'Top guns' coming to Long Point Waterfowl camp
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Long Point Waterfowl (LPW) is bringing out its ‘top guns’ for expanded 2013 Youth Hunting and Conservation Course (YHCC) opportunities.
The list of instructors includes Bill Blackburn, current Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) president; Dan Elliott, retired from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR); Lyle Smith, retired Ontario Provincial Police officer; professional instructor Emad Hazboun; Avery Pro Staffers Ray and Jude St. John (the latter a Grey Cup winner with the Toronto Argonauts as well as a noted outdoorsman); as well as local volunteers and members of the LPW.
“These are the top instructors in the province,” said Ted Barney, Biologist with LPW. “Students are getting a hands-on approach with the best instructors we can provide.”
Barney has found his involvement with the program extremely rewarding, through the passion and inspiration which comes through in YHCC students.
“This passion is out there and we all share it. Sometimes your passion burns brighter through mentorship – that’s really what all these people who come and support the event are doing.”
The YHCC is a six-day, hands-on experience including training and mentorship in hunting, wildlife conservation and management directed at youth between the ages of 12 and 16. Cost per student is $450 which includes instruction, boarding at LPW facilities and all meals (catered), one-year memberships in Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the OFAH, and Quality Deer Management Association and a number of sponsor giveaways.
Participants are treated as young adults in whom a work ethic is encouraged and have the opportunity – although not the guarantee – to complete their Ontario Hunter Safety Certification, Canadian Firearms Safety Certification and Ontario Wild Turkey Training Course.
“You pull your weight to pass,” said Barney, noting that to date, every YHCC student has done so. “But the opportunity to fail is there.”
Students have originated from as far away as Windsor, north to Parry Sound and east to Ottawa. Barney says there is roughly an 80%/20% male/female ratio, with the latter more than holding their own through the course and during target shooting. “Sometimes the boys have to swallow their pride pretty quickly when the girls step up at the range.”
The YHCC sponsor list includes Avery, Delta Waterfowl, Duck Unlimited Canada, National Wild Turkey Federation, OFAH, Quality Deer Management, Waterfowl Research Foundation, and Wildlife Habitat Canada.
Based on demand and a decision to open the course up to future wildlife professionals (FWP) currently studying at the university level, LWP has added a second week in this, its fifth year.
The first course is based out of the LWP research and education centre near Turkey Point and runs from July 20-25, the second from August 17-22. Parents can also attend, if space allows, in both participatory ($450) and observer ($200) roles. Those seeking more information are invited to call 1-888-448-2473 extension 151, email tbarney@longpointwaterfowl.org or visit the Long Point Waterfowl website: longpointwaterfowl.org.
Each week is open to 20 12-16-year-old students, and up to five FWP.
“That’s not written in stone,” said Barney, noting flexibility will exist, based on demand. Effectively, youth applicants will have right of first refusal. “If not, those spaces will be, we’d like to think, future wildlife professionals.”
Beyond increased sensitivity to natural areas, a better understanding of hunters through taking the course would seem advantageous for FWP in dealing with hunters during their careers.
“I would say that is far to say,” agreed Barney.
Featured YHCC activities include target shooting, calling and taxidermy, waterfowl decoy placement, retriever training, hunting tips and mentoring, and game preparation and cooking.
Acquisition of training and attendant paperwork is very much a part of the YHCC, and in part in response to statistics indicating, for example, the number of duck hunters in Canada has declined over 70% from 500,000 in the late 1970s, to 135,000 today. Given the current basis of wildlife management is a hunting model through adaptive science and change, a cost-effective approach with significant benefits in terms of outdoor experiences and economic return for local economies, there are advantages to encourage new, young hunters.
But educating a new generation of outdoorsman is far from the course’s sole benefit, says Barney.
“People talk about Nature Deficit Disorder. This current generation doesn’t have the connection to the land and its resources. There’s a need for that, just for a kid to be a kid.”
Barney loved ‘disappearing into the woods,’ during summers spent at the family cottage in the Muskokas, a formative experience in both his career path and enduring love of the outdoors. Fewer and fewer contemporary youth have access to that kind of opportunity, or a ‘back 40’ for an introduction to the outdoors and shooting sports.
The LPW honours its mandate of wetland and waterfowl research, education and conservation in part through the YHCC. In exposing youth to the outdoors and outdoor opportunities, the course also exposes future custodians of those areas and opportunities to their inherent, and Barney hopes, enduring value.
“They don’t have to necessarily hunt for the rest of their lives, but they can be a voice for the conservation of wild areas and ensure the future of those spaces for future generations. They are the next stewards of the land, without their interest, the resource that we have now may not be there to the same extent.
“Exposing youth and future wildlife professionals to the outdoors is laying a foundation for the future of our resources, those which many of us enjoy and hope to continue to enjoy in the future.”
Long Point Waterfowl (LPW) Biologist Ted Barney is pleased to announce a second week for the popular Youth Hunting & Conservation Course, and an opportunity for future wildlife professionals attending university to attend. The six-day camps (July 20-25 and August 17-22) are based out of the LPW facility near Turkey Point and along with providing participants the opportunity to complete their Ontario Hunter Safety Certification, Canadian Firearms Safety Certification and Ontario Wild Turkey Training Course, exposes them to the inherent value of the outdoors and outdoor opportunities. For more information, interested persons are invited to call 1-888-448-2473 extension 151 or email tbarney@longpointwaterfowl.org. Jeff Tribe/Tillsonburg News