THEEDITOR’SNOTE
Jayden Oakes left us too soon at 13 years old in July after battling cancer. But his 2020 hunting experiences thanks to the generosity of locals in and around Red Bluff were special memories for him to cherish. (DONN WALGAMUTH)
W
hen you’ve been in this storytelling business for the long haul, some stick with you. In my sports reporting days, there was a profile of a then 90-year-old master diver mesmerizing me with double somersault tucks off the high board at a local high school. There was the page A-1 feature I was proud to write about a local college baseball fan who, despite battling a powerful strain of cancer, continued to religiously follow a family friend who played for his hometown team. And in Arkansas I covered the quest of a thoroughbred horse owner whose colt was a Kentucky Derby hopeful as she hoped to fulfill a dream of her late husband, who’d passed away suddenly the previous year. In my years here as the editor of California Sportsman, similar assignments I’ve written have touched me permanently. Even some that others wrote have had a lasting impact. One such piece was penned by Scott Haugen and it was our January 2021 cover story. Jayden Oakes, a 12-year-old from the Red Bluff area, was a colon cancer patient whose love of hunting prompted locals from the outdoors community to help. As Scott wrote, Jayden was a special guest for multiple hunts, allowing him to harvest a wild pig, turkey, coyote and a blacktail deer. “This kid is sick, real sick, yet he wanted to jump out of the ATV and open every gate,” Donn Walgamuth, who was one of the point men in setting up the hunts, told Haugen. “He was always commenting on how beautiful the land was and how much he enjoyed seeing the cows on the ranch we hunted.” After the story ran, I periodically asked Scott what he’d heard about Jayden’s condition, as he was just as engaged as I was with the story. Then in late July, Scott emailed me. Jayden had passed away on the 17th. He’d turned 13 in March. “I never had the opportunity to meet Jayden, but I listened to many friends who had. I talked with them about the time they spent with Jayden and the impact he made in their lives,” Haugen said. “Jayden’s desire to live life to its fullest through all the outdoor experiences he could revel in during his short time in this world greatly inspired me, and will for years to come, likely forever.” The feeling’s mutual, Scott. -Chris Cocoles calsportsmanmag.com | SEPTEMBER 2021 California Sportsman
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