NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/625084
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 • NEBRASKAland 47 outdoor and science education and hunting," Carlson said. "We have a lot of kids in our 4-H group that are city kids and we're trying to introduce and expand their horizons to more opportunities that are not in town." Krause, who volunteers both as a Hunter Education instructor and as a coach for the 4-H Shooting Stars, said the club wants to cover every aspect of the shooting sports, and hunting is one of them. Only a few clubs offer the Hunting and Wildlife Project. This hunt was the second Krause organized. The first was a dove hunt in Sept. 2014, something they did again in 2015. He had another rabbit hunt and a squirrel hunt planned for this winter, and hoped to organize a pheasant hunt. "They're really good about practicing for their competitions and learning how to use their BB guns and air guns and .22s," Krause said. "But there's something else when you go outside to shoot trap and skeet and sporting clays. It's like the kids come alive. They can move around, they can talk, they give each other a bunch of guff. Then when we go hunting, it's once again something different and they seem to really latch onto it. Nobody is concerned whether they got something or they didn't. They all seem to work together and they have fun and that's the goal. To go out and learn in the outdoors and have fun while you're doing it." On this hunt, Calin's rabbit was the only one bagged. There were other chances, but they were fleeting at best. Bella ran a bunny right back to Emma Krause. "It was right in front of me," she said. "As soon as I got my gun up and got the safety off and was ready to shoot, it ducked in the grass. And as I was waiting for it, it never came out." Davis didn't mind. "It's hunting," he said. "I enjoy all of it." The next day, the same group with a few substitutes brought home three rabbits for the pot. Stan brought several pots to a Shooting Stars meeting and prepared a variety of rabbit dishes for the young hunters. "It's not any fun if you're just shooting," Krause said. "You've got to eat them, right?" ■ W hen many people think of 4-H, they think about farm kids showing their calf at the county fair. But for many youths, 4-H means guns and bows thanks to the organization's shooting sports program. 4-H Shooting Sports is one of 150 projects offered by 4-H through clubs, camps, after-school groups, school enrichment and other programs and events to youth age 5-18 in every county in Nebraska, helping them develop leadership, citizenship and life skills with a learn-by-doing approach. Other projects include everything from robotics to clothing care to theatre, far from "the days of cows and cookies," said Steve Pritchard, University of Nebraska extension educator in Boone and Nance counties and head of 4-H shooting sports in Nebraska. The program offers instruction and competitive shoots in archery, muzzleloading, shotgun, BB, air and .22-cal. rifle, and air and .22- cal. pistol, as well as a hunting and wildlife project that teaches youths about wildlife and their habitat. All are taught by certified volunteer instructors from a standardized curriculum used by 4-H programs across the country. "The rifle, the bow, the pistol are just tools to work with kids, developing youth, that's number one," Pritchard said. In Nebraska, 4,724 youths participated in a 4-H shooting sports program in Nebraska in 2015. Counting some enrolled in multiple disciplines more than once and adding others exposed to shooting at camps, fairs and other events, more than 22,000 youths participated in a shooting sports program in 2014, the fourth highest total in the nation. Pritchard said that is a testament to the more than 700 instructors who volunteered 40,000 hours to teaching the youths. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is a partner with 4-H in several Outdoor Skills and Shooting Skills summer camps that teach shooting. 4-H volunteers also often help teach shooting at the Outdoor Discovery Program events the Commission holds around the state each spring. And many clubs send teams to the annual Cornhusker Trap Shoot in Doniphan each spring, where a 4-H division was established long ago to give youths in rural counties that may not be able to field a high school team the chance to compete. Pritchard said the shooting sports projects are life-long pursuits 4-Hers can enjoy with their families, making them a perfect fit for the organization. "They can enjoy that outdoor experience as good Lord's willing and they have an interest in it," he said. As the youth development program of the Cooperative Extension System of land-grant universities, including the University of Nebraska, dating back to the Morrill acts of 1962 and 1890, 4-H is the nation's largest youth development organization, with six million young members in all 3,007 counties in the United States. For more on the 4-H Shooting Sports Program, go to 4h.unl.edu/ ShootingSports. 4-H Shooting Sports