DECEMBER 2017 • NEBRASKAland 47
laws, the limits on the fish and the size,
number of rods – all that stuff. That
was one of the most difficult things to
learn when I got here. I hated all the
laws at first," he said.
Because Haidar didn't get the
chance to finish high school before
he left Syria, he and a friend decided
to enroll with the Pine Ridge Job
Corps in Chadron to earn their degrees
and to improve their English. While
in Chadron, Haidar learned how to
pour concrete and was also given the
opportunity to learn how to hunt.
"The area there is cool. It doesn't
look like most of Nebraska. We were
exposed to wild animals there, and I
talked to the staff and they mentioned
hunter education class. 'You want to do
that?' they asked me. And I asked, 'For
what?' 'To hunt.' And at that moment,
hunting was glued into my head.
'What? Absolutely!' I said. So from
there, I started reading about hunting."
Haidar began trapping in Chadron.
The first time, he returned to his trap –
meant for coyote – and found what he
thought was a turkey.
"I walked up close to it, and this
thing stunk! And I thought: this is not
a turkey. I walked for two miles with
it in my hands – it bit me once – to
Kazem drags his deer out at Pawnee Lake SRA during snow fall. The distance from where the
deer fell to his truck was about one mile.
"I didn't speak any English so it was very
difficult for me to understand the laws, the limits
on the fish and the size, number of rods – all
that stuff."
