hunted and fished. I lived right beside
the Arkansas River and I was in and out
of the woods and river all of the time.
When the weekend rolled around, I
wasn't sitting inside watching TV or
playing video games, I was on the river
banks and running through the woods."
But, Joe admitted, times have changed.
Today, he lamented, kids don't have
the opportunity to get out into Mother
Nature's backyard often enough.
"My kids they grew up with sports and
other activities," he said. "Now, it's a
challenge to get kids into the outdoors.
Baseball and basketball are great to
get kids active. When you start getting
out into the woods, though, you can
get active, stay healthy and see what
wildlife we have in this state. You can
experience the beautiful country, enjoy
the outdoors and see what we have to
offer in this state."
For families interested in the hunting
sports, Joe said the Game and Fish
Commission works with other
organizations to make sure hunter
safety and education classes are widely
available around Arkansas.
"Hunting safety isn't just for kids,"
said. "Kids can teach safety to parents
and adults too. Being able to go
to a hunter education class or get
involved with the Jakes Program, a
youth program set up by Wild Turkey
Federation, or Green Wings, a program
set up through Ducks Unlimited, is a
great way to start."
Joe said 4-H has a lot of different
programs for youth and
with shooting events and
competitions.
"We have a shooting
sports program," Joe
explained. "We probably
average 6,000 youth
shooters from grades
6-12 who shoot trap.
We host regional
competitions and
state competitions and
there are high school age
shooting competitions for
(college and university)
scholarships. We also have
an archery program the
Game and Fish Commission
has set up through schools.
We've got a lot of schools
involved in that. We have
regional and state tournaments
and about 2,000 shooters
participate in the state program.
We have an elementary program
and categories for middle school
and senior high. We've got some
really talented archery shooters in
this state. Arkansas shooting sports
competitors have gone on to Junior
Olympics and are getting close to
competing in Olympic shooting."
Off icialKidsMag.com • OC T & NOV 2018 • 47
