Prairie Dog State Park Youth Deer Camp

On October 12th and 13th, 2019, Norton Wildlife Area Biologist Luke Winge hosted and lead a youth deer camp for 4 special youth during the pre-rut anterless season. Luke has dreamed of hosting a traditional deer camp for youth in Kansas at KDWPT Prairie Dog State Park and this was the year he turned those dreams into reality. He said, “the intention was to host a full expereince hunt. Most people aging out of hunting got into it with hunting camps- stories, bonfires, eating, time away from the grind, etc. I wanted novice hunters to have a chance to love the outdoor lifestyle.” Youth Mason, Trey, Drew, and Caleb, along with a guardian partook in an overnight deer camp. Luke has been involved in the outdoor industry for as long as he can remember. Growing up in a hunting family and then as a professional in the conservation world. Luke desires to mentor more folks in the outdoors. He shared a memory with us about his own mentors “I have had numerous mentors throughout my life. The first and biggest influence was my dad, he ignited a passion for hunting and fishing when I was young and started an outdoor lifestyle that that I still live today” said Luke. He contiuned on to share with us his favorite memory with his dad. “It would be hard to pick one moment out but one of the top moments was taking my Dad out to harvest his first turkey. My Dad had never hunted turkeys and when a big 3 year old tom strutted all the way into the decoys then proceeded to give us a show while in the decoys was pretty special.”

Luke Winge had the driving force in passion to host this hunt and that is exactly what he did. With the help of the Pheasants Forever of Norton, KS Longspur Chapter, this deer camp was free of charge to the youth. Youth were responsible for purchasing their own deer permit to stress the importance of license and tag purchasing. Luke said, “I feel we need to be targeting existing hunters and putting the pressure on them to take someone new hunting. If we changed the perception of successful hunting from limiting out to it being cool to take someone new we would have a surplus of mentors!”

Game Warden and Concordia high school trap team coach, Todd Robinson referred 3 of this athletes to attend this hunt, but one youth in particular stood out more than the others. Drew signed up to go on the deer hunt with 3 other youth that weekend. This was Drew’s first time hunting in which he described as “awesome and amazing.” Todd had a close relationship with Drew as he quickly became disciplined and invested in trap shooting. Todd said, “Drew had never shot a shotgun except for Hunter Ed and didn't own a shotgun when he joined the team last spring. He is a quiet kid that takes direction well. He showed up every time we opened the trap range to shoot practice rounds in addition to his scoring rounds. He is proof that working hard and putting extra effort into something can really pay off. He went from struggling to hit a clay at the beginning to now being disappointed if he doesn't shoot at least 40 out of 50.”

Amy, Drew’s mom grew up with a father who has an avid hunter, but she never took part in the sport herself. Now, she has a 14 year old who is extremely interested in the sport. “I'm a single parent to a 14 year old son. It is sometimes hard to balance things, especially when you want your son to be able to have this kind of experience and not really knowing where to start” said Amy. Trey Collins, another parent on the trap team was signed up to take his son, Trey and a friend along and didn’t hesitate to extend an invite to ride along to Drew. “Todd let Drew borrow all kinds of camo gear for the trip. These guys were willing to help a kid out by sharing a ride, camo gear, stories and their time! To me they're not just taking a kid hunting, they're giving him an experience he might not otherwise have gotten to have and they're showing him that there are people who'll go the extra mile to help you out.” said Amy.

To Todd, sharing gear with Drew was a no-brainer. Drew continuously goes above and beyond, is kind, and works hard to better himself day after day. Todd said, “I knew Drew likely didn't have any equipment and I'm a gear hoarder, so I have a lot of equipment that I have accumulated over the years and had plenty to share with him. I didn't want something like clothing hold him back from being able to have this experience. Knowing what else was provided, made it easier to set Drew up for success.”

There was just one last thing left for Drew to secure for this hunt and that was a good pair of boots. Todd did not have pair that would fit Drew and went above and beyond to find a pair for him. Todd reached out out to a fellow game warden to secure a pair of boots.  “I know how important good footwear is for the outdoors and cold feet can make for a miserable hunt. I have big feet and young kids, so I don't have much in the average size boot department. Luckily, I have lots of friends that have more normal feet than mine. My neighboring game warden, Greg Salisbury was willing to lend a pair of his boots to Drew for the hunt. It's great that I have friends and coworkers that are able to chip in their equipment to help Drew get to go on his hunt.”

Success is exactly what Drew and the 3 other boys had on their deer hunt. During the first evening of their trip, all 4 boys were able to harvest a deer! Parent and avid hunter, Terry knew how important it was for his son, Trey to experience a traditional deer camp so the small farm family made room in their schedule to make this hunt possible.Without the help of Terry, 3 of these boys would not have made it to the hunt. Terry said, “We feel very fortunate to have been able to take advantage of this opportunity.  It was something that Trey will remember for a very long time and I believe the mentoring program is very important to assist the youth in our state to learn proper hunting practices.” Drew was partnered with mentor and KDWPT Region 1 Public Land Supervisor, Mike Nyhoff. Mike is no stranger to the PIO program and has been volunteering his time and expertise for 17 years. Drew was quite found of Mike and said “he's a really cool guy, super nice and answered all of my questions. I felt like he was teaching me what to do, not just telling me what to do.” Some of Drew’s favorite parts of deer camp were shooting with a scope and where to shoot the deer, learning about what a game warden does as part of their job, driving around the park, eating and cooking wild game, and hanging out with the guys. Of course his favorite part of deer camp was shooting his first deer!

As of last Spring, there were 74 Kansas schools that have a trap team which rounds out to about 1,800 shooting athletes. Of those 1,800 shooting athletes many of them hunt and many of them would like to learn how to hunt. The Prairie Dog State Park youth deer camp is a perfect example of how we can provide opportunity to both of those populations. Of the 4 youth that attended the hunt, 2 of them have deer hunted in the past and 2 of them have not. Todd continued to say that providing mentorship and opportunity is critical to getting more youth outdoors. “Lots of kids today would love to go hunting, but their parents don't have the knowledge or time to take them. Giving these kids the opportunity to go is very satisfying. Getting young people involved in the outdoors is important in my job to keep hunting relevant and for people to continue to purchase licenses in the future. Getting kids started out on the right foot with good mentorships is important for them to have success” said Todd.

Parent Adam Aunins couldn’t say enough good things about the youth deer camp that his son Mason attended. He said, “Luke and everyone else did a great job. Things were scouted out, blinds placed well, they fed us great! I cannot say enough good things about how everything went. Mason and I had an incredible experience.” All 4 youth hunters ended their deer camp feeling empowered, accomplished, and left with deer meat to put in their freezers at home.

Special Thanks from Amy & Drew: Although I did not go to the retreat, as a mom this experience was about being grateful; I can say my favorite part is that my son got to do something he wanted to do, he had a fun time doing it and he learned about a whole lot more than just "shooting a deer.” I would like to say a huge "THANK YOU" to everyone who had a hand in helping organize such a great hunting & learning experience; Prairie Dog State Park, Luke Wingee, the game wardens & volunteers, Brittany Waldman, who was always quick to respond to questions & send information, the Kensington Locker for the processing of the deer, and Todd & Terry, our hometown guys!