Adams County 4-H hosts youth shooting safety camp

By Jeff Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Sunday, August 3, 2008

NATCHEZ — The Adams County 4-H recently spent a week teaching young hunters proper shooting and gun safety, and now they would like to turn it into a year-round thing.

Thirty-two young hunters between the ages of 7 and 16 earned their hunter’s safety certificate at the week-long camp, which took place at the Adams County Sheriff’s Department Firing Range.

“It went great,” supervisor David Carter said. “We had 32 kids altogether and they got certified. We had eight volunteers who came out and worked for us.”

The training camps lasted four hours each day. Two of those hours were spent on the range and the other two hours were spent in a classroom setting watching safety videos and getting instructions about safe gun and hunting practices.

There were four different disciplines to the camp — shotgun, rifle, archery and muzzleloader.

Volunteer Walter Harrison said everyone had a good time at the camp, even the instructors.

“A number of guys helped with the different disciplines,” Harrison said. “There were some good people there and good instruction for them. All of the volunteers enjoyed doing it. It was a lot of fun working with the kids.”

The final day of the camp, there was a big competition between the students, which allowed them to have a fun end to a week of learning.

“The kids loved the competition on the final day,” Carter said. “It’s something they really looked forward to.”

Carter said it is important for young hunters to learn proper safety techniques to protect them while they are hunting.

“They need to do it (handle guns) properly,” Carter said. “Critics say we shouldn’t teach young kids to shoot guns. But they are going to go hunting with their parents or friends and need to do it properly.”

This was the second straight year for the camp, and Carter said he plans on having it again next year.

“We had some great sponsors and volunteers,” Carter said. “We are intent on doing this in the future.”

And hopefully that will spawn a year-round program to teach youths the basics of hunting safety.

“We’re looking to start a year-round shooting program beginning with rifle and shotgun,” Carter said. “We need to teach kids to shoot, be responsible and have life skills. The gun is a tool to help teach that.”