Friday night’s episode of YoungWild offers a behind the scenes look at the making of the show and previews many of the adventures ahead this season. It also tells the story about how a 12 year old’s battle with adversity leads to him becoming perhaps the youngest prime-time host of a hunting show on a major national network in the history of broadcast.
Viewers join young bowhunter, Lincoln Tapp, and his father, Jim Tapp, as camera man as they hunt various North American species, many of which neither has ever hunted before. Lincoln has set a personal goal of harvesting each of North Americas 29 big game species (NA29) with his bow. While achieving such a goal is a major accomplishment, it doesn’t take long to realize Lincoln’s intense passion for bowhunting is only secondary to his strong faith and his immeasurable love for wildlife. For Lincoln, the North America 29 happens to be something tangible to reach for, but even at his age he understands the true measure of success has very little to do with collecting trophies and bragging rights. “I didn’t start hunting until I was in college,” Jim explains. “But even then the only thing I hunted was whitetail. I had never even heard of many animals in the NA29.”
Jim and his wife Casi both come from broken homes. Shortly after they married, they sold everything they owned and even cashed in a 401K to buy a piece of land outside Oklahoma City to raise the kind of family they didn’t have growing up. When Jim isn’t busy chasing Lincoln up mountains with a camera, he’s busy running a successful real estate development company. “I consider it an honor and a blessing to be able to travel around the continent hunting with my children. There’s no better investment in the lives of children than spending quality time in the outdoors, and if I ever thought for a second Lincoln didn’t appreciate this opportunity we’d be back on the farm hunting whitetail for the rest of our days.” Jim explains.
YoungWild is about the strength of family relationships and the immutable bond between a father and son. It is a show the entire family can relate to. Season one takes viewers on an exciting journey across North America. The production team raises the bar with jaw dropping cinematography and captures hair-raising suspense. YoungWild truly breaks the mold. Above all, Lincoln hopes sharing his experiences will inspire other youth hunters to join the sport and carry on a tradition of wildlife conservation and conservancy.
Tune into YoungWild on Friday night at 9:30/8:30C only on The Sportsman Channel. The epic Yukon adventure begins January 31st. You won’t want to miss this epic journey full of close calls, dangerous situations and amazing cinematography.