46 Nebraskaland • March 2025
the youth deer hunt at Ponca, where
he harvested a doe. He was just the
kind of kid the offi cers like to have, so
they invited him to the turkey hunt as
well.
Paired with Mitch Johnson, an
offi cer from Crofton, their hunt didn't
last long on opening morning. In the
blind for 45 minutes, they started
hearing birds.
"All of the turkeys we heard were
behind us," Chavez said. "They were
about a half-mile away, but we kept
on calling and waiting. And out of
nowhere, this big tom comes and just
gobbles."
Out of range when it appeared, the
bird turned to leave twice, but each
time was called back by Johnson. The
fi nal time, the bird closed to 35 yards.
"As soon as he stopped, I shot him."
Quiet and reserved, Chavez simply
said "yes" when asked if he was
excited.
Johnson provided more insight.
"As we got out of the blind, he was
shaking," Johnson said. "I asked if he
was cold, and he said maybe a little bit.
I told him I knew the feeling — when
you shoot something or are hunting
something and have an encounter —
of shaking when the adrenaline kicks
in. He was defi nitely proud. And he
should be."
So is his mother. "It's kind of our
passion now, so it makes me happy,"
Cassandra said of her son, who
harvested more deer since his fi rst
mentored hunt. "Our freezer is full
because of him."
Not all of Chavez's turkey made it
home. He contributed some to the
Saturday evening meal, where it
was turned into a stir fry by offi cers
assigned the cooking duties. Dinner
that night, shared by hunters and a
few of their parents, was a wild game
feed that also included deer roast and
antelope taco salad.
The hunts aren't all about turkeys
and hunting. Mentors share their
knowledge of the outdoors, the wildlife
they see and their careers.
Jack Baumert remembers many
details of the mentored pheasant and
turkey hunts he took part in while
growing up in West Point. His mentors
became friends, people he would call
for advice about upcoming hunts. "I
felt like I was the king of the world
when I could share hunting stories
with an adult," Baumert said.
They helped him grow not only as a
hunter and outdoorsman, but also as
a person, and played a pivotal part in
his life, he said. One of those mentors
was the late Pat Ellis of West Point, the
school's trap shooting coach, who took
Gabe Sovereign of Coolridge and his mentor, Offi cer Greg Hesse of Long Pine, walk back to their truck after a morning hunt.
