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Hunting News Latest Hunting News Outdoors haven 
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| Written by Doug Pike | |
| Monday, 31 March 2008 | |
 HAPPY CAMPERS: Oudoor camps like Texas Outdoor Camp provide youngsters the chance to learn and apply skills in hunting, dog training, fishing and the outdoors. Once the drudgery of school is behind them, and often before then, many kids’ thoughts turn to summer and the outdoors. For them, there are new ways and places to pass parts of that long-anticipated vacation. Young people who spend time outdoors score higher on standardized tests and have fewer attention-deficit disorders than kids who do not. When they’re outside, whether they take long hikes in the mountains or just run circles in a neighborhood park, their minds and imaginations are stimulated. They are challenged, and they work out solutions. A handful of Texans who recognized the benefits of outdoor recreation, and who saw a business opportunity therein, have created theme-dedicated summer camps where children spend their time hunting or fishing instead of toasting marshmallows or weaving baskets. “Seems to me that many more private, outdoors camps have sprung up recently,” said Ernie Gammage, branch chief, urban outdoor programs for Texas Parks and Wildlife. “I don’t remember there being so many summer camps that had the single purpose of getting kids outdoors.” A good number of Texas kids have discovered the Outdoor Texas Camp, which operates from Stoney Creek Ranch near Columbus. “I looked around and didn’t see anything like this,” said David Todd, OTC founder. Todd schedules four week-long sessions each summer, two dedicated to fishing and two to hunting, and he’s added a saltwater camp for 2008 that will operate from a new coastal location. His campers are divided into small, cabin-sized groups overseen by counselors, same as anywhere. Their days are filled with learning about outdoor activities indoors, briefly, and then putting those new skills into practice outdoors. All of OTC’s courses are taught by professional instructors. “Pros can walk into a group and teach to any level,” Todd said. “All the kids come here with different skills, and each of them gets to improve from that level.” At fishing camp, hours are set aside for catching perch, catfish and, in a separate (and heavily stocked) lake, bass. They learn about spinning, baitcasting and fly tackle, how to catch and use natural baits, how to work lures, even to tie their own flies. On the hunting side, there’s instruction in the safe and proper use of firearms and bows, and both camps include lessons in survival, camping, paddling and outdoor first-aid. “The most popular sessions at fishing camps are fly-tying and bass fishing,” Todd said. “At hunting camp, it’s dog training; they love working with the dogs.” Todd’s hope is to expose kids who already may like one or two specific aspects of the outdoors to other activities in settings that enable them to use their new skills immediately. OTC and similar camps continue to open as more adults see and want to reverse a growing disconnection between children and nature. “I want to show them everything about the outdoors,” Todd said. “I see it as a first step. These camps create a hunger for more information.” |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 April 2008 ) |
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