Extracurricular Extraordinaire

 A hunter, a student, and a state baseball champion, Landon Shoemake made quite the splash as a student at Polson High School during his four years. 

He won the 2023 state during his sophomore year, and said, “The first season we had, spring high school baseball for Montana, we won state, and that was a really big season for us.” His highlight of his first season was how, “We went out there and had a real tough second game against Florence. We beat Whitefish 10-4, so it was just exhilarating.” Even more ambitious, he plans to win state this season before he graduates. Shoemake’s favorite position is outer field because, “there is something about tracking down a hard fly ball.”

 Shoemake also enjoys the outdoors and hiking, and stated that “really, it’s not just the hunting part, it’s being out in the woods,” and recounted his favorite hunt, an elk hunt during the muzzleloader (the process or firearm sport where a projectile and propellant are inserted into the open end of the barrel of a firearm) season. After he followed the bull through the hills and mountainous terrain, he stumbled across a group of seven to eight bulls. Shoemake dropped down and approached the bulls before choosing to sit and peacefully watch the wildlife and found awe in the magnificence of the wilderness. Shoemake participates in muzzle-loading, archery, and rifle hunting seasons, but his favorite is archery, “It’s just way different from a rifle, it’s quiet and it’s just so sweet.” Shoemake has never actually got anything hunting with a bow, but he finds the naturalness of the hunt to be soothing. Another goal of Shoemake’s is to bag a bull and top his last mule deer catch within the next year, and with this he is excited to hunt in other areas around Montana Tech in Butte, once he graduates and moves onto college.