balloons.

Besides the game we celebrated the accomplishments of all the hunters this year with a meal and some prizes. Many of the successful CTO Sportsmen eagerly shared their hunt stories starting with the famous CTO line, “And there I was…” All the CTO members were able to collect their hats and stickers, plus each Sportsman was able to take home the meat that was harvested from the hunts this fall. 

We can honestly say fun was had by all. Bear closed us in prayer, and as we said goodnight, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to each other, everyone rubbed their bellies and left for home satisfied by dinner, desert, and a joyous occasion.

If you missed our last Sportsmen’s Night of 2015, you missed an awesome time! Our friend, Chief AJ, visited us at Fluid Events Center in Champaign with his famous sling bows. We spent the evening learning how to use the sling bows. They can be used for enjoyment and where permitted for harvesting game. 

Chief donned us with tales of how he had used these sling bows while on the hunt and has harvested everything from deer to hogs to a Grizzly Bear using this hunting tool he invented. 

Throughout the night, Chief also stopped to impart wisdom on all those in attendance. He shared with us how Jesus has led him to start long ago with the Chief AJ Ruger 10/22 rifles, where he set the world record 40,060 Shots without a miss, but then because of changing gun laws, he couldn’t continue using the 10/22. Then Jesus led him to using the Chief AJ Daisy BB Gun, but they started manufacturing oversees and the quality diminished. Chief had to reinvent himself once again. He shared how Jesus led him to the idea of the sling bow and how Jesus has blessed him since its invention. He has been invited to be on television shows like Top Shot, and has been written about in publications like the Wall Street Journal. All the time they are praising the idea of the Chief AJ Sling bow.

Chief shared with all about how following the path that Jesus has laid out before him has allowed him to have experiences he would never had expected in his life. The young men and parents in attendance enjoyed both the time with the sling bows and the time with Chief. We thank God that we have so many people right here in our own backyard to share their amazing stories of how Jesus has blessed them with talents that they bring to the outdoors.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) added an exciting benefit for youth hunters this year.  IDNR allowed for the youth firearm deer tag to extend past the youth weekend and into the first firearm deer season. This allowed for an extra firearm hunt with the CTO Sportsmen. It also allowed for our First Hunt participants to get a second opportunity on harvesting a deer this year. I am excited to say that 3 out of our 4 First Hunt participants were able to harvest an animal.

That weekend, we also learned what it meant to seek with your whole heart. Not only were we working to seek the animals we were hunting with our whole heart, but also we determined to see if we used our whole heart to seek Jesus. 

We looked to Jeremiah 29:13 and we asked ourselves, "Do we use our whole heart when seeking Jesus? Do we seek other things with more passion than we do our relationship with the Lord? Did we put more effort in seeking the animals we harvested than we did with our campfire question?"

The CTO Sportsmen had a great discussion with our CTO Guides (adult volunteers) about their personal seeking habits and how they have both been successful and where they have failed in using their whole hearts when seeking Jesus. 

The boys, like most of us, have seasons where we do very well with coming to our Savior with everything we are and opening ourselves up to His presence. Then we have times where we fail to do this with Jesus, but it’s amazing that He is always there waiting on us to reestablish this connection with Him. He allows us to fail and then continues to love us unconditionally. 

He asks us to seek Him with our whole heart because He sought us in this way first. If you are feeling distant from Jesus know that He is only one prayer away from being right there with you again. Why? Because Jesus has been seeking you even when you weren’t seeking Him.

As we teach the CTO Sportsmen the skills necessary to be successful in the outdoors, I often want to share with them that these skills can be much more useful and can even become a career for them in the future. This is why we are continuing to bring in different people who have turned their love for the outdoors into something much more. In November we invited HOOAH Hunting with Heroes to speak.

HOOAH is an organization for injured servicemen who have been separated from their units during recovery. HOOAH  takes them out hunting, where they develop a network of brotherhood to help the healing process.

They are very similar to what we do here at CTO for youth, but I wanted our older boys to see how they could possibly use the skills we teach them to help out another person if the Lord would lead them in that way. It would allow them to use what they have been taught to serve others!

We showed them some of the videos of the soldiers that HOOAH has helped over the past year, and shared with them some of the soldiers that were lost to illnesses this past year. We were encouraged to see the faith these men had in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The words of wisdom and the legacy they were leaving behind were awe inspiring.

I hope to bring them in next year as well. You definitely will not want to miss this Sportsmen’s Night when we do this again.

On a typical deer hunt, we get up in the wee morning hours of O’ dark 30 so that you can get into the tree and get everything in place before sunrise and, if possible, even get some quiet time before the sun begins to crest on the horizon. It is beautiful to watch and even more exciting when that perfect shot presents itself shortly after. 

As enjoyable as that scene is, one of my favorite times to hunt is the morning after the full moon.  Many experts will agree that the moon plays an important role to deer movement and phases of breeding time. But that isn’t my main reason for loving the after-the-full-moon hunt. My favorite reason is you get to sleep in a little, because the full moon has provided enough light for the deer to feed and play later into the evening then they would typically do on new moon or crested moon nights. Therefore they are usually napping a little later into the morning. This allows us to let the boys nap a little longer too.

We explored the idea of phases around the campfire. We read through 1 John chapter 2 and discussed the different phases of our Christian walk. We shared what John meant to be little children, young men, and fathers. We asked ourselves what phase we thought we were in and what could we do to grow to the next phase in our spiritual walk. We also asked Jesus for help in guiding us as we look to grow. 

We compared the similarities of our growth with Jesus. Just like the moon needs the sunlight for it to glow and grow, we need the Son’s light to do the same. We look forward to see the CTO Sportsmen continue to grow as we disciple them to Christ through the outdoors.