Opinion | Howard: When community comes home

It’s fascinating to learn new things and even more astounding to learn through your kids. As a young parent, I loved looking at the world through my sons’ fresh eyes — so much was exciting, new and filled with wonder. My kids are older now, but they are still teaching me. Recently, I was introduced to the world of bow hunting through my older son. I have so many feelings and emotions watching him take on an entirely new sport and build an incredibly supportive community around him.

As a family, we adventure together — rafting, skiing, biking, backpacking, Sunday hikes. We love where we live and take every opportunity to get out and explore. I want to take a little credit for his love of the outdoors but I am not sure I can.

My type-two fun guy has always excelled outside. He is happiest sleeping outside under the stars; we often refer to him as the fish whisperer. Since his early teens, he has been a mapping expert and, thanks to his sense of adventure and the U.S. Forest Service, he knows the Holy Cross Wilderness like the back of his hand. I have witnessed his determination and single-mindedness his whole life. He goes after what he wants but, still, I am a little awed by his most recent interest and adventure.

While away at college, he started paying for his groceries. Guess what? A 6-foot-3 man eats a lot, and it costs a lot to feed him. He decided he wanted to hunt for his protein — he feels it’s better quality and after doing the math, it’s definitely less expensive. Coming from a family of vegetarians, he had to figure out how to hunt — but it wasn’t all on his own.

I’m so proud he didn’t struggle to figure it out on his own. Instead, he leaned into his network and surrounded himself with community. His old Devo coach helped him dial in his bow; he reached out to friends of friends, to other hunters, to his co-workers at the Forest Service, college friends and even to my co-workers’ husbands. He very intentionally built a community who taught, supported and encouraged him. He now has friends who are decades older, with vastly different lives. It was great watching him intentionally surround himself with this community, and these guys were so pumped to guide him.

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He had the outdoor acumen and experience, but he didn’t have the hunting prowess. This summer, he started training with a bow and arrow to get ready for the season. He dedicated tons of time to researching, going to the range and also leaning into the experience of others.

Finally, opening day of bow season arrived. I am not sure I have ever seen him so excited — not even Christmas morning when he was little. Two buddies from school came along for the adventure. I felt so fortunate his tag was in the Holy Cross Wilderness, as we had the opportunity to fill their bellies full of Pazzo’s before they set out.

I did a little research, too, and realized it’s not that easy to harvest an elk with a bow. I surprised myself by how excited I was when I received his call that he had been successful. I did not anticipate that.

I’m proud that he set this goal, learned how to hunt and ultimately got an elk. Packing out the animal was an entirely different adventure. He called his friends — his community — with the exciting news he got an elk. His gang rallied around him — one friend only 20 minutes back from fighting fire in New Mexico.

As fast as they could, they were packing up and heading to the site. They hiked for hours to get the elk and packed the meat out to be processed. Once the animal was out, they hiked back up and packed out their camp.

His experience has opened my eyes to a whole different community and given me a new appreciation for what’s required to be a successful and ethical hunter. Hunting is such a different thing for us, but I am happy, excited and proud to watch him follow his passions and create his community.

My window into his hunting experience and watching him build new relationships, gives me hope for our futures, knowing our kids are committed to building their own communities, and seeing mentors pop up willing to help.

My husband and I remain vegetarians, but not to worry, we have some elk in our freezer for his younger brother to enjoy. I think he would have been just as happy to spend a long weekend wandering around in the woods with his bow — but the experience of harvesting the elk has taught all of us so many lessons including the value of community.

Elyse Howard is the president and COO of Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley, where she advocates for housing at the local, state and national levels. She is integral in the organization’s strategic plan to Build to 200 affordable homes by the end of 2028.