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Thanks to significant support of Alamo SCI, nearly a dozen local boys from economically challenged families were able to attend Hunting and Fishing Adventure Camp this summer.
The camps, held by Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club, taught marksmanship with rifle, shotgun and bow, all kinds of outdoors skills, conservation and wildlife management, and how to harvest, process and prepare fish and game.
Campers harvested big game ranging from exotic does and sheep to axis bucks and American bison. The camps were held on the Living Water Ranch on the banks of the Nueces River north of Uvalde.
In addition to hands-on, in-the-field instruction from a range of outdoors experts, campers also learned leadership and life skills, all in a faith-based setting. Instead of the typical vacation-type setting of most summer camps, the youth at CTO’s camp are active participants, as if they were spending a week at the deer lease with friends. The approach is somewhat unconventional, but the results speak for themselves. Here is a letter from the parents of a camper:
“Just a quick note to let you know how happy Judy and I are with all we saw at the CTO camp. You were right about a couple of things right off, Sam slept for about 2 hours at the beginning of the trip and then talked for a long while ( for Sam that is) telling us all that went on. How scared he was during the camp out, how the buffalo's heart was as big as a bowling ball but was delicious, etc, etc, etc. We have never seen him as happy or engaged with any experience in the past. “He was also noticeably more mature, content, and at ease than at any time in the recent past.
“I think this is a testament to you, Amy, Greg and all of the others who give their time and hearts to those kids. We look forward to keeping Sam involved in CTO for a long time to come.”
Over the past year, SCI’s sponsorship of CTO has enabled dozens of youth get involved in our hunting heritage, in a meaningful way, for the first time. CTO is a non-profit charity that offers year round youth outings, skills training, fellowship and community service projects. Kids who plug into the program are able to grow as sportsmen from novice to as far as they want to take it.
“Thanks to the active support of SCI Alamo Chapter, the number of hunters in San Antonio is growing daily. Many organizations talk about ‘preserving our hunting heritage’ but SCI Alamo Chapter means it. With SCI, we’re not just defending our heritage anymore – we’re actually going out there to recruit and train new hunters and plug them into the sporting lifestyle,” said Greg Flores, the director of CTO’s San Antonio unit.
To contact CTO, call 1-866-KID HUNT or log into www.TeamCTO.org.
Since July of 2005, SCI Alamo Chapter has helped fund scholarships for local youth to participate in the activities of Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club.
The reasons all of us love to hunt have a lot to do with things much deeper than just harvesting another animal. Being a hunter is a lifestyle that draws each of us to a higher level of emotional stability, common-sense maturity, and faith.
If we’ve been hunters most of our lives, we can start to take these things for granted. Seeing these benefits manifest themselves in the lives of young hunters, however, can make them fresh all over again.
It’s easy to show picture after picture of young people who have harvested their first animals as a result of our SCI scholarship support for Cross Trail Outfitters. We literally have dozens of them, and they’re great!
This month, I’d rather show some “snapshots” of the things that happen in the hearts and minds of our youth participants. Below are excerpts from some letters that we’ve received in recent weeks. I think you’ll agree that our youth education program is delivering benefits that go way beyond the outdoors, and that don’t end with the outings we help support!
From one of our Apprentice Guides, who recently helped a boy harvest his first hog:
I had a blast this weekend guiding Zech on getting his first hog. That was my first one-on-one guiding as an Apprentice Guide. You know, just me and the hunter, and it was awesome! At one point while waiting for the hogs to get out of the tall grass and on the road, Zech turned to me and said something like, "I have a lot of adrenaline going right now." I replied "me too!"
I looked at him and the gun and he had it very under control but I was shaking pretty bad. I guarantee you that I wouldn’t have been half as excited if I was the shooter. I haven’t had that kind of excitement since I shot that buck in October and since then I’ve shot two doe, and that ram in January. I can’t wait until I have my own son and can share that all over again!
It definitely adds a new aspect to hunting and I thank God for that opportunity. Zech may never know that that little ol' pig may have possibly meant more to me than to him, but I’m sure glad he was selected to shoot and not me.
From a teenager on a recent ram hunt:
I just wanted to thank you and Mr. Arnold for letting me join y’all this week on a great life changing trip that I will never forget!! Thank you so much for being tolerant with me and I hope that I was helpful enough! Like you and Mr. Arnold said, I will not be ice but the rock and I know from experience that especially for me that is very, very hard, living with my mother and all, but I will always look at that ram and think of all that I have learned from y’all! And thank you for letting me spend some good time with my father.
As the days get longer and hotter, kids excitedly start counting the school days left till summer break. Late mornings, lazy afternoons, swimming pools, camps and adventures with friends dominate their daydreams.
For many of us, our thoughts turn to Africa, or to preparing for an elk hunt, or getting our deer lease ready for the fall. Of course, if we have children of our own, we also think about the added responsibility of having our kids home 24 X 7 for three months!
As you’re making plans for this summer, I want to take this opportunity to plant the seed in your mind that each and every one of us has a role to play in the preservation of our hunting heritage. It’s the everyday actions each of us take that will determine whether the next generation of sportsmen has the rights and opportunities to pursue our beloved sport.
Getting kids involved in the hunting lifestyle is not just a matter of taking them out to kill something, and it’s not limited to the fall. A huge part of the experience is anticipation and preparation.
Let me encourage you to share these aspects of your upcoming hunts with the kids you know. Your own, your neighbor’s, or even the son of a single mom at your office or church. Invest the time to share your plans and daydreams. And take them along to the range, or to Sportsman’s Warehouse, or on a scouting trip to your lease.
You may be surprised how much they take to this aspect of the sport. I know I’ve been taken aback by the enthusiasm with which youngsters attack chores like filling feeders, sighting in rifles, clearing senderos, and such. They get rewards out of the activities even if they’re not the ones who will ultimately be pulling the trigger.
You may also be surprised by how fulfilling it is to share hunting with the next generation in such a casual, everyday way. An extra set of hands eager to help with the work isn’t bad, either!
It’s these everyday activities – the simple, daily details of the sportsman’s lifestyle – that make hunting a heritage and not just another hobby. Don’t let these opportunities pass you by.
How many does and cull bucks will you need to take off your ranch this fall? It’s not too early to start lining up weekends to get the kids of Cross Trail Outfitters to help with the deer management on your property.
With financial and manpower support from SCI-Alamo Chapter, CTO will be conducting numerous youth outings this fall to help ranchers with their deer management.
The youth involved in CTO are well behaved and highly supervised, and always endeavor to leave any property better than it was when they found it. Volunteers are thoroughly screened and trained. Safety is their top priority.
Landowners who participate in the program are explicitly covered as an additional insured by CTO’s liability policy. A landowner information kit is available.
CTO youth sportsmen are eager to help harvest cull deer, hogs, varmints – you name it! They’ll often trade hands-on ranch work for hunting opportunities.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
To protect and preserve our hunting heritage through wildlife conservation, education, legislative and humanitarian efforts.
Safari Club International is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide.
Contact CTO San Antonio Outfitter Greg Flores at 210-269-6590 or gflores@teamcto.org.
From his mother:
Kenneth talked non-stop on the way home from his first hunting trip. He liked the food (sausage is one of his favorites), Bible studies around the campfire, and he even liked getting up early in the morning! Mr. Greg Flores gave him some questions to think over before they go on another trip. Very thought provoking! I need to discuss them with Kenneth and should answer them myself. I am looking forward to Kenneth going to summer camp. More trips are coming up and I hope to be able to send Kenneth on some of them. With your help, I will be able to. Thanks again for making these trips possible for our young men. God bless all of you.
From an 11-year-old son of a single mother:
Thanks for giving me a scholarship to go on my first hunting trip. I really liked it. Well, I hope to go on another one but on breaks or during the summer so then I won’t miss any more school. Any ways, I got a Corsican ram. It had brown fur with a black mane. Mr. Greg was with me when I shot mine. Mr. Arnold was with Taylor getting his ram. When we were at the campfire I liked to talk to other people and know that it stays between us. I liked the food that we ate, also. We had meat that was in tortillas then the next day we had sausage that had a chili recipe in it. Well, thank you again for the scholarship. I can't wait for the next hunting or fishing trip that I will be able to go on.
From a single mother of a 13-year old who attended a recent hog hunt:
My son has been pretty amazing the past couple days, he said he had a great time. He mentioned he had talked about me around the campfire devotion (of course, didn't need to know details) how he appreciated me and it circled around the others. He had the excitement of the Lord in his voice about watching his thankfulness pass to the others and see Him move in them all. I was especially proud of him praying before leaving on Friday night, hearing him talk to the Lord, he sounded so mature. Gonna cry again... He has expressed a lot of affection to me also, thank you for helping him love those around him! :)
SCI Alamo Chapter is helping underwrite need-based scholarships to CTO Ultimate Summer Camps. Camps this year will be on the Living Waters Ranch near Camp Wood. Campers spend more than a week having fun in the outdoors, pursuing fish exotic game and varmints, and growing in all sorts of skills. A small number of openings still remain for this summer’s camps. Log into www.TeamCTO.org/camps for more information, or call 1-866-KID HUNT.
From a longtime youth participant:
Thank you Mr. Arnold for everything you have done for me and taught me. You and Greg both have been huge leaders and mentors in my life. Y’all have taught me many things about hunting and my spiritual walk with God. Thank you for being there, and I wish there is someway I could show you two this. I'll figure something out. Thanks.
SCI-Alamo Chapter sponsored need-based scholarships in March for a great youth pheasant hunt run by Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club (CTO). Thanks to landowner and Hill Country SCI leader Marion Kvidera of the Sunrise Pheasant Ranch and Hunting Preserve for his generous hospitality.
To get involved in the SCI-Alamo Chapter youth education program, contact Mike Arnold at 210-286-4875. For more information about Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club, log into www.TeamCTO.org, or call 1-866-KID HUNT.
SCI-Alamo Chapter youth education program delivers benefits beyond the outdoor.
Thanks to significant support of Alamo SCI, nearly a dozen local boys from economically challenged families were able to attend Hunting and Fishing Adventure Camp this summer.
The camps, held by Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club, taught marksmanship with rifle, shotgun and bow, all kinds of outdoors skills, conservation and wildlife management, and how to harvest, process and prepare fish and game.
Campers harvested big game ranging from exotic does and sheep to axis bucks and American bison. The camps were held on the Living Water Ranch on the banks of the Nueces River north of Uvalde.
In addition to hands-on, in-the-field instruction from a range of outdoors experts, campers also learned leadership and life skills, all in a faith-based setting. Instead of the typical vacation-type setting of most summer camps, the youth at CTO’s camp are active participants, as if they were spending a week at the deer lease with friends. The approach is somewhat unconventional, but the results speak for themselves. Here is a letter from the parents of a camper:
“Just a quick note to let you know how happy Judy and I are with all we saw at the CTO camp. You were right about a couple of things right off, Sam slept for about 2 hours at the beginning of the trip and then talked for a long while ( for Sam that is) telling us all that went on. How scared he was during the camp out, how the buffalo's heart was as big as a bowling ball but was delicious, etc, etc, etc. We have never seen him as happy or engaged with any experience in the past. “He was also noticeably more mature, content, and at ease than at any time in the recent past.
“I think this is a testament to you, Amy, Greg and all of the others who give their time and hearts to those kids. We look forward to keeping Sam involved in CTO for a long time to come.”
Over the past year, SCI’s sponsorship of CTO has enabled dozens of youth get involved in our hunting heritage, in a meaningful way, for the first time. CTO is a non-profit charity that offers year round youth outings, skills training, fellowship and community service projects. Kids who plug into the program are able to grow as sportsmen from novice to as far as they want to take it.
“Thanks to the active support of SCI Alamo Chapter, the number of hunters in San Antonio is growing daily. Many organizations talk about ‘preserving our hunting heritage’ but SCI Alamo Chapter means it. With SCI, we’re not just defending our heritage anymore – we’re actually going out there to recruit and train new hunters and plug them into the sporting lifestyle,” said Greg Flores, the director of CTO’s San Antonio unit.
To contact CTO, call 1-866-KID HUNT or log into www.TeamCTO.org.
Since July of 2005, SCI Alamo Chapter has helped fund scholarships for local youth to participate in the activities of Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club.
The reasons all of us love to hunt have a lot to do with things much deeper than just harvesting another animal. Being a hunter is a lifestyle that draws each of us to a higher level of emotional stability, common-sense maturity, and faith.
If we’ve been hunters most of our lives, we can start to take these things for granted. Seeing these benefits manifest themselves in the lives of young hunters, however, can make them fresh all over again.
It’s easy to show picture after picture of young people who have harvested their first animals as a result of our SCI scholarship support for Cross Trail Outfitters. We literally have dozens of them, and they’re great!
This month, I’d rather show some “snapshots” of the things that happen in the hearts and minds of our youth participants. Below are excerpts from some letters that we’ve received in recent weeks. I think you’ll agree that our youth education program is delivering benefits that go way beyond the outdoors, and that don’t end with the outings we help support!
From one of our Apprentice Guides, who recently helped a boy harvest his first hog:
I had a blast this weekend guiding Zech on getting his first hog. That was my first one-on-one guiding as an Apprentice Guide. You know, just me and the hunter, and it was awesome! At one point while waiting for the hogs to get out of the tall grass and on the road, Zech turned to me and said something like, "I have a lot of adrenaline going right now." I replied "me too!"
I looked at him and the gun and he had it very under control but I was shaking pretty bad. I guarantee you that I wouldn’t have been half as excited if I was the shooter. I haven’t had that kind of excitement since I shot that buck in October and since then I’ve shot two doe, and that ram in January. I can’t wait until I have my own son and can share that all over again!
It definitely adds a new aspect to hunting and I thank God for that opportunity. Zech may never know that that little ol' pig may have possibly meant more to me than to him, but I’m sure glad he was selected to shoot and not me.
From a teenager on a recent ram hunt:
I just wanted to thank you and Mr. Arnold for letting me join y’all this week on a great life changing trip that I will never forget!! Thank you so much for being tolerant with me and I hope that I was helpful enough! Like you and Mr. Arnold said, I will not be ice but the rock and I know from experience that especially for me that is very, very hard, living with my mother and all, but I will always look at that ram and think of all that I have learned from y’all! And thank you for letting me spend some good time with my father.
As the days get longer and hotter, kids excitedly start counting the school days left till summer break. Late mornings, lazy afternoons, swimming pools, camps and adventures with friends dominate their daydreams.
For many of us, our thoughts turn to Africa, or to preparing for an elk hunt, or getting our deer lease ready for the fall. Of course, if we have children of our own, we also think about the added responsibility of having our kids home 24 X 7 for three months!
As you’re making plans for this summer, I want to take this opportunity to plant the seed in your mind that each and every one of us has a role to play in the preservation of our hunting heritage. It’s the everyday actions each of us take that will determine whether the next generation of sportsmen has the rights and opportunities to pursue our beloved sport.
Getting kids involved in the hunting lifestyle is not just a matter of taking them out to kill something, and it’s not limited to the fall. A huge part of the experience is anticipation and preparation.
Let me encourage you to share these aspects of your upcoming hunts with the kids you know. Your own, your neighbor’s, or even the son of a single mom at your office or church. Invest the time to share your plans and daydreams. And take them along to the range, or to Sportsman’s Warehouse, or on a scouting trip to your lease.
You may be surprised how much they take to this aspect of the sport. I know I’ve been taken aback by the enthusiasm with which youngsters attack chores like filling feeders, sighting in rifles, clearing senderos, and such. They get rewards out of the activities even if they’re not the ones who will ultimately be pulling the trigger.
You may also be surprised by how fulfilling it is to share hunting with the next generation in such a casual, everyday way. An extra set of hands eager to help with the work isn’t bad, either!
It’s these everyday activities – the simple, daily details of the sportsman’s lifestyle – that make hunting a heritage and not just another hobby. Don’t let these opportunities pass you by.
How many does and cull bucks will you need to take off your ranch this fall? It’s not too early to start lining up weekends to get the kids of Cross Trail Outfitters to help with the deer management on your property.
With financial and manpower support from SCI-Alamo Chapter, CTO will be conducting numerous youth outings this fall to help ranchers with their deer management.
The youth involved in CTO are well behaved and highly supervised, and always endeavor to leave any property better than it was when they found it. Volunteers are thoroughly screened and trained. Safety is their top priority.
Landowners who participate in the program are explicitly covered as an additional insured by CTO’s liability policy. A landowner information kit is available.
CTO youth sportsmen are eager to help harvest cull deer, hogs, varmints – you name it! They’ll often trade hands-on ranch work for hunting opportunities.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
To protect and preserve our hunting heritage through wildlife conservation, education, legislative and humanitarian efforts.
Safari Club International is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide.
Contact CTO San Antonio Outfitter Greg Flores at 210-269-6590 or gflores@teamcto.org.
From his mother:
Kenneth talked non-stop on the way home from his first hunting trip. He liked the food (sausage is one of his favorites), Bible studies around the campfire, and he even liked getting up early in the morning! Mr. Greg Flores gave him some questions to think over before they go on another trip. Very thought provoking! I need to discuss them with Kenneth and should answer them myself. I am looking forward to Kenneth going to summer camp. More trips are coming up and I hope to be able to send Kenneth on some of them. With your help, I will be able to. Thanks again for making these trips possible for our young men. God bless all of you.
From an 11-year-old son of a single mother:
Thanks for giving me a scholarship to go on my first hunting trip. I really liked it. Well, I hope to go on another one but on breaks or during the summer so then I won’t miss any more school. Any ways, I got a Corsican ram. It had brown fur with a black mane. Mr. Greg was with me when I shot mine. Mr. Arnold was with Taylor getting his ram. When we were at the campfire I liked to talk to other people and know that it stays between us. I liked the food that we ate, also. We had meat that was in tortillas then the next day we had sausage that had a chili recipe in it. Well, thank you again for the scholarship. I can't wait for the next hunting or fishing trip that I will be able to go on.
From a single mother of a 13-year old who attended a recent hog hunt:
My son has been pretty amazing the past couple days, he said he had a great time. He mentioned he had talked about me around the campfire devotion (of course, didn't need to know details) how he appreciated me and it circled around the others. He had the excitement of the Lord in his voice about watching his thankfulness pass to the others and see Him move in them all. I was especially proud of him praying before leaving on Friday night, hearing him talk to the Lord, he sounded so mature. Gonna cry again... He has expressed a lot of affection to me also, thank you for helping him love those around him! :)
SCI Alamo Chapter is helping underwrite need-based scholarships to CTO Ultimate Summer Camps. Camps this year will be on the Living Waters Ranch near Camp Wood. Campers spend more than a week having fun in the outdoors, pursuing fish exotic game and varmints, and growing in all sorts of skills. A small number of openings still remain for this summer’s camps. Log into www.TeamCTO.org/camps for more information, or call 1-866-KID HUNT.
From a longtime youth participant:
Thank you Mr. Arnold for everything you have done for me and taught me. You and Greg both have been huge leaders and mentors in my life. Y’all have taught me many things about hunting and my spiritual walk with God. Thank you for being there, and I wish there is someway I could show you two this. I'll figure something out. Thanks.
SCI-Alamo Chapter sponsored need-based scholarships in March for a great youth pheasant hunt run by Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club (CTO). Thanks to landowner and Hill Country SCI leader Marion Kvidera of the Sunrise Pheasant Ranch and Hunting Preserve for his generous hospitality.
To get involved in the SCI-Alamo Chapter youth education program, contact Mike Arnold at 210-286-4875. For more information about Cross Trail Outfitters – Youth Hunting and Fishing Club, log into www.TeamCTO.org, or call 1-866-KID HUNT.
SCI-Alamo Chapter youth education program delivers benefits beyond the outdoor.
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Alamo Chapter/SCI
P. O. Box 587
Wimberley, Texas 78676
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P. O. Box 587
Wimberley, Texas 78676
hosted & designed by exoticclassifieds.com
Welcome to the Alamo Chapter
SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL
ALAMO CHAPTER/SCI
PO BOX 587
WIMBERLEY, TX 78676
877-SCI-HUNT or 877-724-4868
512-847-3766 Fax
Mickeyalamosci@msn.com
PO BOX 587
WIMBERLEY, TX 78676
877-SCI-HUNT or 877-724-4868
512-847-3766 Fax
Mickeyalamosci@msn.com