6 minute read
Lance Jarrett
Jarrett tries to be a mentor to students and help them build a passion for hunting and fishing. On the trail of game...
Advertisement
Roan Mountain’s Jarrett a man full of hunting passion
* Story By Danny Blevins & Photos by Lance Jarrett *
Say the word hunting in front of Roan Mountain’s Lance Jarrett and his eyes seem to glaze over.
No, he does not have the coronavirus. Instead he has a passion for hunting that has been with him for all of his adult life.
After having a conversation with him, it is easy to see that he will have that passion for as long as he can walk his cherished mountains.
If you can name the animal, Jarrett has probably hunted it.
“I have hunted whitetail deer, mule deer, grouse, dove, duck, squirrel, elk, moose, turkey, wild hogs, and coyotes. Of all of these, I guess hunting turkeys is my favorite,” he said.
Jarrett started hunting at the tinder age of 12 but did not kill his first deer until he was 18.
He readily admitted that when he was growing up, there just wasn’t that many deer.
Also coming into play was the fact that Tennessee at that time only offered a gun season which was fairly short so Jarrett trapsed the mountains and valleys for six years without killing anything.
Over the next several years, he became very good at whitetail deer hunting. “I have killed dozens of smaller deer for the freezer. After a while I started hunting only large bucks and does for the freezer.”
Though he developed a passion for hunting, he enjoys just being out in the nature more than taking an animal saying that his times out on the hunt are so peaceful and talking of how he enjoys watching the other
animals that cross his path.
Jarrett also uses this time as a time of meditation spending hours just reading his Bible while watching the wildlife.
During his time of observation, there have been several opportunities to view oddities that can only happen in the wilds of nature.
“I have seen some strange stuff out deer hunting,” reflected Jarrett. “One time I watched a whitetail doe chase a bobcat through the woods. She didn’t like that cat, and she was going to let that bobcat know it.
Jarrett has not just spent time trailing game in Roan Mountain but has extended his hunts out far and wide as he has hunted over much of the United States and part of Canada.
He is married and has too grown daughters, but his passion for hunting did not rub off on his daughters.
Jarrett shared how he tried to entice his daughters into following in his footsteps but without much luck. His daughter, Dakota, was successful in bagging a few doe while growing up.
However, once old enough to obtain her driver’s license, the end of her hunting days came as Jarrett remembered with a chuckle.
“My wife understands that I really enjoy hunting and fishing and doesn’t say much about my hunting,” Jarrett added. “I did make her plan our wedding around the deer season though.
“I told her we could have a church wedding if she would wait until the deer season was over. She agreed,” he stated with a grin.
His father-in-law was responsible for getting Jarrett interested in bow hunting which is how he does much of his large whitetail hunting today.
Bow hunting changed everything for Jarrett as he said it made hunting more enjoyable being out in the mountains during the archery season as there are more wildlife sightings to enjoy and many more deer to see.
Jarrett shared a couple of brief hunts that have been forever etched in his memory.
“I dove hunt a lot, and even tried duck hunting once,” he said. “I was duck hunting in South Carolina one year and we turned the boat over on a river. I lost a $1000 shotgun in that river. That was the end of my duck hunting.
Jarrett, who is a math teacher at Cloudland High School, does more with his free time than hunt. Every year he is a mentor to students and helps them develop a love for the outdoors.
He has opened his home as a place where the students can come and share in fellowship and their love for the great outdoors while Jarrett can also become someone the kids can look to if they need a friend.
“A few of the older kids will come to my house, and we will skeet
Lance Jarrett has a passion for hunting that goes back to his childhood. He has traveled the country hunting game animals and has no intentions of stopping.
Jarrett said that he really enjoys turkey hunting because the woods are so peaceful in the spring and many times you might be the only one in the woods.
Lance Jarrett hunts only does and large bucks now. He said that he loves the taste of venison and tries to keep his freezer full during hunting season.
shoot and then have a wild game meal,” he said. “Some of the kids just don’t have anybody to take them fishing or hunting. I enjoy spending time with them and giving them a few hunting and fishing tips.
While Jarrett has enjoyed several great hunts, there have been a couple of elusive prey that he would like to add to his trophy bucket list.
One of those animals is a red stag and the other is an elk. He has been on a couple of elk hunts but wasn’t able to fill a tag with one.
He hopes to one day be able to succeed on hunts for these two trophy animals.
Though Jarrett may dream of hunting season he understands the important things in life.
This large hog was taken near the top of Roan Mountain a few years back. Jarrett stated it took hours to get it out of the woods as he had to reach out for help to drag it out.
