Episode 47: Ben Klusmann SoDak Horizon Outdoors

Picking up a bow for the first time at 14 years old, Ben Klusmann was hooked on the sport of archery and his world hasn't been the same since.  

While he and his father did their fair share of gun hunting, it wasn't until the South Dakotan watched Michael Waddell harvest a turkey with a bow on TV that he knew there was more to the outdoors he needed to explore. He told his dad he wanted to start shooting a bow and they were off to the basement to dust off an old Bear recurve. Setting up a few hay bales and with a handful of paper plates in tow, Ben began to learn to shoot like so many of us have over the years. Once he became proficient enough with the primitive, hand me down gift, it was off to the archery shop and the big leagues of a compound bow. His first archery harvest soon followed and gun hunting quickly became a thing of the past. 

After a call from a recruiter in high school, Klusmann's path to the military included a tech college stop, a criminal justice degree and a job at the state penitentiary. It was there that he met several former Veterans who stoked his fire to serve. Still undecided and lacking a clear direction, Ben was drifting away from his faith and headed down a path he knew he shouldn't be on. 

Sitting on his bed one evening, his Bible opened to Joshua 1:9 which reads: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Just days letter, he was off to sign up for the Army.  Sworn in on September 11th, 2013, orders for Afghanistan fell through and Ben was shipped off to Egypt instead. Never able to engage in the true combat missions he signed on for, the infantryman missed his family and knew that the military lifestyle was not for him. He felt that God had other plans and five years his contract was up, he was back in his home state managing a Hi-Vee grocery store.

In a dark place personally, Ben starting drinking heavily and was living in a way that didn't honor the God he had served on and off for the better part of a decade. Thankfully, he met his wife during this difficult time and things started to turn around. She helped open his eyes to a better, sober lifestyle and they were married less than a year later. Now with two young children and a third arriving in December, the family man is following the Lord once again and took a job for the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation as a Veteran Employment Specialist. 

While he put the bow down during his time in the Army, he has picked it back up with an even greater purpose. In 2018, Klusmann redirected that passion into the formation of SoDak Horizon Outdoors, a YouTube channel and social media platform for all things archery. From beginners to lifelong bowhunters, viewers can follow Ben's adventures that range from backyard practice to time in the stand to his recent trip to Wisconsin and the most recent HHAUSA 3D shoot. 

Like so many of the Veterans that I have been blessed to meet over the past decade, Ben is using the sport of archery to not only keep his own mental health in check but is sharing that with his growing audience and the platform God has given him. A man after my own heart, we are excited to see what the future holds and can't wait to collaborate with him in the near future.

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