This article won honorable mention in the 2022 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
The wilderness is often portrayed as a retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. People often struggle to step away from their screens and spend time outdoors. Senior Gibson Mears spends the majority of his free time fishing and hunting recreationally, in addition to participating in the Fly Fishing club.
His love for fishing stems from memories with his father.
“My dad always took me fishing when I was younger,” Mears said. “I got into fly fishing freshman year, through the Northview Fly Fishing club. It grew into an obsession and I’ve put way too much time and money into it now.”
Mears meets with the club every Monday. The club works alongside a non-profit organization called Trout Unlimited to maintain the quality of water in streams and rivers in the area. They also have discussions about fly fishing tactics and take part in an annual fishing trip.
“Right now we’re planning a trip to Alaska, there’s some great fly fishing spots out there,” Mears said.
The past two years the club hasn’t been able to take their annual trip due to Covid, Mears was able to travel to Montana for the club’s trip his freshman year.
“It was a 26 hour drive [to Montana] and we piled all eight of us in a ten passenger van. It was just nice being with a bunch of guys all out there for the same reasons,” Mears said, “To experience the west and see the mountains.”
For Mears, nature is a sanctuary.
“[The outdoors] ground me from everything else going on [in my life]. It’s an escape that a lot of people don’t get,” Mears said. “They don’t know they can just go in the woods and hangout.”
With the same routine day in and day out, Mears feels like life can get predictable if you aren’t doing new things.
“I think being inside is boring. It’s the same old, same old, especially with school,” Mears said.“ We go through the same routine of waking up, going to school, going home. When you go outside it is always a new experience.”
Mears often hunts with his friend, senior Samuel Wilde on his property up north.
In the fall months, deer are more active, hoping to find partners to mate with when they are considered to be in their rut.
“It’s not often that you see deer doing ‘deer things’ but this time of the year they’re in the rut.” Mears said. “Last year on Halloween, we saw a large amount of bucks and does just running around. It was cool to see deer doing natural things instead of running from humans.”
Mears has many fond memories that take place in the wilderness, but he may not be able to make as many memories this year. In December, Mears is having surgery on his arm after having three previous procedures.
Mears first noticed pain in his arm in 6th grade and was diagnosed with tennis elbow, but he noticed increasing pain. He went to a specialist and discovered he had floating cartilage in his arm. He had surgery to reattach the cartilage with pins which was unsuccessful later that year.
“They’re going to take part of my humerus and replace it with a cadaver,” Mears said.
With an estimated recovery time of about 6 months, Mears is disappointed he will miss out on all of his usual spring activities.
“Some of the best fly fishing is in the spring for steelhead, that’s what I enjoy a lot and then turkey season is in the spring too,” Mears said.
In 8th grade, Mears had a surgery attempting to remove some of the loose cartilage, and the same surgery again during his junior year, but both were unsuccessful again.
“It definitely poses an issue because after my surgery I can’t lift more than 10 pounds for about 6 months. It’s a really long recovery process that gets in the way [of my hobbies],” Mears said.
While Mears may not be able to do much fishing and hunting in the upcoming season, he knows that they are activities he’ll be able to do throughout his life.
“I definitely don’t think I’ll ever give up my love of the outdoors,” Mears said.
