NATCHEZ — Young hunters will pick up their rifles and bows and head down to the Adams County Sheriff Range for the annual 4-H Hunter Safety Camp starting July 25.

The four-day camp is for children ages 8 to 18, and campers ages 10 and older will have the opportunity to receive their hunter safety license.

“The camp is for teaching kids about guns, firearm safety, the dos and don’ts of handling fire arms and conservation of wildlife,” 4-H Youth Agent Jason Jones said.

Jones said the camp is free and parents can register their children by calling the Adams County 4-H Extension office, but they will limit the class size to 30 children.

“The range is only so big that we don’t need to have that many kids,” he said. “They will work on four different stations: rifle, shotgun, muzzle loading and archery. So, the kids get the chance to practice on different disciplines.”

Jones said Mississippi regulations require children to be at least 10 years old to receive their hunter safety license, but 8- and 9-year-olds can participate in the camp to learn about safety and get a head start.

“The license gets them the legal right to go hunting during certain seasons,” Jones said.

Jones said Steve Smith, conservation officer with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, will be instructor for the course.

“He is good with kids, and will teach them why it’s important to have a license and the importance of being responsible and considerate,” Jones said.

Smith said the hunter safety course he will be teaching is the standard course that all Mississippi hunters must take if they were born after Jan. 1, 1972.

“Anytime someone has a camp like this it gives us the opportunity to go participate and teach class,” Smith said. “It also gives us the opportunity to be around the youth in a not-so enforcement capacity and more of a friend capacity. They get to know us and see we aren’t bad guys.”

Smith said in order to pass the course the students must pass a 40 question, multiple-choice test and then demonstrate what they learned with a rifle.

Smith said the 10-hour course will be split up over the four-day camp. Camp times are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.

Smith said he taught the course last year, and was impressed with the number of campers.

“We were full last year, with a lot of people trying to get in,” he said.

The course focuses mainly on hunter safety and firearm safety, Smith said. They students will also learn responsibility, ethics, marksmanship and hunting skills. Water survival and special hunting skills will also be a focus.

Smith has been a conservation officer for 12 years. Prior to that he was a volunteer hunter education instructor.

“I have a long, long history with hunter education,” he said.

Smith said his main focus is keeping young hunters safe.

“The No. 1 thing is safety,” he said. “Obviously, above and beyond any harvesting, the main thing is they don’t hurt themselves or hurt someone else. If we can get that down the rest is easy.”

Jones said the course is popular with many returning campers each year, and 4-H generally has little trouble filling the classes.

“A lot of youth come back,” he said. “Even people with licenses just enjoy coming, and it’s always good to get refreshed when you deal with hunting, (they) still learn something new.”

Jones said the campers are allowed to bring their own firearms to use at camp, but Jones or Smith will inspect the weapons before they can be used.

Volunteers will be present to help watch the children to ensure safety during the camp, Jones said.

Jones said there are not many programs around that will provide the opportunities the camp provides.

“It’s a free program, and there aren’t too many free camps anymore where you will get fed and educated,” he said.

Children can register by calling the extension office at 601-445-8201. The camp is open to the first 30 children to register. Snacks will be provided for campers each day.

The first two days of the camp are July 25-26, and the final two days will be July 28-29. The sheriff’s department will be using the range on the 27, Jones said.