44 Nebraskaland • July 2024
Elijah
fi nding your place
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
ome people live their entire
lives searching for some place,
any place, where they feel
comfortable. It didn't take
Elijah Riley that long. Late in high
school, when he picked up a bow and
arrow and headed to the woods, is
when he knew.
"I felt like for a long time I didn't
know my place in the world," said Riley,
soon to be a senior at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, "but getting back in
nature has helped me fi nd that."
And a whole lot more.
Introductions and
Reintroductions
While growing up fi shing and
camping with his family near Lincoln,
Riley remembers how his dad would
announce, "We got groceries," when
they left the lake with a stringer full of
channel catfi sh in hand.
"I never really put two and two
together on what 'groceries' meant
until I was older," Riley said. "We were
putting food in the fridge."
He learned more outdoor skills in
Cub Scouts, from building a campfi re
to paddling a canoe. He feverishly
watched YouTube and outdoor reality
shows on the History and Discovery
channels. Swamp People was a favorite
of his.
"I was wanting to do everything I
was watching and thinking that was
the coolest thing in the world," he
said. He fi shed often in middle school
and walked more than one patch
of tallgrass looking for pheasants,
thrilled by the hunt despite never
downing a bird.
Then, like time is for many teenagers
and young adults, the outdoors took a
backseat to Riley's everyday life. Most
of his high school years were fi lled
with studies and sports until multiple
knee injuries — and the subsequent
recoveries — halted his playing career.
Competing on the Lincoln High trap
team his junior year, participating in
Cornhusker Boys State and a job at
Scheels introduced him to people who
knew much more about hunting and
S
Riley shows off a largemouth bass he caught at Camp Cornhusker in 2012.
