KOSC Camp
For those of you who were wondering where I went, I spent my summer helping kids learn about firearms, archery, fishing, hunting, and conservation. It was by far the best summer I have ever had and I can’t wait until next summer! Camp has been an amazing experience for me. I am now certified to teach Rifle and Shotgun through the NRA, along with archery through USA Archery. On top of that, I am now an NRA Range Safety Officer which is extremely exciting! I never thought I would love working at a camp so much. I always thought my passion was just hunting and being out in the field. But being able to teach firearm safety is amazing!
At camps, we teach kids all about the outdoors are firearms. There are three camps that we have right now for levels. The first is Beginner Camp, when kids are at beginner camp they get all the basics. They do have class time but with class time it is because they get their California Hunters Education! YAY! Between class times we then teach the kids about rifles, shotguns, archery, and fishing. When it comes to rifles we have them start on .22’s and we only work on the bench. We get them used to using a scope, proper safety, and of course making sure they can hold it properly when it comes to their shoulder. Then there’s the shotgun, and we focus on their stance and being in a box. They practice following a clay pigeon, and then we go to live fire. When we teach shotguns we make sure of course safety first, but also their shoulder work so that way they don’t become scared of the recoil. That was my problem growing up. I hated shotgun with a burning passion. I never liked having to swing a firearm, the kick, the awkward stance. I was always a rifle or archery person. But within the past 6months, I now love shotgun and plan to make a team with my friends. Next up we have archery! Yay, my favorite! Archery has been interesting teaching for sure because I grew up doing it before I learned on rifle or shotgun. Teaching kids not to get an arm slap (when the bow string hits your arm and leaves a mark/bruise) is interesting. I know the proper ways but it is funny how much I picked up on watching my dad all these years and now teaching kids. With archery, we focus on positioning, safety, and getting familiar with the bow. We have the kids shoot at paper targets. Fishing is fishing, we just make sure the kids know how to tie a line and cast properly. But we also do other things with the beginner campers.
Something we started this year is “Track a Buck” my coworker CJ and I are in charge of it and we go over what we do on a hunt, and what if a buck is hit but then we have to follow a blood trail. The first round we did it we didn’t think anything of it, we just did our thing and talked with the kids on a little hike to the 3D deer target. But after the kids took their hunters ed course, they came back to us and said that they wouldn’t have remembered most of the stuff on their test if it wasn’t for track a buck. Which absolutely made my heart so happy.
The next level camp we have is Advanced. When it comes to advanced we still have the same core activities; archery, rifle, shotgun, and fishing. What we change though is with rifles we now show the different positions such as prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing with sticks. They still use .22’s but they also are shooting at 50-100 yards now also. The bonus when it comes to rifles though is we also let the kids have bench time and do one round of 6.5 Creedmore. This is a way for us to give them a taste of what they get to work with next camp in Advanced 2. What we change with shotguns is really just more time with clays in the air and they get to better their skills. We do more competition games and it’s less focusing on the form along with getting them comfortable with the shotgun. When it comes to archery the change there is we no longer use paper targets, but 3d targets. They focus on learning where to aim on an animal with a bow, but we do this in the same place we do beginner camps. The only class time the kids have this round of camp is learning more about conservation.
Advanced two was brand new this summer. We had a lot of new things that the kids ended up loving. First up is rifle, the kids get a refresher in the positions such as prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing with sticks. But they don’t do this with the .22’s, but with the 6.5 Creedmores. The entire time for rifles they are using the Creedmores and the kids loved it! When it came to shotguns we added some amazing things. The first thing is we taught them about how to walk with shotguns during a pheasant hunt. This being said they were out in a field, we had throwers out there and we would then have someone pull and yell “Rooster” or “Hen” and the kids had to say it back. If it was a rooster then whoever lane it was in got to shoot. It was great for them to learn how to watch their line, along with getting used to shooting in their lane. And my favorite part of the summer was the 3D archery range we got to have for the first time! Just as it’s stated, we made our own 3D range and taught the kids how to go about the range, and sneak up to the targets, along with the different ways to position yourself when shooting.
The summer was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to come back to camp next year and see everyone! If you are interested in camp just go to kidsoutdoorsportscamp.com for more information! I plan on bein at all the camps possible next summer!
