I love watching women and kids become involved in the Kansas outdoors, and this fall there seem to be numerous opportunities for that to happen around the state.
The National Rifle Association has a program for women shooters called Women on Target (WOT). On Saturday Sept. 10, WOT will sponsor a women’s-only shooting event at the Friends of Fancy Creek Shooting range at the Fancy Creek area of Tuttle Creek State park near Randolph, KS. The event is designed to help women become more comfortable and familiar with firearms, and will provide instruction in basic handling and shooting skills with handguns, rifles, muzzleloaders and archery. There is a $50 registration fee that covers loaner equipment, ammunition, instruction, eye and ear protection and lunch. Space is limited to 36 participants and I don’t think they’ll have any trouble filling this up, so call Marci Ritter at 785 293 4406 or email her at [email protected]. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.
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If you’re looking for a way to introduce a kid to the world of outdoor sports including shooting, hunting, fishing and trapping, mark your calendar to attend the 19 Annual Youth Outdoor festival at Hays, Ks. Hays area businesses, conservation and shooting sports groups will sponsor the event at the Hays City Sportsman’s Club from 9 to 3 on Saturday August 20. Kids will have the opportunity to shoot trap and skeet, archery equipment, air rifles and BB guns, muzzleloaders and small bore rifles, plus there will be a casting competition, paintball target shooting and a fur harvesting demonstration. Expert volunteer instructors will supervise the youth at every station and all equipment will be supplied. Lunch is provided and prizes including guns, fishing tackle and other outdoor equipment will be given away. For more information call Kent Hensley at 785 726 3212 or Troy Mattheyer at 785 726 4212. And as if that weren’t enough, the entire day is FREE!
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Catfish tagging; I know this sounds a lot like snipe hunting or maybe a video game like Pokemon Go. But really, biologists from the Kansas Dept of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) are catfish tagging at Tuttle Creek Reservoir. The blue cat population there at Tuttle Creek is still fairly young, and biologists are tagging them to help understand them better. Blue cats are collected with an electrofishing boat that temporarily stuns them, allowing biologists to place yellow information tags just below the dorsal spine on all fish 14 inches or longer. When the fish are eventually caught, reporting that information will help determine how well they are growing, how far they are moving upstream of the lake and how many fish are migrating downstream out of the lake. If you happen to catch a tagged blue catfish at Tuttle Creek, please follow the instructions on the tag to report your catch. Most fish being tagged have been between 16 and 22 inches, the largest being 27 inches long weighing 8.3 pounds.
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And while we’re talkin’ fishing, how would you like to become a Certified Fishing Instructor for youth and families? Saturday, August 20 from 9 to noon, the KDWPT and a group called Fishing’s Future will host an Angler Education Instructor certification course at the Lakewood Discovery Center, 250 Lakewood Drive in Salina. This will be a free course for anyone aspiring to teach fishing techniques to kids and families. Participants will learn how to work with kids, how to create a class curriculum, and how to present pertinent fishing information like current fishing regulations, fish habitat and equipment use. Students must go online to the KDWPT website and complete the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) certification course and bring their certification card with them to class. Participants will also be required to sign a release allowing KDWPT to run a background check on them. For further information and to register for the class, go to the website www.fishingsfuture.org.
You have heard it said many-a-time that our youth are the future of the sports of hunting, fishing and trapping, and I would also add to that our ladies as well, so anything we can do to get them interested and to keep them interested in the outdoors is a win-win situation. Kudos to those folks who promote and sponsor these events, and continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].
photo credit –Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources **
