John Scavotto loves bow hunting for whitetail so much that he sports a shoulder tattoo of a hunter in a tree-stand aiming down with a bow. He considers the sport the ultimate challenge in hunting and has chased whitetail in Massachusetts and Vermont. In fact, John got his first deer at the age of 12 with a recurve bow and arrows he made himself. He also builds his own tree-stands, both fixed and portable. John’s family has a cabin in the woods of Vermont where they go frequently throughout the year for hunting, camping, fishing and exploring. In all his hunting areas he’s set up scouting cameras to keep track of big deer throughout the summer and fall.

John’s 42-years-old and a single father to his 12-year-old daughter. He considers family his top priority and when he’s not with his daughter, he’s in the woods. His dream hunt is to go after monster whitetails, ones that get over 200 pounds. “Being a single dad just trying to make a living and supporting my daughter, I can’t afford big hunts. It would be the ultimate dream come true to go somewhere like Wisconsin for whitetail. It’s a wonderful creature.” If he won the trip, John thinks his reaction would be to cry and be in absolute awe. “I would thank the Lord as I know nothing like this would come about on my own.”

Growing up, John went to their family’s Vermont camp with his father, grandfather and cousin. They called themselves ‘the foursome’ and loved hunting together and just plain getting away on the weekends. They were all inseparable. John’s father and grandfather taught him how to hunt and his cousin was his best friend. Eight years ago, his cousin Larry, took his own life. “I was completely devastated,” John said. “We all were. There were no warning signs or anything to set us off to this. Nobody knew why and it was awful. It took a long time just for me to get back to camp and go hunting again. The only way I got over that was deciding to be very close with my father and my daughter to know every part of their lives. My family and I also put on a kids’ fishing derby for years in honor of Larry and donated the proceeds to Big Brother/Big Sisters because Larry was a big brother to under privileged kids.”
Now, with his grandfather and cousin gone, John enjoys every minute spent with his father. They work together – they both serve as officers in their union local – and hunt/fish together. With his father getting older, John tries to spend as much time as possible with him.
“Hunting and fishing play a vital role in my life with my family because it brings us closer together one way or the other. When the boys go hunting, the girls [daughter and John’s girlfriend and mom] get together and do things. When hunting is over they are relieved to have us home!” Johns says that hunting helped keep him off the inner-city streets when he was growing up and he makes sure that he does his best to get his daughter and other kids in his life involved the same way. With one of the neighborhood kids, John introduced him to hunting, sponsored him at the union local and takes him to the Vermont camp as well. John also brings his daughter to the Vermont camp where they bond and ride 4-wheelers together.
As a sheet metal worker, John installs ducts for heating and air conditioning units on commercial sites. He also does welding, works with cranes and is a leader in some specialty jobs such as working high in the air on more dangerous projects. “They’ll put me on stuff that’s a little hairy because they know I can do it,” he said. There’s only one way that John would do this job and that is through the union. “Union membership means a great way to provide for my family. My grandfather was in the union and so was my father. You’re crazy not to belong to a union especially in the construction field.” John’s been in the SMWIA for 22 years and all his hunting buddies are part of the trade. He’s also the vice president of his local. “I hunt and fish with my co-workers and we have cookouts to get the families together. My co-workers are like family to me.”